As pro-democracy protests erupt across Cuba, a number of celebrities are using their platforms to show support for the demonstrators demanding freedom from the communist dictatorship.
Here are a few who are speaking out.
Gina Carano
The former “Mandalorian” actress issued one of the strongest statements in support of the pro-democracy protestors. Citing a Daily Wire report, she said on Twitter, “Cuba’s communist dictators are shutting down the country’s internet because they’re afraid of their own people.” She then sent a message of encouragement directly to the people, saying, “Cubanos, do not be afraid. We’re with you!”
After repeating her message in Spanish, Carano demanded Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel and Minister of Foreign Affairs Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla free the Cuban people immediately.
Finally, the former MMA fighter finished with the hashtags #PatriaYVida a reference to the song of the same name by Cuban artists Gente De Zona, Yotuel, and Descemer Bueno that has become a rallying cry for freedom, angering the communist government. It translates to “Homeland and Life” — a direct rebuke to Fidel Castro’s famous slogan, “Homeland or death.”
Carano is one of the few non-Cuban celebrities to make a public statement about the humanitarian crisis in the island nation.
Gloria Estefan
The Cuban-born singer/songwriter showed her support for the protestors on Instagram by posting video of demonstrators marching against the communist government. She captioned the footage by saying, “The Cuban people are reaching their breaking point! I stand with them as I always have!”
Camila Cabello
Another Cuban-American singer speaking out on Instagram is Camila Cabello. She posted an image of a black square with a Cuban flag and the hashtag #SOSCUBA. However, Cabello avoided directly addressing communism as the reason for the demonstrations and instead leaned into the Biden administration’s mischaracterization that Covid concerns have sparked the unrest.
“Deaths from COVID are rising rapidly and because of the lack of medicine, resources, basic necessities and even, food many people are dying,” Cabello said in her caption. “Right now, there are simultaneous protests in more than 5 cities in Cuba. Our brave people took the streets to protest for this humanitarian crisis and the people of Cuba need our help urgently.”
Eva Mendes
Actress Eva Mendes, who was born in Miami to a Cuban immigrant father, shared Cabello’s post with the message, “Please help spread awareness … I stand with my people.”
Shortly after, the star shared a separate post to her account that did what Cabello’s did not – explicitly acknowledge the Cuban people’s demands for freedom. With the hashtag #VivaCubaLibre (“long live free Cuba”), she shared a video of Gloria Estafan’s husband, Emilio, saying, “Cuba is in the streets, Miami is in the streets. And the world has to see our pain, and this is the moment that we’ve been waiting for a light of hope for the people that have suffered so much. VIVA CUBA LIBRE.”
Pitbull
Few celebs have been as outspoken against Cuba’s dictatorship as the “I Know You Want Me” singer. As The Daily Wire has reported, the singer/rapper has frequently warned about the dangers of communism, saying, “My family comes from Communism, they fled Communism, they had everything taken away from them, everybody got murdered, everybody got killed.” He said in 2011 he won’t perform in the country until it is free.
On Monday, Pitbull posted a photo of himself on Instagram wearing a robe with a Cuban flag printed on it. His caption: “Freedom is everything. We support the Cuban people in their fight for freedom in Cuba. Libertad, Ya viene llegando. #SOSCUBA.”
Jorge Masvidal
The MMA fighter, whose father fled Cuba in a homemade raft, spared no words showing his support for the pro-democracy activists and explicitly condemning the communist government. He posted a lengthy video statement to Twitter, which Gina Carano later shared, rejecting the Biden administration and legacy media claims that the protests are primarily about the pandemic. His comments are well worth reading in full:
“I’m just trying to … use my platforms to do what I feel is correct and I feel everybody should be doing which is fighting against oppression, dictatorships, communism, and anything of that nature. My father escaped Cuba when he was 14 years old and I’ve only heard the horror stories since I could process thoughts of how sh***y this communist regime – killing machine is. So I just want to shed some light on Cuba, big SOS signal for them. This oppression has been going on for 61 years. It’s not just because of the pandemic, not just because they ran out of medicine, they’ve been out of medicine, they’ve been out of resources and food. Because of the corrupt government, the extreme corruption over there where only a few at the top eat and everybody else has to suffer — those days have to come to an end. So I think it’s time for the whole world to rally behind Cuba, let’s go, spread the messages online, we gotta protest, we gotta get together, get attention. Maybe the local media channels in America won’t cover this, or in other parts of the world. But I think it’s up to us to put the word out there. It’s the people against the corrupt governments. Let’s defeat these evil communist motherf***ers, man. God bless everybody watching and thank you.”
It’s also notable how many celebrities who have been complimentary of the communist Cuban government in the past are so far staying silent on the protestors and their demands for freedom.
Beyonce and Jay Z
The couple notoriously took a vacation to the island nation in 2014 to celebrate their anniversary. Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) slammed the trip at the time, saying the Cuban government uses such celebrity visits as propaganda. “U.S. law clearly bans tourism to Cuba by American citizens because it provides money to a cruel, repressive, and murderous regime,” he said in a statement.
Neither star has commented on the protests or offered support to the demonstrators.
The Kardashians
The reality family also made waves with a visit to Havana that included plenty of selfies and heavily-edited Instagram photos that implied Cuba is a communist paradise.
Former congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL) told the Los Angeles Times at the time that trips like the Kardashian’s are “emblematic of celebrity culture at its worst.”
“I know it might be a high bar to ask famous folks to draw attention to human rights abuses by the Castro regime,” the lawmaker said, “but playing a role in making Cuba a fun, no-worries destination is nothing but a cruel trick on the Cuban people. The Kardashians are taking lots of selfies in Havana, but are they taking stock of the reality on the streets they walk on?”
So far, no word from the Kardashian clan on how they view what’s happening in Cuba now.
Steven Spielberg
The legendary director visited the communist nation in 2002 to attend a film festival and even had dinner with now-deceased dictator Fidel Castro. Spielberg called that meal “the eight most important hours of my life” and said he saw no reason for the U.S. to maintain an embargo against the country.
Today, as the Cuban people take to the streets to demand liberty, Spielberg is silent.
Sean Penn
The Oscar winner has fancied himself a journalist in the past, and to that end conducted an interview with Fidel Castro, who he called, “practiced, brilliant, and philosophical.” When the dictator died in 2016, Penn slammed coverage that cast it as a blessing for the Cuban people, accusing CNN in a Daily Beast essay of “[centering] its reporting on the death of Castro in the bastion of right-wing Cuban conservatism.” Calling Castro a “formidable and complex man,” Penn said those who celebrated his death were “grotesque.”
The actor, who is fairly active on social media, has made no comment on the pro-democracy demonstrations or offered support to the protestors.
Michael Moore
The documentary filmmaker has been so supportive of Cuba’s dictatorship, in 2007 he even made a documentary titled “Sicko” that argued Cuba provides better medical care to its citizens than the healthcare offered in the United States. “There’s a reason Cubans live on average a month longer than we do,” he erroneously told Time magazine.
As Cuban protestors tell the world about how their communist government has left them desperate for food and medicine, Moore has had nothing to say.