Ian Padrón Reflects on His Father's Passing: "It Took Me by Surprise"

Ian Padrón recently opened up about the unexpected passing of his father, the legendary Cuban animator Juan Padrón. "My father's death really took me by surprise," Ian shared. He recounted that although his father had battled and overcome cancer several times, it was ultimately pneumonia that led to his decline. "Pneumonia can weaken your defenses, and for my dad, a simple cold would turn into pneumonia, which he usually recovered from with antibiotics. But this time, nothing worked," Ian explained during the podcast "Entre tú y yo" by Los 3 de La Habana.

Reflecting on the final days of his father, Ian described how sudden the events unfolded. "On the night of the 15th, my sister told me to send Dad a message because he was feeling a bit down. We sent a family message, a selfie where the kids said something like 'Grandpa, we love you'," Ian recounted. "But on the 16th, I woke up to my sister telling me that they had taken our father to intensive care. It was shocking because I had just spoken to him the day before. That's how life is," he added. "Death takes you by surprise; it’s something you don't foresee," Ian concluded.

Juan Padrón passed away on March 24, 2020, at the age of 73, after spending several days in intensive care battling a lung condition. He was affectionately dubbed 'El último mambí' and fought bravely for 20 days. "He left us filled with love and peace," Ian wrote in a heartfelt message announcing his father's death. "We will always remember you as the most charming, humble, and brilliant person we will ever know. Thank you for Elpidio Valdés, for Vampires in Havana, and above all, for being such a noble and loving father and husband. ¡Hasta la vista, compay!" Ian expressed.

Preserving His Father’s Legacy

Having lived in the United States for several years, Ian Padrón now hosts and directs "Derecho a Réplica," a platform for interviews and debates broadcast online, which amplifies voices critical of Cuba's regime. In December 2021, he engaged in a debate with a Cuban who urged him not to tarnish his father's legacy.

Padrón invited Elier Fernández Guerra to the conversation after Fernández sent him a public letter stating that the character of Elpidio Valdés "does not belong to you, but should be an intangible heritage of Cuba and the Cuban people for what it represents to us." The letter was in response to a program Padrón conducted with graphic designer Alex Bandrich, criticizing the use of an Elpidio Valdés character in an article by the official portal Razones de Cuba, where the filmmaker was labeled as a "compliant propagandist" for individuals "funded by Washington" attacking the island's government.

In his public letter to Padrón, Fernández Guerra insisted that Ian was not like his father, who "truly honored his name" and "remains a role model for all who grew up with his work." He implored Ian not to tarnish his father's work, cautioning that it would be a grave mistake to voice the character Elpidio Valdés with "Media Cara," as all Cubans would notice, and "we are not fools," he added.

Ian fired back, stating that Fernández should "wash his mouth before speaking about his father" and emphasized that Juan Padrón's work is deteriorating in Cuba. "The master archives of his work are being lost. The last thing my father tried to do during his life, two years ago, was to rescue them. All he and my family received in return was disdain from Cuban institutions, which are letting his entire body of work rot," Ian stressed.