The televised message from Miguel Díaz-Canel, as lengthy and monotonous as the speeches of the dictator Fidel Castro, confirmed what millions of Cubans already experience daily: the country has returned to the harsh years of the Special Period.
During his extensive speech, the leader acknowledged that since December 2025, no oil has arrived on the island from Venezuela and that the dictatorship is facing a deep energy crisis, with no immediate solutions or external allies.
Díaz-Canel explained that the situation "cannot be resolved overnight" and that the Council of Ministers approved a set of guidelines to address the acute shortage of fuel.
The plan, inspired by the measures of the Special Period in the 1990s, revisits the so-called "zero option" designed by Fidel Castro, now updated for the new context.
According to him, these strategies include prioritizing state consumption, reducing energy expenditure, and redistributing the available fuel.
The ruling official acknowledged that the island has been without oil since December, following the naval blockade imposed by the United States on Venezuela, a measure that cut off the supply of Venezuelan crude to Cuba.
"We have a complex energy situation," he acknowledged, pointing out that the fuel deficit affects not only electricity generation but also transportation, agricultural production, and other essential services for the population.
Díaz-Canel stated that some of the measures will be "restrictive" and that the country must "promote savings" in order to sustain basic activities.
"There are things we need to stop or postpone in order to keep functioning. There is much that can be saved," the leader insisted, referring to possible cuts in sectors not deemed a priority.
The speech, focused on the rhetoric of sacrifice and resilience, appealed to the regime's longstanding narrative about the "moral strength" of the Cuban people in the face of adversity.
Díaz-Canel warned that the measures would not be permanent but would depend on the availability of fuel at any given time, although he acknowledged that they would require "effort and discipline."
"I know that people say: sacrifice again. But if we don't make sacrifices and don't stand firm, what are we going to do? Are we going to surrender? And surrender is not an option for Cuba," the leader expressed, in a message that recalled the harsher rhetoric of Fidel Castro during the 1990s.
The leader also appealed to patriotic rhetoric, evoking the "Cuban men and women who gave their lives for this country" and even mentioning the "fallen comrades in Venezuela," a reference to the Cuban soldiers who have died on missions for the Chávez regime.
With that epic and confrontational tone, Díaz-Canel sought to present the crisis as an ideological battle rather than a consequence of the inefficiency and isolation of the Cuban model.
The dictatorship attributes the crisis to the tightening of sanctions by President Donald Trump, who since January 2026 imposed tariffs and restrictions on any company or country supplying fuel to the island, following the capture of former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.
However, the energy collapse reflects decades of dependency and lack of investment, exacerbated by the obsolescence of thermal power plants, state corruption, and the absence of a sustainable energy policy.
The current situation resembles the darkest years of the Special Period: power outages lasting over eight hours, collapsed transportation, halted factories, and an exhausted populace once again living amidst darkness and scarcity. In eastern provinces, electrical outages now exceed twelve hours, while the government calls for "understanding" and promises that recovery "will take time."
Although Díaz-Canel assured that "temporary measures" will be implemented to maintain basic services, citizens perceive a complete return to survival mode.
There is no fuel for urban transport, rice fields lack diesel for irrigation, and industries are barely operating at a third of their capacity.
With his speech lasting nearly an hour and a half, the leader attempted to instill calm, but ultimately confirmed what many feared: Cuba has returned to square one.
Amid justifications, slogans, and appeals to the past, Díaz-Canel acknowledged that the country is returning to the tough years of the Special Period, with the same recipes, the same mistakes, and the same stubbornness of a dictatorship that refuses to change.
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