On July 11, 2021, Cuba experienced its largest peaceful anti-government demonstrations against socialism. The initial spark originated through a Facebook group and quickly inspired other protests in distant parts of the island through social media. That ethereal spark overflowed into the “physical” realm, so tightly controlled by the Cuban State.

Since then, the state has viewed digital voices with many followers in Cuba with even greater suspicion. But more and more influencers are calling on their audiences to awaken from official propaganda, showing daily life on the island with a critical perspective.

At the end of 2025, a name shook social media: Anna Sofía Benítez Silvente (Anna Bensi), a 20-year-old Christian woman from Havana, who exposed the harsh daily life of Cubans through her social media: the power outages, the shortages, the low wages, and the loss of hope. The number of subscribers to her Facebook page reached almost 100,000 in a matter of weeks.

In October 2025, she posted her first viral video explaining the bureaucratic disaster of the Castro regime, which delayed her diploma as a higher technical graduate in dental prosthetics for months. Then she began posting videos on her YouTube channel (whose motto is “All for Him and through Him”), reflecting on the lack of freedom of expression and the slogan that “education in Cuba is free.”

In a video interview with journalist Camila Acosta, she mentioned some of the consequences. The authorities have cut off her telephone and internet service, she has noticed police surveillance in front of her building, and in December 2025, she lost her job at a beauty salon in Old Havana due to pressure from the political police on her boss.

Benítez Silvente, who has lived her faith as part of a Pentecostal church in Havana, affirmed in our conversation that she would never renounce her identity as a Christian in her videos. “In fact, what gave me the courage to raise my voice was Jesus,” she told me before this interview began.

When did you start addressing these social issues on your social media, and why?

I started addressing social issues in September 2025. Although I had previously published several videos of social criticism, none were as direct and serious as the ones I started making in September.

Was there a specific reason why you decided to speak out?

I think it was due to accumulated mental and physical exhaustion, over several weeks, that reached its limit.

The routine of surviving daily with so many difficulties, keeping all my thoughts to myself and ignoring my desire to express myself, was a balloon that was bound to burst someday.

I was waiting for my university degree for about seven months, with no clear explanation for the delay.

During all those months, I started working to contribute to the household income in what would be my first job. I was “comfortable” there, but waking up with a fake smile plastered on my face after an extremely bad night due to the continuous power outages and the difficulties of everyday life was hard. Pretending that my reality shouldn’t affect my life (“You can’t get depressed because this is what it is and somehow we have to move forward,” I sometimes told myself) was unsustainable.

I couldn’t do it anymore.

I made my first video about the university degree situation, but in reality, it was just a way to express and release much of what I had inside.

Why did you feel you had to do it?

Initially, I confess that I felt the need to do it to vent.

I never thought about everything that uploading that video would trigger. It didn’t cross my mind that so many people would connect with my situation. From that moment on, I realized that I hadn’t posted a personal experience, but rather the experience of an entire community.

That was one of the reasons that encouraged me to continue speaking out.

What are the topics you address most often in your livestreams and videos?

I always try to talk about topics that I know people will relate to and, therefore, empathize with the video’s message. The art of communication is about effectively conveying what you want to transmit: That’s why I also try to make them dynamic.

I steer the videos towards the most common problems faced by the Cuban population: the lack of food, water, electricity, etc. And I always try to use clear language so that anyone can understand it, from a child to an elderly person.

Which videos have been the most viral?

Thank God, all the videos have been very well received by my followers.

But the most viral so far have been the first one I uploaded, talking about how bureaucracy and state inefficiency kept me from receiving my university degree for months.

There’s another video, also widely shared, in which I portrayed the relationship between the dictatorship and the people through four different characters.

You are an evangelical Christian who doesn’t hide her faith in her public messages, and so is your mother, with whom you live. How do you think your identity as a believer fits with speaking out against injustices on the island?

I love this question, because there’s a common belief that “Christians don’t get involved in politics.” But how can I not raise my voice against a political system that denies the existence of Christ?

Communism is the opposite of God. It promotes atheism.

At the same time, in Cuba, we live under a dictatorship that oppresses the people. The prevailing system keeps us miserably subjugated, with no intention of stopping the evils that plague the country.

And I believe in a God who was never passive in the face of oppression, injustice, corruption, and lies. Christians must always speak out against wrongdoing, because that’s what Christ would do. Silence is a decision that some may see as valid, but in the face of evil, silence is not neutrality but support for the oppressor.

I always ask God for guidance so that He may give me the discernment and wisdom to fight this war through love and truth. As Christians, it is our duty to pray for Cuba, to lead by example, and not to remain silent in the face of injustice.