The Cuban regime has once again denied the existence of a student strike and has attempted to discredit the notion that there is a movement of university students willing to stand up against the new rates imposed by the state-owned company ETECSA.
“Despite calls from abroad to create an atmosphere of chaos and discouragement in the university environment, the teaching process continues to develop”, stated journalist Talía González on the National Television News (NTV), reiterating the official narrative that insists on normalcy within the classrooms.
The television report -read by Talía and Rei Gómez- referred to the “debate ongoing between students and professors regarding the announcement of ETECSA's new measures and their impact on the university community”; and asserted that “a respectful dialogue is being maintained to reach a consensus.”
According to the report, the debate spaces have been utilized by the University Student Federation (FEU) to refute "any attempt to take advantage of these spaces for exchange and controversy to distort the authentic opinions and proposals of the Cuban student body."
The report concluded with interviews of students and leaders from the FEU, who defended the official stance.
"We advocate for constant dialogue and for the proper channels to express grievances through organizations as necessary," said Daniel Alejandro Corrales, vice president of the FEU at the University of Havana.
“Organizations do support us; there is an alliance between the organization and the institution. It is not something that is separate. There are indeed grievances among students and within the community regarding the measures, but we always advocate for dialogue and mutual understanding,” he added.
From the Faculty of Communication, Journalism student Jorge Daniel García stated: “As the University Student Federation, we are representing the students in these discussions because it is the students who are truly proposing actions.”
"The proposals from the discussions and dialogues with ETECSA have emerged from the conversations with the FEU. We have accompanied and represented them at all times. These have been strong dialogues, intense debates in search of solutions," he concluded.
Widespread rejection of the "tarifazo" and fissures in the national FEU
However, despite the official discourse, student protests have intensified in recent days.
The Faculty of Communication (FCOM) of the University of Havana announced publicly that it will not accept the additional 6 GB package offered by ETECSA until "more effective solutions that take into account the entire population" are presented.
The decision was made by the Expanded Council of the FEU at that faculty, which reaffirmed its commitment to "critical and strategic dialogue as a tool to resolve, through intelligence, participation, and civility, the issues raised by the new tariffs," but without accepting measures that create privileges.
In recent hours, the Faculty of Communication and Letters at the University of Holguín has also spoken out and called for an indefinite academic strike starting from June 7 "until the measures are revoked."
"We are not a privileged minority; we are the voice of a people tired of paying for inefficiency", they claimed in their statement.
In parallel, students from Mathematics and Computing reaffirmed in an assembly their decision to continue the teachers' strike in protest against ETECSA's measures, labeling them as "a direct aggression against the Cuban people."
"We mobilize for social justice, not for crumbs", they wrote.
The Faculty of Biology publicly rejected the authority of the national president of the FEU, Ricardo Rodríguez González, whom they accused of not representing the true opinions of the student body.
For its part, the Faculty of Philosophy, History, Sociology, and Social Work demanded his immediate resignation, describing his management as “complacent, passive, and lacking critical perspective.”
However, the National Television News states that nothing is happening, and implies that the course is coming to an end, downplaying the determination of thousands of students united around a cause they consider just.
Internet: Right, not a privilege
As a partial response, ETECSA recently announced an additional package of 6 GB for 360 CUP for university students, along with free access to more than 40 educational websites.
However, the students have rejected it, insisting that they are not seeking sectoral privileges, but rather equity in internet access for all citizens.
While the government continues to insist on maintaining an appearance of normalcy and appeals to ideological discipline, legitimate demands, organized protests, and calls for genuine dialogue are multiplying in universities.
The classrooms in the country—despite the governmental narrative—are ablaze with uncomfortable questions that can no longer be ignored.
Denying the existence of a student strike and framing any dissatisfaction within an institutional framework of "respectful dialogue" and "constructive debate" aims to dilute the legitimacy of the students' autonomous actions.
Instead of acknowledging the magnitude and spontaneity of the discontent caused by the new ETECSA rates, the official machinery prefers to present an image of functional normality and ideological cohesion, where the University Student Federation acts more as a containment organ rather than as a genuine representative of student interests.
This defensive attitude, rooted in the delegitimization of critical voices within universities, highlights the regime's resistance to accept any form of independent and cross-sectional organization.
The carefully selected televised statements emphasize a narrative of “dialogue through institutional channels” while ignoring the more pointed criticisms coming from the student base.
In fact, the growing rift within the FEU—with faculties that openly challenge the authority of its national presidency—debunks the myth of a youth uniformly aligned with the tenets of power.
The government's stance, by avoiding the real conflict in classrooms, reveals its inability to connect with a generation that demands concrete changes, not empty rhetoric or fragmented solutions.
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