Claims of Witchcraft in Cuba: "I Nearly Died and Missed My Flight"

A Cuban woman known on TikTok as @ely_china shared a video detailing an unsettling experience she describes as witchcraft during a trip to Cuba. She claimed, "I nearly died and even missed my flight."

In her account, the 30-year-old woman explained that she suddenly began feeling extremely unwell. Every time she tried to eat or drink, her body would involuntarily reject it.

"I would sip on a little soda or juice, but as soon as I put something in my mouth, I had no choice but to let it go," she recounted.

Due to the severity of her condition, she made multiple visits to the hospital, where she received gravinol, a common antiemetic medication in Cuban healthcare facilities.

Some questioned whether the serum she received was just water instead of the actual medication, but she dismissed this: "It was gravinol because it was sourced through alternative means," she clarified, noting the widespread practice in Cuba of obtaining medicines informally due to chronic shortages.

She also dismissed the notion that her symptoms were merely a hangover: "I'm 30 years old and I've handled 300 hangovers without issue," she asserted.

With no medical improvement and having already missed her return flight, the Cuban woman decided to consult a practitioner of Afro-Cuban religions, whom she referred to as a "palero."

"They started working on me, confirming that indeed there was witchcraft involved," she stated.

She admitted her uncertainty about whether the practitioner was a palero or another type of santero, asking her followers to clarify the distinction in the comments.

Afro-Cuban Religious Practices

Palo Monte is an Afro-Cuban religion of Bantu origin that engages with the spirits of the deceased through a sacred cauldron called nganga, whereas Santería involves the veneration of orishas, syncretized with Catholic saints. Both traditions are deeply embedded in Cuban culture and practiced both on the island and within the diaspora, where they have recently gained significant visibility on platforms like TikTok.

In September 2025, another Cuban living in Cape Coral went viral after discovering what she identified as a witchcraft altar at her doorstep, sparking a similar debate among believers and skeptics.

The concept of "witchcraft" in the Cuban cultural context refers to spiritual works conducted by a third party with malicious intent. This belief is widespread in Cuba and among Cubans abroad, continuing to generate millions of interactions on social media.