Duanys Moreno, a 23-year-old fan of aeronautics, reported minute by minute the fire from the Supertanker Base in Matanzas. On August 6, 2021, from his house – in a building overlooking the bay – she took his phone and transmitted the images that the Cuban government had been hiding for hours: the column of black smoke over the city, the fire in the tanks, and the ash that was beginning to cover the rooftops.
He provided specific data, the direction of the wind, probabilities and calculations about the disaster. Faster and more reliable than the official press, his reports kept Cubans up to date based on direct information.
On August 10, he received a warning that State Security was looking for him. He tried to evade them but they found him. He was arrested. Shortly after, he transmitted a new report: everything is fine, the fire was controlled and the authorities have taken the necessary measures. After that recording, Moreno disappeared.
Five months later, his channel was back up and running. By phone, from a location abroad that he prefers not to disclose, he tells 14ymedio what happened after his arrest. He started a new life and is still very aware of the Island. His greatest desire: to pilot an aircraft.
“Yes, it was lightning that caused the explosion, I saw it,” he recalls, alluding to the controversy over the cause of the fire. “I have a relative who worked precisely in that tank, and the Saturday before the explosion we were talking about that issue. There was a great risk because the tank was uncovered. Everyone was aware.”
On his YouTube channel, opened in May 2021, Moreno commented on famous aeronautical accidents, but began to work on uncomfortable issues for the Government
In its channel YouTube, opened in May 2021, Moreno commented on famous aeronautical accidents, but began to work on uncomfortable issues for the Government, such as the composition of the Cuban Air Force or the number and current status of Cubana de Aviación planes, as well as to dedicate a video to the strange disappearance of the Cessna-310 in which Camilo Cienfuegos was riding. Because of the videos of him, he was questioned several times by the Police.
With the explosion, the channel took a turn: the live recording of the fire made it popular, it began to gain more followers, and various celebrities—such as the singer Yotuel—broadcast their images.
“There was absolutely nothing in the official press,” laments Moreno, who did not find any serious reports in the local newspaper. Giron nor in the other official media. That silence prompted him to go out into the street, looking for the Versailles area – one of the most contaminated by smoke – but the Police had already blocked the area.
“I decided then to take out the first video,” he says. “I was sweating, without shaving. For the first time I did a direct one and I said everything. I wanted to help and inform, because I knew that the Government was not acting as it should, and that there was a lot of censorship about the situation. With very little – a telephone and my YouTube channel – I tried to take advantage of my position, right in front of the fire, at a very good angle to record.”
The days passed and Moreno detailed every aspect of the explosion, from the technical situation of the Supertankers to the death of the young firefighters who were practically sent to die.
“Then,” he says, “a source I have in the Ministry of the Interior warned me that they were looking for me. I left my house and took refuge in another place, but the moment I uploaded one of the updates, they found me. The The informers were the directors of Geocuba, where I worked, who hate me and have made life impossible for my family”.
The days passed and Moreno detailed every aspect of the explosion, from the technical situation of the Supertankers to the death of the young firefighters who were sent, practically, to die.
The officers parked the car, showed her identification, and asked her to come with them. Moreno replied that he had to go back to his house and leave the bicycle on which he rode, which belonged to a friend. They escorted him, put the vehicle away, and took him to the police unit known as El Técnico de Matanzas. After several hours of confinement, interrogations and torture, he says, they forced him to film a “reassuring” report for his followers. Later, they released him in the middle of a storm.
“I recounted the interrogation in one of the YouTube videos, but even there I did not say all the details. I have not recounted the torture, the threats, which were, frankly, disgusting. I am even ashamed to recount it because of the disrespect, the blackmail. In short, they did not want the information to be known or for people to take to the streets. It was the moment when the people of Matanzas began to evacuate and they were very aware of my videos.”
Moreno explains the viciousness of State Security against him: he studied Geodesy and Cartography in military schools and worked in centers run by the Armed Forces. During the 9/11 protests, he had confronted the Geocuba authorities and was expelled from his job.
The contacts he made during that time, however, helped him to anticipate several run-ins with Cuban counterintelligence and to learn various techniques –such as memorizing the license plates of the cars, the faces and identities of the officers– to disconcert, he assures, the agents.
From the episode of the Supertankers, he was impressed not only by the ineptitude of the Government, but also by the fact that they privileged ideology over the crisis. “The campaign to turn them into heroes or martyrs and not say what they were: victims. They died in the service of the country, was the slogan. And no: they were assassinated,” he laments.
From the episode of the Supertankers, he was impressed not only by the ineptitude of the Government, but also by the fact that they privileged ideology over the crisis
Moreno guarantees that he has “fighting partners” left in Cuba, who live in what he calls the “clandestine” and trust that it will not be long before Cuba is free. Telling too many details about what happened after those days, he says, puts them in danger. After his arrest, he went to Artemisa, to get out of the “range of action” of State Security. There, together with a group of people, he tried to leave the country and reach the United States by sea. However, the boat broke down and the trip was frustrated. Months later, he was able to leave by plane.
Outside of Cuba, he started a new series of videos on YouTube. Now living anonymously, she aspires to a greater connection between exile and those who try to oppose the government inside Cuba. Meanwhile, she also wants to work for his future.
“Since I was a child, I dream of being a pilot,” he says. “I love physics, astronomy, mathematics. I am fascinated by science. I speak English. In Geocuba I got to drive fixed-wing Skywalker X-8 unmanned aircraft.” Moreno doesn’t know where he will be tomorrow, but he has gotten used to having few things and making the most of it. “The most important thing in a fight”, he settles it, “is to preserve life”.
________________________
Collaborate with our work:
The team of 14ymedio He is committed to doing serious journalism that reflects the reality of deep Cuba. Thank you for accompanying us on this long road. We invite you to continue supporting us, but this time becoming a member of our newspaper. Together we can continue transforming journalism in Cuba.
