The Ministry of the Armed Forces (MINFAR) showcased its "combat readiness" this Saturday during National Defense Day in Cuba by displaying a video of maneuvers using common old motorcycles.
“Mobile groups are coming together,” reads the Facebook post from MINFAR, which features a somewhat low-quality video of motorcyclists riding on motorcycles, dismounting to shoot, and simulating combat in an open field.
Images of Cuba's outdated arsenal have become fodder for memes and mockery on social media amid the tension between the regime and the Trump Administration.
Images vs propaganda
While state television spoke of a "strong response," "perfect machinery," and "guaranteed defense," the images broadcast by the Canal Caribe told a different story during the military exercises for the National Defense Day in Cuba.
The news report described the operation as a “real combat” against a simulated enemy attempting to infiltrate national territory through a supposed helicopter-borne landing.
According to the official version, the air defense reacted quickly, the artillery opened fire, and the troops managed to “shoot down” the invader, securing the area seamlessly.
However, the scenes being broadcast are far from the epic narrative. Helicopters of evident antiquity fly over the area at low altitude, with limited maneuvers and without visible deployments that suggest a complex operation.
On land, rusty armored vehicles advance slowly through dry and neglected terrain, resembling more of a symbolic display than a modern combat exercise.
Díaz-Canel, present
The Cuban leader Miguel Díaz-Canel attended military exercises this Saturday amid tensions with the Trump Administration.
Díaz-Canel was seen at the Great Tank Unit of the Combative Glory "Rescue of Sanguily" and later at an air defense unit, where he rallied the troops with the usual slogans of the regime's propaganda.
"The best way to prevent an aggression is for imperialism to have to calculate what the cost of attacking our country would be. And that has a lot to do with the preparation we have for this type of military action," he said, according to a report from the Presidency of Cuba.
The leader was accompanied by the military high command of the regime: the Army Corps General and Minister of the Revolutionary Armed Forces (FAR), Álvaro López Miera; Army Corps General Roberto Legrá Sotolongo, First Deputy Minister and Chief of the General Staff of the FAR; and Army Corps General and Deputy Minister of the FAR, Joaquín Quintas Solá.
"This takes on significant importance in the current moments," he said in reference to the exercises he observed: "given the entire hegemonic offensive being carried out by the United States government."
He also highlighted the high levels of "preparation, cohesion that you have, and cooperation among the different types of components of the territorial defense system."
“By participating in this way, preparing ourselves for the defense of the Homeland, we achieve unity, and when we have come together, history has shown that we always achieve victory,” she added.
Tension with the U.S.
Following the capture of Nicolás Maduro on January 3, the administration of President Donald Trump would be actively working to provoke a political change in Cuba before the end of the year, according to an extensive investigation published by The Wall Street Journal.
According to U.S. officials cited by the newspaper, Washington sees a “historic window of opportunity” to push the Cuban government towards collapse, in the context of unprecedented economic decline and increasing regional isolation.
Although there is no declared military plan or official timeline, the White House's strategy aims to intensify economic, diplomatic, and symbolic pressures on the Cuban regime, while seeking internal interlocutors willing to negotiate a potential transition.
Alongside public pressure measures, the U.S. government has intensified its discreet contacts with the Cuban exile community and civic leaders in cities like Miami and Washington.
What is the objective?: To identify potential figures within the Cuban state apparatus who can "see what is coming" and are willing to negotiate a negotiated exit.
According to the Wall Street Journal, multiple private meetings have been held in which information has allegedly been requested about Cuban officials or military personnel "willing to understand the historical moment" and break away from the leadership.
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