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A striking detail caught attention after the recent session of the National Defense Council, presided over by Miguel Díaz-Canel and broadcasted on Cuban television: the MINREX decided to highlight on its social media only the speech of the Vice Prime Minister Oscar Pérez-Oliva Fraga, the great-nephew of Fidel and Raúl Castro.
While high-ranking officials from the Party, the State, and the Government participated in the meeting—among them the ministers of Energy, Health, Education, and Economy—the Ministry of Foreign Affairs published a single message focused on Pérez-Oliva on its official account on X (formerly Twitter).
"Vice Prime Minister Oscar Pérez-Oliva Fraga detailed the aid received after Hurricane Melissa," noted the tweet from MINREX, which also provided specific figures: "UN Plan: 74 million dollars, with 11 million already activated. Donations from several European countries, from the Americas, and from other parts of the world stand out."
The post, which omitted any reference to the other participants or to Díaz-Canel himself, did not go unnoticed by analysts and users on social media, who see in the gesture a new attempt to position Pérez-Oliva as the new face of the regime's power machinery.
Recently promoted to vice prime minister, while retaining his position as head of Foreign Trade and Foreign Investment, Pérez-Oliva —age 54— has been gaining an unusual prominence within the Cuban leadership. His connection to the Castro family and his rising public profile have made him a figure that some refer to as “the technocratic heir” of Castroism.
The tweet from MINREX reinforces that perception, especially in a context where the regime is trying to project an image of international openness and humanitarian cooperation following the devastation caused by Hurricane Melissa.
However, within the island, international aid barely translates into relief for the population, which continues to suffer from power outages, food shortages, and a general collapse of basic services.
It is striking that the Foreign Ministry, the center of international projection of the power and the alleged legitimacy of the regime, and the disseminator of the propaganda of the so-called "revolution," highlights a single political figure at an institutional event filled with other leaders.
For many, the gesture confirms that the regime seeks to consolidate a new face of power under the familial umbrella of the Castros, at a time when the supposed legitimacy of Díaz-Canel and his team is more questioned than ever.
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