MIAMI — An image circulates on social networks that supposedly shows Alejandro Gil Fernández, former Minister of Economy and Planning of Cuba, dismissed and prosecuted on charges of espionage, after the controversy surrounding his trial.
In the photo – not verified by official sources – Gil is seen visibly thinner, with hair loss and obvious physical deterioration, very different from the solid and defiant figure that he projected for years in the official spaces of Cuban economic policy.
The impact of the photo, real or manipulated by AI, has been immediate. Analysts recall that from the beginning of the process it seems that Gil is being used as a scapegoat, a sacrificial piece to send an “exemplary” message, while the highest positions within the government structure remain untouchable.
However, one cannot ignore the damage that the measures promoted by the former leader caused in the lives of Cubans: the so-called “Ordering Task”, the lack of price control, the loss of purchasing value and the economic crisis that continues to hit families throughout the island. This raises a central question: why does he alone bear all the responsibility if others with equal or greater levels of culpability remain unpunished?
The opacity of the process and the silence of the official press reinforce the perception that this trial responds less to justice and more to a political calculation, in which the leadership decides who to sacrifice and who to protect to maintain control based on force.
Furthermore, the legal procedure seems to be part of a media circus that seeks to distract the people, who face endless blackouts and growing crises. In the east of the country, the situation is even more critical: the damage caused by Hurricane Melissa remains unaccounted for and thousands of families live in destitute conditions, without resources or care. In this context, the public exposure of Gil’s case works as a smokescreen that diverts attention from much more urgent problems.
Regardless of the veracity of the photo, Alejandro Gil now faces a sentence that will define his destiny. But even if his image—real or processed with AI—reflects a moment of vulnerability, it could have one last gesture of historical utility: revealing to international public opinion those who really control the leadership and keep Cuba under fear, repression and misery.
Perhaps it no longer has salvation, but it could still, from its negative meaning, leave a legacy as was left at the time by those prosecuted and sacrificed in cases 1 and 2 at the end of the 1980s, when a purge process culminated in the execution of several emblematic figures of the nomenclature of Cuban power.
The final lesson of this process against Gil Fernández is the disposable or disposable condition inherent to everyone who at some point is chosen to be part of that leadership that controls Cuba.
