The Cuban actor Carlos Massola He gave an interview to an independent media in which he admitted that he felt censored in his country, that he was accused of exercising his freedom of expression and that he distanced himself from his cousin, who is also the regime’s star actress and presenter . Edith Massola.
“My father was also called Carlos Massola. He was a television announcer. He was never involved in any abuses and was never a member of the Communist Party or anything like that. In fact, the reason he was removed from the news was because he didn’t want to get involved in anything political. They took him off the news and sent him to Radio Reloj, where he was until his death 18 years ago,” the actor told CubaNet.
The actor has come to the fore again since he began sharing his opinion on the situation in Cuba on social networks some time ago. even goes so far as to call for “total change.” in the country, the Release of political prisonersthe resignation of the leaders, or simply to it to let off steam in the face of shortages and the terrible crisis he is suffering from along with millions of Cubans.
His cousin Edith Massola, the At the beginning of September he turned 56 years old.She positions herself in a different discourse and has no inhibitions about appearing as an extra for the regime, acting as a moderator at its events or promoting Cuba as a tourist destination.
“Thank you, Edith, my love.. It was a pleasure to work with you to present Cuba as a cultural travel destination at the tourism fair. Your charisma and joy guarantee the success of any room… but “where else?” he told her about X Lis Cuesta Peraza in May last year during the celebration of the International Tourism Fair in Varadero.
His closeness to the (non-)First Lady of Cuba, the official Cuesta Peraza, was not limited to this event. Months earlier, the popular actress had become the subject of criticism from Cuban civil society Take over the artistic direction of fashion and culinary events the controversial San Remo Festival in Cuba, which was organized by the ruler’s wife Miguel Diaz Canel.
In addition, he was brought into public contact with other very prominent figures in the regime, such as the Prime Minister Manuel Marrero Cruzwhy many accuse him of his double standards as he helps clean up the image of the dictatorship while his daughter lives in the United States and enjoyed the beaches in Cuba in complete isolation due to the pandemic, Thanks to “a colonel friend”.
According to Carlos Massola, his cousin Edith doesn’t even answer the phone. “NO. And he doesn’t even care about me. I call her on her cell phone and she doesn’t answer. And I love her, she’s my cousin and sister, but she doesn’t want to know anything about me,” the actor told the above mentioned media.
The distance between the two was due to the actress’s fear, her cousin suspected. “God knows. It seems that he is afraid. “He is afraid to contact me,” he said.
When asked about the reasons of some artists who remain silent about the situation in Cuba, he said that “artists must begin to show their faces” to the suffering of their compatriots.
“I don’t want to burden anyone. I’m alone with this. I’m not afraid, I speak what I have to say. I don’t blame anyone, but I urge you to analyze the matter. It’s not that politics and art mix, no, it’s Cuba that is screwed and needs to be helped. You have to take the side of the people because they too suffer. “I urge you all to look at how sadly we live and take a stand.”
Massola is not afraid, but he is paying a price for his audacity to exercise his right to freedom of expression in a totalitarian communist regime. He’s not afraid of it State securitybut he was hurt by situations like the one he recently experienced, in which he was received with great affection by the children of a school, but the repressors prevented the teacher from uploading the photo taken with him on social networks.
But he doesn’t feel alone. “My family obviously supports me. My daughter, my daughter’s mother, supports me. My daughter’s mother is afraid in moments of desperation and asks me to be calm. But silence is worse. I think we need to talk. There are people who say: “You’re crazy, you won’t solve anything.” I won’t be able to solve anything, but at least I won’t be silent without saying what I think. Nobody will stop me there.”
Nevertheless, he realizes that he doesn’t expect anything more from his life in Cuba. “I want to get out of here. There’s nothing left for me to do here. Here I’m going to put more strain on myself to screw up even more. I’m willing to work on anything. But outside of Cuba. “I have nothing to do here anymore,” he said, realizing that emigration was the only possible option to help his family in Cuba.
“I know a lot of people are going to start criticizing this. But I want to leave the country like many Cubans want to leave the country. That’s an increase; “Cuba is on the run,” he concluded.