If the Prosecutor’s Office announcement about Alejandro Gil was a “smokescreen,” it backfired spectacularly.
14ymedio, Yunior García Aguilera, Madrid, November 3, 2025 – “The Communist Party of Cuba must demand the dismissal of its first secretary and president of the country, as well as that of Manuel Marrero Cruz.” Thus, without mincing words, the pro-government psychologist Suzanne Felipe, speaking from her Facebook wall, demanded the removal of Miguel Díaz-Canel and the prime minister, due to their close ties with the ousted Alejandro Gil. What was most striking was not her audacity, but the avalanche of likes, thumbs up, and supportive comments from other “revolutionary” profiles.
The scene would have been unthinkable just five years ago. But in today’s Cuba, where economic collapse has made commonplace the corruption, darkness, and hopelessness, even the clarias (catfish) —that digital army that once blindly defended “continuity”—seem to have lost faith in the anointed Díaz-Canel.
When the Prosecutor’s General’s Office published the litany of serious crimes attributed to the former Minister of Economy, many interpreted the news as a distraction, a smokescreen to cover up the devastation left by Tropical Storm Melissa in the eastern part of the country. But this time, the smoke got in the eyes of the regime’s own firefighters.
The Gil case threatens to become a political hurricane far more devastating than Melissa.
The Gil case threatens to become a political hurricane far more devastating than Melissa, further damaging the already precarious image of the establishment and unleashing what some have mockingly dubbed “the rebellion of the clarias.”
If the announcement was intended to distract, to mask the widespread perception of a failed regime, it backfired spectacularly. Neither the military helicopters rescuing isolated families nor the choreographed news reports on the National News managed to impose a different narrative. Within the ranks of officialdome itself, the only topic of conversation is: who were Gil’s accomplices, and how far do these corrupt loyalties extend? The alleged crime of “espionage” by a high-ranking figure—an extremely rare accusation in the recent history of Castroism—only fuels the feeling that something has broken down at the very heart of power.
The internal cracks had been simmering for some time, ever since Havana tentatively dared to pay tribute to another Caribbean hurricane: Celia Cruz. At the Fábrica de Arte Cubano (FAC), the epicenter of half-tolerated independent art, an exhibition was organized, along with a performance of protest following censorship, and even a star was unveiled in honor of the Queen of Salsa. This was enough to send the hardliners into a rage.
In his Facebook group, Rodrigo Huaimachi—a Chilean proletarian, excuse me: a property owner, living in Havana—was tearing his revolutionary clothes and threatening the Colombian Air Force with popular reprisals: “They will have to rectify this, or the people will have to take matters into their own hands.” The tone was more Castro-like than Castro himself. One of his followers even proposed destroying the star dedicated to the Queen of Salsa “with sledgehammers.”
Faced with the indifference of the club and its supporters—built, not by chance, on the ruins of an old oil factory—Huaimachi broadened his offensive. His new target was Carlos Miguel Pérez Reyes, a congressman and mipymero [small business owner], accused of ideological lukewarmness for expressing overly cautious opinions about Celia Cruz. Haila María Mompié also fell victim to the fire for organizing a mass in honor of the singer, as did the Minister of Culture himself, Alpidio Alonso, accused of turning a blind eye to the issue.
Not even the most loyal propagandists escaped the blows. Even Pedro Jorge Velázquez, alias El Necio (The Fool), a regular defender of the official line, was torn to shreds by the Chilean, who called him a “likes hunter,” politically unprepared and with a profound ideological dizziness.”
The Party apparatus, accustomed to controlling the narrative, is facing a digital rebellion from its own creations.
The troubadour Raúl Torres, a singer known for official funerals and the author of a couple of good songs, also didn’t want to be left out of the show. He complained on social media that his projects were shelved due to a “worm-like bureaucracy” and practically demanded his own star. In a burst of performative Fidelism, he declared: “Sooner rather than later they’ll find out that here nobody who is not with Fidel is going to take advantage.”
But the true epicenter of the earthquake remains the Gil case. His abrupt downfall, the nebulous accusation of espionage, and the media censorship surrounding him have unleashed a Category 5 political storm within officialdom. The Party apparatus, accustomed to controlling the narrative, is facing a digital rebellion from its own members, who now doubt, confront, and, most seriously, go off-script.
The “monolithic unity” proclaimed by the regime is crumbling before everyone’s eyes. Gone are the days when they controlled the narrative—as in the Ochoa case—nor can they silence the families of those who have fallen from grace—as in the times of Carlos Lage and Felipe Pérez Roque. Now everyone has a phone where they can break the silence and amplify their opinions.
The clarias —those amphibious creatures that live in the mud—have begun to leap out of the pond. If this new storm makes anything clear, it’s that Castroism, in its decrepit and recycled form, has lost its monopoly on faith. And when believers begin to doubt, the churches empty faster than the wine cellars.
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