Nick Shirley revealed in a clip posted to X that he “was almost taken hostage in Cuba” while traveling to the communist country to document everyday life under the regime. Unlike some progressive commentators who have made similar trips with government-approved guides, Shirley said he went independently, and nearly paid the price.
According to Shirley, he and his team had their camera equipment seized upon arrival and were closely monitored by regime agents throughout their stay. He added that “the situation in Cuba is much worse than anyone knows,” as many on the left have blamed the country’s conditions solely on U.S. sanctions. However, what Shirley experienced was a feature, not a bug, of life under communism.
🚨 I was almost taken hostage in Cuba...
— Nick shirley (@nickshirleyy) May 4, 2026
I went to Cuba to document the humanitarian crisis and show life under 60+ years of communism and now amid the US blockade. Once I landed, they seized all my cameras except my iPhone and had intelligence agents following me all day until… pic.twitter.com/6VFQCOakGZ
"I was almost taken hostage in Cuba," Shirley wrote on X. "I went to Cuba to document the humanitarian crisis and show life under 60+ years of communism and now amid the US blockade. Once I landed, they seized all my cameras except my iPhone and had intelligence agents following me all day until my security noticed their spies tailing us to the hotel where they waited all night for us to come down."
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"Under communism there is no free speech, and those who show the reality or speak up are imprisoned. Me going without a planned Cuban government guide nearly got me and my security taken hostage or imprisoned," he continued. "The situation in Cuba is much worse than anyone knows."
Left-wing extremist and commentator Hasan Piker, who made a similar trip just months ago with a government-approved guide, slammed Shirley’s account.
"I obviously don’t believe this even a little bit but it’s ominous that this medically stupid d**khead is going to Cuba to manufacture propaganda for what I assume will be additional U.S. intervention."
i obviously don’t believe this even a little bit but it’s ominous that this medically stupid dickhead is going to cuba to manufacture propaganda for what i assume will be additional us intervention. https://t.co/71AoyTcW0Z
— hasanabi (@hasanthehun) May 5, 2026
However, when Piker visited, he stayed in a luxury hotel and toured the country in designer clothing, attributing rolling blackouts, widespread poverty, and poor living conditions to U.S. sanctions rather than the communist system itself. In other words, the reason he didn’t face the same treatment as Shirley, critics argue, is that the Cuban government had little reason to interfere with someone echoing its preferred narrative.
Venezuelan immigrant, economist, and Manhattan Institute fellow Daniel Di Martino has made a similar point, arguing there’s a reason Cuba is more welcoming to sympathetic, left-wing voices.
"There is a reason they let in Hasan Piker and Greta Thunberg but they arrested Nick Shirley," he wrote on X. "The Left LIES to you about Cuba."
There is a reason they let in Hasan Piker and Greta Thunberg but they arrested Nick Shirley.
— Daniel Di Martino (@DanielDiMartino) May 4, 2026
The Left LIES to you about Cuba. https://t.co/hMDrS4mLrC
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