The Cuban actress Darianis Palenzuela posted a reel on Instagram in which she denounced the behavior of foreign tourists who visit Cuba to photograph the country's misery and turn it into content for their social media.
"I've begun to feel an involuntary rejection because I see them smiling so brightly with their cameras, taking pictures of the collapsed buildings," said the actress, known for her role as "Beyoncé" in the youth series Calendario.
What affected him the most was a scene he described as particularly hard: tourists asking children begging on the street to pose for their cameras. "Asking children who are begging for money on the street to pose for the camera. I saw this with my own eyes, and it was very powerful," he stated.
Palenzuela acknowledged that visitors do not necessarily act with bad intentions: "Cuba is, in a way, a time machine, right? I know they are not to blame; they pay for their ticket, come to the country, and obviously want to document all of that."
However, she emphasized the emotional impact that this political tourism, as one user referred to it in comments, has on those experiencing the crisis from within: "As a Cuban living in Cuba, I can tell you that it hurts, and a lot."
The phenomenon described by the actress is framed within a paradox: while official tourism in Cuba is collapsing —the country achieved only 28.8% of its annual tourism plan by the end of October 2026 and received 65% fewer visitors than in the same period the previous year— a stream of foreign content creators is arriving on the island specifically to document its decline.
YouTubers from Peru, Spain, and the United States have published videos with millions of views showcasing the ruined neighborhoods of Havana, prolonged blackouts, and families without access to basic food supplies.
The crisis that these visitors portray is real and profound: the Cuban Observatory of Human Rights estimated in August 2026 that 94% of Cubans lived in extreme poverty.
It is not the first time that Palenzuela has raised her voice about the social deterioration in Cuba. Last October, she shocked her followers by recounting that she had found a child sleeping in the doorway of a building in Centro Habana, showing visible signs of violence and hunger.
In April of this year, she also spoke publicly about her own emotional decline due to the situation in the country, describing that she had "hit rock bottom."
The Cuban Ministry of Tourism released images of Varadero, Havana, Viñales, and Santiago de Cuba in October under the slogan "Cuba is not just told: it is lived," in stark contrast to the reality of blackouts, shortages, and building collapses that the population is experiencing.
Palenzuela closed his message with a question that summarizes his own uncertainty about what he feels: "Am I exaggerating, or am I right? I can no longer tell the difference."
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