Cuban Influencer Criticizes Students: "Start Earning Dollars Instead"

The Cuban influencer Flor Danay Hernández Ochoa, widely recognized on social media as Flor de Cuba, has sparked intense controversy after sharing a video in which she harshly criticizes the island's university students. She condemns their pursuit of education in a nation where "studies are useless" and "knowledge doesn't convert into dollars." Although the video was originally posted four months ago, Flor de Cuba found it "timely" to reshare it this Wednesday, as young people across Cuba's universities are actively protesting ETECSA's recent policies that restrict national currency recharges, thus limiting internet access for millions.

Flor de Cuba, a content creator known for promoting remittances to Cuba, has often faced criticism from the Cuban diaspora for alleged ties to the regime. Prominent Cuban communicator Alexander Otaola has accused her of being an agent of the State Security, being involved in prostitution, money laundering, and having hidden political motives since arriving in the United States. These accusations have prompted her to take legal action against him.

In her recent video, Flor expresses disdain for those who, despite the island's constraints, choose academic advancement as a means of personal and social growth. She argues that the government has deceived these individuals into believing in the value of education, urging them instead to abandon their efforts for change.

"You are a university student because the government convinced your mother and grandparents to create cheap labor, paying them 10 dollars a month, and making them believe that this was becoming someone in life," she states in the video. She clarifies that the video was a response to a critique of her educational background but insists that it's the Cuban students, both graduates and those still studying, who "should be ashamed of buying into the idea of studying for four or five years only to end up selling pizza at a bus stop."

Her criticism does not target the government's management. Instead, she boasts about achieving financial success without completing higher education, promoting the abandonment of academic paths in favor of immediate income opportunities in Cuba. She advises university students to stop striving so hard and instead focus on "making money, starting businesses, reselling, learning English, investing in their minds... but stop giving the best years of their lives and their intellect to a country that doesn't appreciate them."

Flor's statements have been perceived as a direct attack on university students and a demand for them to generate income for their families, claiming, "When you die, that diploma will stay behind and you won't take the experience you missed out on while working for a system that pays you 2,500 pesos a month."

These harsh remarks come at a sensitive time for the academic sector. Recently, students and professors have openly protested against ETECSA's new pricing, which excludes much of the academic sector from internet access, a crucial tool for development. Students persist in their demands for fair pricing and the acknowledgment of connectivity as a right for all Cuban society, even without support from university administrations, which align with the regime's interests.

In a context where many young people's careers could be jeopardized or they might face government reprisals for speaking out, Flor de Cuba's comments appear especially out of touch and offensive. Beyond differing opinions on paths to personal success, it's troubling that high-profile figures would trivialize education, discourage critical thinking, and promote individual shortcuts at the expense of collective development and professional growth.

Flor's rhetoric not only diminishes the sacrifices of countless Cuban families investing in their children's education amidst an unprecedented crisis, but it also ignores the risks many young people in Cuba face for exercising their right to speak out, organize, and demand social justice from within their universities.