Dina Stars, the YouTuber detained in Havana, spoke: “Cuba asks for help”

“I hold the government responsible for anything that may happen to me”, said Dina Stars live, in front of Spanish television and the eyes of the world. In the middle of an interview, Cuban regime officials came to his house to arrest him. The offense? After having demonstrated and disseminated the mobilizations in the streets of the island from their social networks.

She is part of the new legion of artists, intellectuals, influencers and YouTubers which rose to prominence in international media when the whole world, under the hashtag #SosCuba, witnessed almost live the series of historic protests that made the discontent and exhaustion of thousands of Cubans undeniable. “At the moment, I am under house arrest, for incitement to commit a crime,” he said, in dialogue with TN.

As a counterpoint to the old revolutionary slogan “Homeland or death”, a group of Cuban artists have captured in a few lines the feelings of people who are drowning after more than six decades of Castroism. “Homeland and life” It is the name of the song that angered the regime (now led by Miguel Díaz-Canel) and that has become the anthem and motto of the mobilisations that have flooded the streets of dozens of cities in the Isle. It is this couple of words that pushes Dina, like so many other young people, to demand a change. “Cuba asks for freedom,” she assures us.

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In addition to the historic demand for restriction of freedoms, among the demands are the urgencies of a dramatic present: the lack of medicines, the pressing socio-economic situation worsened in the context of the pandemic due to the decline in tourism, political persecution. constant and the health crisis. “Down with the dictatorship! Yes “Freedom!” were two of the most listened to proclamations in a day followed, almost in real time, by millions of people via social media.

Perhaps there is the essence of this revolution that the regime never saw coming: resistance forged, even with the enormous limitations imposed on connectivity, at the end of cellphones, songs, accounts. YouTube, hashtags and, of course, actions of important people, artistic and intellectual collectives, like the San Isidro Movement.

This disruptive force which leads to greater access to new technologies works in two ways: it is a window to make visible the real conditions of life in Cuba and to retrace a good part of the romantic rhetoric that the Revolution was able to build with notable importance, and also it serves as a window on the realities that are experienced outside the island. In short, it is the way to know another possible world. This perhaps explains why emerging countries like Dina are so threatening to Castroism.

In dialogue with TN, the youtubeur who reached newspapers around the world, recounted her arrest and how she is coping with the psychological pressure of being singled out by the regime. In addition, he described the daily hardships that the lives of his compatriots go through.

-Tell us how your arrest is given. Did they warn you of something?

-I received a call. They told me they wanted to meet me. I told them to legally summon me to my home. Well, they went to get me.

-What went through your head when they said: “You have to come with us”?

-A lot of things went through my head. I never imagined they were going to stop me. I thought they wanted to alert me. A lot of things happened to me. Yes I know I was scared.

-In many notes you said that you felt that there was nothing to lose and that is why you manifested …

-We all came out to demonstrate peacefully because obviously there is nothing to lose. But I think at that point you realize that you still have your mother out there, nervous and crying, crazy, looking for you. And that was the only thing he had in mind. The fear I had was for my mother, not for me.

-For those who don’t know you and listen or read your name these days, what do you do?

-I have been a YouTuber for four years. I am also an actress and I study psychology. And I am dedicated to that, to the world of social networks.

-In your publications you say that the world of politics does not interest you. Why did you feel like you wanted to go out and accompany the demonstrations?

-Because I am suffering, which all those who have come to demonstrate are suffering. I must have gone mad looking for food. I had to put in the states of WhatsApp: “Who has Dipyrone? or any medicine you need for a family member. I am not interested in politics, I do not like politics. It’s not at all something I would like to talk about or devote to in the future. But I live in Cuba, I am Cuban and I suffer what the vast majority of Cubans suffer. Therefore, I also want freedom. And if I want freedom, I have to go out and say it.

-How do you survive?

-Well, my family is very big. I, for example, live on YouTube. They pay me via another country, obviously. They send me money and with this money I live and my mother also lives.

-Have you thought about leaving the island?

-I’m honest with you: I love my country. This is my homeland, this is my land. And other than that, never in my life have I thought of leaving. But when the pandemic situation started it started to get worse and before that, when I started to dedicate myself to the world of YouTube, I started to realize that I definitely had no future here. If I want to devote myself to social networks and if I want to be an actress, here in Cuba it will be impossible. But still, if I had to choose, I would just prefer that I could be free here in Cuba and make my dream come true here. That there weren’t all the brakes they put you on and didn’t have to migrate. I don’t think the solution is to emigrate. I think the time has come for the Cuban to say: “Until when?”

-For young people, can the dream of their own home come true?

-Here, having your own house is more of an “inheritance”. If you tell me: “My dream is to have a house”, I would tell you that it is the longest dream you can have in Cuba. It’s like something that doesn’t fit in your head to be able to fulfill the dream of having a home. At least with the salary, you can’t, it’s not enough for you.

-How would you define the government of Miguel Díaz Canel?

-I prefer not to answer this question.

-Do you think the internet has meant a counter-revolution on the island?

-I was in charge of reading to myself the concept of revolution. And the revolution is what the people are fighting for. It’s about defending your ideals above all. And I don’t believe that the people who demonstrate in the streets are counter-revolutionary. I think on the contrary, I think they are revolutionaries. They fight for their ideals, to stand up for what they really think and what they want. We cry freedom with open breasts. No weapons. The internet is the only weapon Cuba currently has to let the world know and see what is really going on. Because media pressure moves the world. That’s what made me here now.

-You said in a video that you were not mistreated, but there is a lot of concern about the treatment of other detainees and what may happen to them. What can happen to them? What are they exposed to?

-I really do not know. This is my first experience of detention, the first time I was in a dungeon. The first thing I did when leaving was to make it clear that I had not been mistreated, because that was what they were saying on social media. I did it more than anything to have peace of mind. But the psychological pressure you exert when you are arrested is very great. Not knowing what is going on outside is unbearable. There are innocent people who are wrongfully imprisoned.

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-We have heard complaints from young people who are forced to go out into the streets to repress. It is so? Do you have the same information?

-In fact, I have friends who have been quoted. I have acquaintances and have seen a lot of tweets, a lot of photos. No one mentioned me personally because I do not belong to any state institution. But I have seen people calling them and telling them that they have to come out to march or stand guard or defend their revolution.

-What did your mother say when you came back?

-What my mom did was give me a hug and start to cry. When you are detained and they ask you a thousand questions, you feel stunned and harassed. When they finally let me talk to my mom, who was very nervous and about to crack, she told me to stay strong there, to stand firm with what I was thinking. I think that’s what gave me strength, what gave me the courage to stand up for what I believe above all. My mother wouldn’t be able to censor me, she wouldn’t be able to make me think anything other than who I really am.

-If you could send a message to the international community about what’s going on in Cuba, what would you say?

-Listen to what we’re shouting, please. See. Cuba is asking for help. He shouts it out loud and we want to shout louder but it’s impossible. And you see why it is impossible for us. There are videos, there is everything that shows it. Cuba asks for freedom.