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The former Minister of Culture and president of Casa de las Américas, Abel Prieto, has once again stepped into the forefront of the Cuban regime's propaganda apparatus by publishing an unequivocal message of support for the leader Miguel Díaz-Canel this Sunday, amid the image crisis the ruling figure is facing following his unfortunate exchange with an elderly hurricane Melissa victim.
“The enemy lies shamelessly and does everything possible to tarnish his image; but our people love him, admire him, and recognize him as a worthy successor to Fidel and Raúl. #IStandByMyPresident,” Prieto wrote on his account on X (formerly Twitter).
The message, accompanied by the already visible official slogan #YoSigoAMiPresidente, is part of a new digital campaign to defend the leader of the so-called "continuity," orchestrated to counter the flood of criticism sparked by the incident in Granma, where Díaz-Canel rudely responded to a woman who had lost her bed and mattress with a curt "I don't have one to give you right now either."
A few hours earlier, the former host of the Noticiero Estelar de la Televisión Cubana, Agnes Becerra, had published another message with the same tone: “How much deceit is misplaced, it ends up on their backs, but he is a just man leading a country in extreme situations, under blockade and taking on an immense task. #IStandWithMyPresident”.
Both tweets, seemingly spontaneous, follow the same script: to turn discredit into victimhood and present Díaz-Canel as a besieged yet heroic leader, a “worthy continuator” of the legacy of the dictators Fidel and Raúl Castro.
Hours later, the leader himself directly responded to Prieto on his X account, congratulating him on his 75th birthday: “To the dear friend and the brilliant intellectual who proudly displays his revolutionary commitment while never renouncing that quintessential Cuban humor, @AbelPrieto11, congratulations on your youthful 75.”
The exchange is part of a carefully planned self-promotion strategy: while Prieto acts as the emotional spokesperson for the power, the first secretary of the Communist Party reciprocates in a tone of camaraderie, attempting to reinforce the narrative of unity and continuity.
For many users, however, Prieto's message is yet another example of "propaganda junk": a contrived defense that disregards popular outrage and recycles the clichés of the "media war."
Far from achieving its goal, the #IContinueToSupportMyPresident campaign seems to have deepened the disconnection between the official discourse and the daily reality of an exhausted country, where every gesture of flattery towards those in power echoes as a mockery of the suffering and misery of an entire people.
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