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The province of Las Tunas began a fumigation campaign this Monday to try to curb the spread of the Aedes aegypti mosquito, amid an increasingly critical epidemiological scenario due to the sustained rise in fever cases, dengue, and chikungunya.
During a meeting with the top authorities of the Party and the Government, Dr. Yumara Acosta García, the acting director of the General Directorate of Health, acknowledged that the province is facing a “high sanitary complexity,” characterized by the simultaneous circulation of several viruses, ranging from respiratory to those transmitted by mosquitoes, as reported by Tiempo 21.
The official confirmed the active presence of chikungunya, a disease that adds to dengue and a "notable increase in febrile syndromes in the last 21 days," a situation that has necessitated the reorganization of both hospital services and primary care across all municipalities.
The fumigation campaign will prioritize the areas with the highest incidence of suspected cases: Las Tunas, identified as the most affected; Puerto Padre; Majibacoa; and Jobabo, with Amancio to follow later.
As often happens, local authorities did not provide accurate data on the number of infections, hospitalizations, or deaths, in a national context characterized by a lack of transparency and an overwhelmed healthcare system.
However, the official recognition of the circulation of chikungunya in Las Tunas confirms the seriousness of an outbreak that has already put a significant part of the country on health alert.
The regime acknowledges the lack of control over arboviral diseases in Cuba but responds with slogans and propaganda
The Cuban regime itself has ultimately acknowledged what millions of citizens have been denouncing for months: the country is experiencing an uncontrollable epidemic.
However, instead of acknowledging his responsibility and implementing effective measures, the designated leader Miguel Díaz-Canel resorted once again to the usual formula of the system: televised meetings, triumphant speeches, and empty promises wrapped in scientific rhetoric.
“We are going to tackle this epidemic just as we did with COVID-19,” declared Díaz-Canel during a meeting held this Tuesday in the Palacio's halls. The statement, instead of inspiring confidence, sends chills through a population that recalls the chaos, censorship, and secrecy that characterized the handling of the pandemic in Cuba.
An admission that comes too late and poorly
The official report itself acknowledges the magnitude of the problem: 38 municipalities with active dengue transmission, over 21,000 cases of chikungunya, and fever outbreaks in 68 municipalities across the country. The figures, although polished, reflect a nationwide expansion.
Despite this, the government insists that the situation has "improved" in recent weeks, a narrative disconnected from the reality faced by overwhelmed hospitals, neighborhoods infested with mosquitoes, and families forced to improvise treatments without medicine or medical care.
Instead of acknowledging the lack of systematic fumigation, the shortage of reagents, and the absence of healthcare personnel—resulting from the massive exodus of doctors and nurses—the regime once again blames "population indiscipline" and calls for "community participation," a euphemism used to offload its own inefficiency onto the citizens.
Propaganda instead of management
The report from the Cuban Presidency is a textbook example of how propaganda replaces public information.
Each paragraph repeats slogans of "inter-sectorality," "discipline," and "revolutionary science," but it does not provide a single verifiable piece of information regarding mortality, hospitalizations, or the availability of supplies.
While the doctor in charge of vector surveillance acknowledges that "not all areas have been reached" due to a lack of equipment, fuel, or personnel, the text hastily emphasizes the "preparation of brigades" and the "quality of the work," as if rhetoric alone were sufficient to eliminate mosquitoes or cure the sick.
The insistence on "facing the epidemic like COVID-19" is almost sarcastic: that management led to thousands of unacknowledged deaths, collapsed hospitals, a shortage of oxygen, and repression against doctors and citizens who reported the reality. Today, history is repeating itself, with new diseases and the same lies.
Although the official article does not mention it explicitly, the language used—emphasizing "home isolation," "entry into the home," and "patient discipline"—suggests that Díaz-Canel's government may be laying the groundwork to declare partial or selective lockdowns in areas with the highest number of infections.
It would not be the first time that the regime resorts to restrictive measures under the guise of health concerns: during the COVID-19 pandemic, "social discipline" was synonymous with territorial control, repression, and neighborhood surveillance.
The parallel with that discourse anticipates the possibility of covert closures, militarization of neighborhoods, and restrictions on mobility in the name of "epidemiological surveillance."
Institutional blindness and informational opacity
Opacity is now a structural part of the Cuban healthcare system. There is no public access to the actual data on incidence, mortality, or the geographical distribution of outbreaks.
The reports from MINSAP have been reduced to vague statements and broadcast meetings where officials talk about "accumulated experiences" and "lessons learned from COVID" while the entire country falls ill.
It is revealing that the official text itself mentions "identifying the problem once the patient presents with a fever," as if the island had not been facing an explosive increase in febrile syndromes for months.
Only now, faced with the impossibility of hiding it, the regime acknowledges the epidemic, although it cloaks it in its discourse of "revolutionary science" to disguise the administrative incompetence that has allowed its spread.
An exhausted system
The healthcare collapse is not a result of chance, but rather of years of neglect, the export of services and medical professionals, lack of investment, and prioritization of military, propaganda, and tourism infrastructure spending over medical needs.
Hospitals are lacking beds, laboratories have no reagents, and pharmacies are empty. However, the regime continues to finance the construction of hotels that remain vacant, political campaigns, and ideological reaffirmation events, while calling on medical students to "reinforce" tasks that should be performed by qualified professionals.
The reality is that Cuba is facing a widespread health crisis with no resources or transparency. The regime's response is once again the same as always: controlling the narrative, distorting the data, and blaming the people.
Meanwhile, arboviruses are on the rise, hospitals are overwhelmed and the entire country is once again reliving the hell of the pandemic, this time without excuses, without vaccines, and without hope.
"The crisis is severe, with only about 30% having contracted the virus," according to MINSAP
Authorities from the Ministry of Public Health (Minsap) and specialists in arboviruses appeared last week on Mesa Redonda to discuss the deteriorating epidemiological situation in Cuba, characterized by the spread of dengue, chikungunya, and other mosquito-borne viruses.
The national director of Epidemiology, Dr. C. Francisco Durán García, acknowledged that the health crisis in the country remains “acute”, although he assured that there is a “trend toward decrease” in cases. He insisted that after being infected with chikungunya, individuals gain immunity; however, the best course of action is to avoid contracting the disease.
Durán denied that 90% of the population has been infected with chikungunya, but admitted that the assessments yield concerning figures, with “30%, or more than 30%” of infections.
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