A new graffiti bearing the message “Raúl singao. Down with the dictatorship” appeared on a wall in the Havana neighborhood of Buenavista, specifically at the intersection of 70 and 27 streets, adding to the growing wave of public expressions of rejection against the Cuban regime.
The image of the graffiti was shared on the social network X (formerly Twitter) by the user @SanMemero, who posted it as a "contribution to the paint your piece contest," a civic initiative that promotes the use of street art as a form of symbolic protest. "The surname expands among dictators," wrote the user, apparently alluding to the Castro family.
The graffiti also represents a symbolic evolution in forms of popular protest: for the first time, the insult "singao", widely used by Cubans to derogatorily refer to Miguel Díaz-Canel since the protests on July 11, 2021, has now been publicly extended to Raúl Castro, indicating a shift in rejection towards the historical figures of power in Cuba.
This shift in the confrontational language could be interpreted as a deliberate attempt to denounce the disastrous continuity of the system and hold its main architects accountable, those responsible for "nominating" the leader of the "continuity".
This action is part of a trend of increasing dissenting messages in public spaces on the island. Just in June, several similar cases have been documented on social media, reflecting a growing social discontent with the economic crisis, political repression, and prolonged blackouts.
On June 17, a graffiti with the phrase “Down with the dictatorship. Díaz-Canel son of a bitch” appeared on the wall of a medical office in Guanabacoa. According to journalist José Raúl Gallego, the incident occurred in an area with a strong military presence, which did not prevent activists from managing to disseminate the image before it was removed by the authorities.
The next day, several posters with phrases such as “Díaz-Canel singao,” “Down with communism,” and “Freedom” were found in Santa Fe, Isle of Youth. The graffiti was even done amid prolonged blackouts that are affecting that territory severely for the first time.
On June 21, new protest phrases appeared in the municipality of Regla, in Havana. Messages such as “How long” and “They are killing us” were written in the vicinity of the People's Power headquarters. In this instance, the authorities quickly apprehended the alleged author, even deploying criminal experts.
The graffiti also reflects an increasingly clear awareness among Cubans that they are living under a dictatorial system. Far from being isolated acts, these messages reveal a collective understanding of the lack of freedoms, the economic decline, and repression as the pillars of a regime that many no longer fear to call a dictatorship.
That awareness is expressed not only through words but also with the determination to bring them into the public space, in visible walls that break the enforced silence.
Despite the regime's efforts to erase these messages and curb their spread, social media continues to act as an effective platform for denouncing the rising citizen discontent.
The appearance of new graffiti against Raúl Castro in Buenavista is yet another example of the momentum of symbolic resistance and the visible erosion of the government's ideological control.
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