Three months after the Cuban leader Miguel Díaz-Canel made a surprising appearance with a cast on his arm, Prime Minister Manuel Marrero Cruz appeared this Saturday on Cuban Television in a similar situation.
Marrero Cruz, of whom the regime's official press had not reported any activity since his failed appearance to address the "energy emergency" the country was facing, appeared via videoconference at the National Defense Council meeting held on Friday afternoon.
A report from the National Television News (NTV) highlighted Díaz-Canel's call “to intensify efforts in repairing the homes damaged by hurricanes” Oscar and Rafael, as well as the earthquakes that struck eastern Cuba.
At the end of the event, the cameras captured the appearance of the Prime Minister via videoconference, who was seen with an apparently injured left arm in a cast.
Marrero Cruz "highlighted the efforts made by authorities and state institutions to restore normalcy to the affected provinces." According to journalist Héctor Martínez, the prime minister stated that it is "something the people appreciate and are grateful for."
What happened to Marrero Cruz's arm? This is something that the state-run media and the Prime Minister himself have yet to inform the public about.
At the end of August, Díaz-Canel used his social media to announce that his arm had been immobilized due to "severe discomfort," in a message where he thanked those who "worried" about his recovery.
"Thank you very much to those who have shown concern for my arm in a sling and to the excellent medical team that addressed the severe discomfort in my shoulder," the president posted on his X account.
He also explained that his right arm was "temporarily immobilized," but that "the left one is functioning fully, just like the rest of his body. Strong and ready to go, for the country."
For several weeks, the leader was seen "handsome and tough" with his arm in a sling, while the country was heading toward a new escalation of its energy crisis and the complete collapse of its electrical infrastructure.
Now, who appears before the Cubans with the injured arm is Marrero Cruz, who was seen on a screen within another screen, in an appearance that was relegated to the end of the report issued by the state media.
In mid-July, the Prime Minister appeared before the National Assembly of People's Power, an entity that once again canceled the celebration of the "accountability assemblies of the delegate to their voters" due to the energy crisis.
"We are not sitting idly by," said Marrero Cruz in his "report on the status of implementing the government's projections to correct distortions and revitalize the economy during the first half of 2024."
"The results so far do not reflect the change that the population demands," the leader acknowledged, insisting that they were not standing idly by.
A month later, it became evident that the Cuban government's actions were yielding no results, regardless of how much activity they engaged in. Marrero Cruz made a failed appearance on television, Cuba's electrical system collapsed, and the Prime Minister vanished from the news until this Saturday, when he was seen (but not heard) with a cast on his arm.
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