This year has been especially hard, because we have had to put together the faces of a year that, in reality, is missing too many pieces.
14ymedio, Havana, 24 December 2024 — For a decade, 14ymedio has shared each December the 14 faces that marked the year that is ending. More often than not, the task of discarding some names from the long initial lists has been complicated by the many people who stood out with resounding achievements or resounding failures. Choosing from among those notable Cubans, based on their contribution or their detriment to the country, has traditionally been a difficult task. However, in 2024 it has been especially hard because we have had to put together the face of a year that, in reality, is missing too many pieces.
To achieve this list that we present today, we have even had to break two important initial rules. Until this year, the group had to be made up of living people residing in Cuba, but we have come to understand that in a country that escapes and dies, maintaining both premises is unsustainable. So among these faces there are the dead and the fugitives; ministers in disgrace and loyal athletes; released prisoners and fuel distribution bosses; murdered reggaeton singers and priests who distribute prayers or food in the mountains of the Island. All of them are the pieces that we have managed to put together and that make up the torn and irregular appearance of the nation.
Faces of 2024:
- Melody González, a repressive judge with ’parole’ for the US
- “It is forbidden to be discouraged”: Angélica Garrido’s message for Cuban political prisoners
- Esther Lilian Pérez Trujillo, the big shot of Havana’s gas stations
- El Taiger, a Cuban celebrated in Miami and on the Island
- Mijaín López, 130 kilograms in the service of the Cuban regime
- Omara Durand conquered Paris 2024 with three gold medals
- Mario Urquía Carreño, the man who almost destroyed Cuban Freemasonry
- Priest Leandro Naun, chef and “war correspondent” in Santiago de Cuba
- Jorge Luis Perdomo Di-Lella, another ‘done for’ under the shadow of corruption
- Martha Beatriz Roque, the woman most hated by the Cuban regime
- Eduardo Rodríguez Dávila, the “minister of Facebook”
- Bernardo Espinosa, the face of the bad news of every day
- Omara Portuondo, 94 years old and postponing retirement
- Marta Valdés, the discreet velvet voice
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