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Cuban social media does not hold back, and this time the target of digital sarcasm is once again Miguel Díaz-Canel.
The meme of the day —created by the satirical page Ma Chete— shows the designated leader vehemently denying that there are any conversations with the United States.
“We are not having conversations with the USA”, says Díaz-Canel with a tense expression, while, on the other side, a peculiar group of people watches him. “Oh, really”, says President Donald Trump, flanked by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and the U.S. Ambassador in Havana, Mike Hammer.
Interestingly, in President Trump's group, there are also the nonagenarian general Raúl Castro and his bodyguard grandson, Raúl Guillermo Rodríguez Castro, known as “The Crab,” who look at Díaz-Canel with a smiling expression.
In a second panel, the appointed ruler is seen with an expression of anger or crying, while on the other side, the group has turned their backs to him, not looking at him, talking among themselves, and El Cangrejo asks "Where were we?", as if Díaz-Canel's passionate speech were just a minor interruption.
The joke explains itself: while the “straw man” of Castroism solemnly declares that “there are no conversations with the U.S.,” on the other side of the vignette, the true protagonists of Cuban and American politics seem to be conducting the negotiations on their own, ready to “burn” the puppet if necessary.
Behind the mockery, some observers point to a more realistic scenario: the possibility of discreet contacts between Washington and figures of real power in Cuba, apart from Díaz-Canel himself.
It would not be an unprecedented precedent; following the arrest of Nicolás Maduro, several media outlets and analysts pointed out that the U.S. military operation had been, in part, agreed upon with brothers Jorge and Delcy Rodríguez to facilitate the transition in Venezuela.
In that context, it's not unreasonable to think that something similar could be brewing in Havana, with the old Castro apparatus exploring a negotiated exit, possibly with a "scapegoat," before a more abrupt outcome.
The post, accompanied by the comment “Still doesn't get it”, went viral immediately among users who mocked the lack of real power of the Cuban leader.
"They are going to take this Days-Counted as a scapegoat, to begin with.", wrote an internet user; another joked: "I think 'Limonardo and Machi' are heading to New York with Maduro.".
The publication played with an increasingly widespread perception: that important decisions about the island are made far from its workplace.
And indeed, following Trump's statements asserting that "talks are happening with Cuba," followed by the denial from the occupant of the Palace, the entire country seems to have reached the same conclusion as Ma Chete: if there are conversations, they probably didn't invite the scapegoat.
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