Related videos:
The ruling Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez was seen at the military maneuvers organized by the regime for the third consecutive weekend following the rise in tensions with the U.S.
This time, smiling in one of the photos, Díaz-Canel appeared in the "defense zone" of Tamarindo, in the Havana municipality of Diez de Octubre, according to a report by the Cuban News Agency.
Díaz-Canel was once again accompanied by the military leadership of the regime: the Army Corps generals, Álvaro López Miera and Lázaro Alberto Álvarez Casas, ministers of the FAR and Minint, respectively.
There they were, waiting for the regime's hierarchy: Division General Ernest Feijóo Eiró, head of the Western Army; Liván Izquierdo Alonso, president of the provincial defense council; Lisara Corona Oliveros, president of the municipal defense council of Diez de Octubre; and Division General Ramón Pardo Guerra, head of the National Civil Defense General Staff.
The ruler witnessed a "territorial defensive exercise involving members of production and defense brigades and other formations, where health training was conducted, work was done on the conditioning of military operational theaters and protective works for the population, and training of the groups and subgroups in the defense zone was carried out," reported the official information.
"We all need to know how to act in times of war," said Díaz-Canel.
This Saturday, shortly after Díaz-Canel appeared, the President of the United States, Donald Trump, sent another direct message to the Cuban regime, stating that his administration is willing to engage in dialogue with Havana, but from a position of strength and without concessions to the communism that has ruled the Island for more than six decades.
“I believe we are going to make a deal with Cuba. We will be kind, but we have a very bad situation there,” Trump stated, referring to the economic and energy crisis plaguing the country, which has been intensified by the end of Venezuelan oil supplies and the recent halt of crude oil shipments from Mexico at the request of Washington, due to the decision made by President Claudia Sheinbaum.
The message was interpreted as a direct warning to the regime formally led by Miguel Díaz-Canel, but controlled by Raúl Castro and the military leadership of GAESA, responsible for maintaining a repressive and economically unviable system.
Sources close to the U.S. government believe that Trump's words reflect the beginning of a new phase in the policy towards Cuba, characterized by diplomatic pressure, international isolation of the regime, and support for an internal change process.
"Cuba has no money, it has no oil," the leader insisted, recalling that for years the regime survived thanks to the resources from Venezuela, a flow that has completely stopped following the fall of Nicolás Maduro and the collapse of chavismo."
The president emphasized that any future negotiations with Havana must be based on respect for human rights, the release of political prisoners, and an end to military control over the economy. “We will be kind, but things must change,” he reiterated.
Filed under: