Just two weeks after the tragic death of 13 military personnel - including nine recruits from the Military Service - in an ammunition depot located in the town of Melones, in Holguín, the Revolutionary Armed Forces (FAR) called for the Strategic Exercise Bastión 2024, an event that, as in previous years, highlighted the obsolescence of the regime's military armament.
Since the inauguration, announced in a tedious speech by the ruler Miguel Díaz-Canel, which concluded with the “energetic” approval of the nonagenarian general Raúl Castro -whose “foot in the stirrup” now seems to serve only an ornamental role- until the conclusion of the exercises, the Cuban state media left a trail of unusual images, which once again confirmed that the doctrine of “the war of the whole people” is a discontinued propaganda device.
The "continuity" has repeatedly demonstrated its inability to lead the country and its lack of willingness to implement the changes that Cuba needs. Designed to perpetuate the Cuban totalitarian regime and to keep power in the hands of the island's "royal families," Díaz-Canel's government is juggling in the midst of the worst crisis in its history to present the spectacle of "preparing the country for defense."
The result of such an exercise has been summarized in the images of the regime's top brass and its rulers clad in olive green uniforms, resembling sausages with their enormous bellies, plump necks, and disheveled, weary faces, characteristic of a gang of thugs about to flee, rather than of warriors determined to "fight" against the new administration of Donald Trump and its Cuban-American high command.
The return to the list of state sponsors of terrorism, the statements made by the new Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, and the aggressive foreign policy outlined in the initial remarks of the Republican have heightened concerns in Havana. However, the "combat position" displayed by the regime elicits more pity and compassion than respect or fear, judging by the images that have appeared in the official media.
Beyond the appearance of an army largely made up of young conscripts and thin, haggard noncommissioned officers, beyond their poor clothing and outdated military equipment, beyond the "four anti-aircraft guns," the RPG rocket launchers from the Cold War era, the tanks and AKM rifles leftover from Angola and other campaigns funded by the former Soviet Union, beyond all that scrap metal of radar and surface-to-air missiles that barely pose a threat to crop-dusting planes, the regime's press showcased a couple of bizarre scenes that caused a stir on social media due to their unparalleled absurdity.
A report from the National Television News (NTV) titled “Production and Safeguarding of Food in Bastión 2024,” along with a moment from an exercise involving “special troops” conducted at a university in the country—which was captured by users on social media—stand out among the absurdities showcased in the Strategic Exercise Bastión 2024.
The first one, a real gem, presented a "dramatized" account of a FAR exercise aimed at protecting an agricultural production unit of the army. The "enemy": three alleged thieves whose goal was to steal a bunch of bananas and sacrifice a cow.
To confront such a threat, the report showcased a full “deployment” of forces that included watchtowers, communications equipment, a drone (a touch of “modernity” in the “people's war”), and the intervention of uniformed officers alongside farmers who arrived galloping with shotguns.
If the report qualifies for a MINFAR script "Oscar," the scene shared on social media must be among the nominees for special effects and will surely be under careful analysis by the Pentagon, which will have discovered in it an unprecedented "combative disposition" in the annals of war.
The video itself shows how a squad of "special troops" prepares to surprise a university building containing "enemies" inside. To achieve this, strategists from the Cuban military school decided that the best approach was to "land" on the rooftop and employ descent and rappelling techniques to storm the building.
The outcome of the maneuver elicited a scream of terror from the spectators, who watched in disbelief as a soldier dove headfirst down a rope, bouncing against the wall of the building (where he reportedly lost his teeth, according to comments) and then falling straight to the ground. The person filming the scene was unable to capture the "landing technique," which one can assume was just as astonishing as the start of the action.
Thus concluded Bastión 2024, with some "strategic exercises" that must have caused embarrassment even for the Minister of the FAR, General Álvaro López Miera, who, amidst banana thieves and bonzo warriors ready to sacrifice their dentures, could barely show off his 1980s toys, like the Aero L-39 Albatros, a Czechoslovakian-made training aircraft that Cubadebate showcased as the latest technology in "the defense of the homeland's skies."
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