El Micha Addresses Criticism in Miami: "The Communist Calls You a Communist"

Cuban singer El Micha opened up in a candid interview with influencer Michelito Dando Chucho, fiercely responding to accusations of being a communist while in exile in Miami.

A statement that encapsulates his viewpoint has now become iconic: “The shameless calls you shameless, the drunk calls you drunk, the communist calls you communist. That's how it is, people project who they are. It's a mirror.”

The artist directly criticized certain factions within the Cuban exile community, accusing them of having collaborated with the Cuban regime before emigrating and now acting as relentless judges from Miami: “Not everyone, but a lot of people who worked with them there, are the ones here saying you’re a snitch. That’s why I lost respect for many.”

In the hour-long interview, El Micha disclosed for the first time the personal toll he faced after releasing his song "Un sueño"—also known as "Cuba Grita Libertad"—in March 2021. The protest song, recorded while he was alone in Miami, left his wife, two children, and mother still in Cuba.

“I was terrified of never seeing my family again,” the artist admitted, recalling that the day after its release, Alex Otaola alleged the song was false and labeled him a communist.

Otaola's reaction triggered a crisis that forced the singer to take drastic measures to safeguard his family. “I had to send my family to Moscow, and they stayed there for three or four months. I was paying for an apartment in Moscow,” he recounted, explaining they later left through Nicaragua on a risky journey.

El Micha also spoke candidly about the detrimental impact social media had on his mental and physical health. He acknowledged descending into severe depression and revealed that stress led to prediabetes: “Nobody knows the harm it does when you pay attention to what they say.”

At his lowest point, he described scenes of sitting alone at a gas station, smoking, and drinking beer while compulsively checking social media.

He confessed to making mistakes during this turbulent period: “I mixed social media with real life and did things I shouldn’t have. Like going back to Cuba and leaving my kids and wife here.” On that decision, he was blunt: “I ended up trying to escape.”

The artist also criticized the extremism he perceives in parts of the Cuban exile community, comparing it to the intolerance of the regime: “If you don’t say exactly what they want, you’re automatically against them. That’s extremism. That’s communism.”

El Micha, who released “Un sueño” in 2021 and also collaborated on a song with Willy Chirino and other anti-regime initiatives, concluded the interview with an ironic message to his critics, asserting they have been his greatest promoters.