The exiled Cuban boxer Yordenis Ugás criticized the May Day march held in Revolution Square in Havana on Thursday, sharing an image of the parade along with a strongly worded message directed at the participants and the system they continue to support with their attendance.
“Mira cómo estaba el Primero de mayo hoy 2025 y 66 años del mismo sistema,” wrote Ugás on his social media. Despite the deep crisis the country is facing—characterized by prolonged blackouts, shortages of food, medicine, and fuel—thousands of people were mobilized across the island to attend the official events organized by the regime. According to official figures, the government reported an attendance of more than 5.3 million people nationwide, with 600,000 in the Cuban capital.
"The majority of those who were there—60 to 70%—break down in tears on the phone with family and friends about how dire the situation is, and they receive top-ups, remittances, and food packages, while Cubans are calculating and pulling their hair out to help from abroad," denounced the athlete, who is based in the United States and is a constant critic of Castroism.
Ugás emphasized that the problem is not limited to the ruling elite: “Raúl is one, Díaz-Canel is one… there are thousands and millions of accomplices, submissive slaves, opportunists who sustain that inefficient and sick tyranny.”
“It is so sad to see our people going out to celebrate and support the yoke that oppresses them,” concluded Ugás, lamenting that many Cubans, even while aware of the harsh reality, continue to participate in marches that legitimize the regime and prolong its control. His post has generated hundreds of reactions.
In a comment, filmmaker Lilo Vilaplana harshly stated:
“The absence of dignity and the complicity of these people with that system is shameful. I think of the political prisoners, the heroes and martyrs of the anti-communist struggle, who have given everything for Cuba, and I look at these traitors to the homeland crawling before their oppressors. Any exile who respects themselves and recognizes a relative in this shameful line of cowards, DO NOT SEND THEM ANYTHING! Let them ask their masters for it. This is disgusting, it’s pathetic.”
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