The designated leader Miguel Díaz-Canel once again turned to revolutionary epic to exalt the role of law in the national history on the day dedicated to the jurist, stating that “Cuba is a nation forged on a foundation of solid legal tradition”.
But his words have generated skepticism both on and off the island, where there is a growing perception that the judicial system is used as a tool to punish dissent and safeguard political power.
In a thread on X, the leader evoked figures such as Céspedes, Agramonte, Martí, and Fidel Castro as “paradigms who found in Law a tool and support for their emancipatory thoughts.”
While congratulating the workers in the legal sector, he expressed his confidence that they will continue "building and making our Socialist State of Law and Social Justice stronger."
Far from embodying impartial justice, the Cuban legal system has been criticized by multiple international organizations as a structure subordinate to the Communist Party, where judges respond to political will and lawyers do not act independently.
“Of course, Cuba has a solid legal tradition: judges who don’t deliver verdicts, they read them; lawyers who defend the government's right to crush the people; courts with ready-made verdicts; and a Penal Code that is more frightening than just”, wrote user @CalienteClavo ironically in a comment.
Another user, @Libertad12021, was more direct. "In Cuba, there are no rights and even less justice. There are more than 1,000 political prisoners imprisoned for raising their voices and demanding freedom. They fabricated crimes to condemn them. They are all innocent. Protesting is not a crime. What rights and justice are you talking about, @DiazCanelB? You are cynical and shameless."
One of the most compelling comments came from @Charliesway4eve, who dismantled the historical narrative of the leader designated by Raúl Castro.
"Cuba was not forged in laws, but in the blood of those who dreamed of a republic for everyone and for the good of all. Martí fought against caudillismo, authoritarianism, and the cult of personality. He died before seeing his dream hijacked. Fidel did the exact opposite: he abolished freedoms, closed newspapers, executed opponents, established a one-party regime, and turned the republic into a personal estate. Martí would have seen in Fidel the Latin American tyrant he feared so much. He would have called him a traitor. And hopefully, he would have ordered him to be shot for usurping the cause of freedom in the name of totalitarianism."
Such comments reflect the frustration of a citizenry that refuses to be seduced by the legal jargon of those in power. While the government celebrates anniversaries and honors national heroes, thousands of Cubans remain imprisoned for expressing themselves, protesting, or simply dissenting.
International organizations such as Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International have systematically denounced that summary trials are conducted in Cuba, effective remedies are denied to the accused, and the exercise of fundamental rights such as peaceful protest and freedom of expression is criminalized.
Following the protests on July 11, 2021, hundreds of Cubans, including minors, were prosecuted and sentenced to long prison terms through procedures rife with irregularities.
Several of those trials were held behind closed doors, with fabricated evidence and witnesses exclusively from the repressive forces of the State.
Many remember emblematic cases such as those of Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara, Maykel Osorbo or the young protesters from La Güinera, sentenced to decades in prison.
On an island where access to independent legal defense is practically nonexistent, and where lawyers must be members of organizations controlled by the state, discussing a "rule of law" sounds, to many, like yet another mockery.
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