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Cuban Chancellor Bruno Rodríguez stated this Sunday that the country is facing a particularly complex moment, and that the situation will require greater efforts from the population. “The scenario is tough and will demand great sacrifice,” he wrote in a message published on the social media platform X, in which he once again held the United States responsible for the economic and energy deterioration of the island.
In his post, Rodríguez stated that “the aggression of #US against #Cuba is not new” and that it has intensified in recent years, “including the effort to completely block our fuel supplies.” According to the head of Cuban diplomacy, Washington's goal would be to “bend the political will of the Cubans,” a goal he described as impossible, although —he added— some persist “with the aim of causing as much harm as possible to the people.”
The chancellor also reiterated that the government remains open to dialogue. “Our willingness to engage in dialogue is clear and well-known. It has been stated directly and publicly,” he remarked, while asserting that Cuba has “international solidarity and support” and is not “with arms crossed.”
The statements come in a context of increasing tension following measures announced by the Donald Trump administration to tighten economic pressure on Havana, particularly in the energy sector. In recent weeks, Rodríguez had already referred to an “international emergency” and denounced what he described as a escalation of sanctions and pressures on third countries supplying oil to the island, amid a crisis characterized by blackouts, shortages, and stunted production.
The chancellor's message provoked a wave of critical reactions on both X and Facebook. Several comments directly questioned the call for sacrifice. "You talk about sacrifice… but it’s always the people who sacrifice, never the leaders," wrote a user.
Other users questioned the official stance on the country's "political will." "The political will of the Cubans? Are you serious?" read one of the messages, while another stated: "The will of the Cuban people has been bent by your system, with blackouts, hunger, and repression."
There were also questions raised about the dialogue discourse. “When it says 'our willingness to dialogue', who is included in that plural?”, asked one comment. “You talk about dialogue while young people are being imprisoned and those who think differently are being persecuted,” pointed out another user.
On Facebook, several comments insisted that the crisis cannot be attributed solely to external factors. “Blaming the United States is the oldest excuse of a power that refuses to look in the mirror,” wrote one user, while another pointed out, “If Cuba were well-governed, no sanction would have brought it to collapse.”
Some messages called for specific political changes. "All these problems can be resolved with free and multiparty elections, something normal in any country," commented one user, while another added, "The solution is for them to relinquish power and let the people freely choose their destiny."
Other comments reflected the accumulated social fatigue. "Don't ask a mother who has no food for her children to endure any more, nor an elderly person who can't sleep due to blackouts," wrote a user. "We've been sacrificing ourselves for decades and things are getting worse," summarized another message.
That frustration had already manifested in recent reactions to publications by other regime leaders, as was the case when Miguel Díaz-Canel publicly thanked Mexico for the aid sent, and numerous Cubans responded with criticism and questions about how long the country will continue to depend on external aid without addressing its structural problems. In this context, the call for a “great sacrifice” once again highlighted the gap between the official discourse and the feelings of broad sectors of the population.
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