María Victoria Gil, the historic host of the Cuban cultural program De la Gran Escena, affectionately known as "Vicky" and sister of the former Minister of Economy of Cuba Alejandro Gil Fernández, who is serving a life sentence, posted a video on TikTok this Friday reacting to images of her former colleague Edmundo García sleeping on the streets of Miami, and stated bluntly: “karma exists”.
The situation for García escalated at the beginning of November when he received a court eviction notice live on air for failing to gather $1,900 in overdue rent. That same night, he was hospitalized at Jackson Memorial in Miami after the application of the Baker Act, and upon being discharged in the early morning, he found no shelter willing to take him in. A friend paid for three nights at a motel, but when that assistance ran out, García found himself on the street again, broadcasting from beneath a tree, barefoot and with his phone nearly out of battery.
Vicky, who co-hosted De la Gran Escena with García and other colleagues like Omar Moynelo, Abel Álvarez, Rody Reyes, and Niro de la Rú, recalled in the video how the communicator treated everyone on the team during those years.
"I have sadly seen through social media the images of my former colleague at De la Gran Escena, Edmundo García. It is very sad to see him in such conditions. A person so capable, so intelligent, with a vast culture. And then I think that karma really does exist," said the presenter.
According to his account, García was wearing an Omega watch, ties that he claimed cost $100, and Ray-Ban glasses, while looking disdainfully at the clothes, shoes, and Russian watches of his colleagues. "You are all failures," he repeatedly told them, according to Vicky's testimony.
The host recalled that in 1988, when she had her son, she worked at the dairy complex in exchange for a tub of ice cream for the child, or in other places in exchange for beans and coffee to feed her family. "I was told I was a loser and a nobody for doing those things," she recounted.
Despite the harshness of the memory, Vicky emphasized that she does not wish ill upon him. "I don't wish harm on anyone. It has even made me cry to see him in those conditions. And I hope, I truly hope there is some way for Edmundo García to climb out of the pit he has sunk into," she expressed.
She also expressed sorrow for García’s mother, Olga Rosa Gómez, whom she described as "an excellent woman" who once asked her, "Vicky, where did I go wrong in raising my son?"
The contrast that Vicky draws is eloquent: "Today, all those people he called failures, losers, are here in our jobs, living a dignified, honest life. And look at him."
García, who confessed in 2021 that the Cuban regime had sent him to Miami as part of a "necessary mission", also suffers from a chronic diabetic neuropathy that hinders his ability to walk safely, which exacerbates his situation on the street. Despite everything, he stated that he would continue to defend the revolution and that he would never return to Cuba.
This Friday, the opposition leader José Daniel Ferrer, head of the Patriotic Union of Cuba (UNPACU) —whom García fought against for years from his platforms— publicly asked on Facebook where García was so he could bring him food, although shortly after he harshly criticized him: “He has not been doing well in recent years. Serving a criminal dictatorship has consequences. Sometimes they come more quickly, other times later, but there are always consequences.”
Vicky closed her video with a reflection that sums up the tone of her entire speech: "I don't wish them harm, but it's karma. No one leaves this world without paying for it, without paying for the wrong they have done on earth."
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