The Cuban government released a message of deterrence on Friday, in the context of National Defense Day, regarding a potential scenario of aggression.
“If there is preparation and cohesion, anyone who dares to invade Cuban territory will encounter very hostile forces,” they stated during a clarifying meeting led by the leader Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez.
The training session took place in the "Armada" Defense Zone, in the Cerro municipality of Havana, and was specifically set in an activity held at the National Company "Frutas Selectas," according to the official notice.
The statement released by the Cuba Presidency site notes that the meeting also included member of the National Defense Council Esteban Lazo Hernández; Minister of the Armed Forces, Army Corps General Álvaro López Miera; Chief of the National Civil Defense Staff, Divisional General Ramón Pardo Guerra; Chief of the Western Army, Divisional General Ernest Feijóo Eiró; as well as the president of the Provincial Defense Council of Havana, Liván Izquierdo Alonso, and Vice President Yanet Hernández Pérez, among other authorities.
During the meeting, the president of the Municipal Defense Council of Cerro, Mai-Lin Alberty Arozarena, explained—according to the text—various aspects related to "defense structures," "tactical and strategic objectives," and organizational and security measures aimed at "ensuring defense" against a "potential systematic wear and enemy invasion" in the context of "unconventional warfare."
After the meeting, Díaz-Canel toured sections of the company and spoke with workers who were practicing rifle assembly and disassembly, in addition to organizing an exhibition of supplies deemed "vital" in a potential "war context."
In statements to the presidential press team cited by the report itself, Alberty described it as "strategic" that "every Cuban" takes on the defense of the homeland in a "non-conventional war scenario," of "economic warfare," and of "intensified blockades."
It also mentioned the priority of preparing the Production and Defense Brigades to protect economic objectives and maintain the "vitality of the population and the soldiers," according to the note.
The warlike rhetoric of the regime
At the beginning of 2026, the Cuban regime intensified its militaristic rhetoric amidst an internal climate marked by economic collapse and public distrust.
In January, the National Television News kicked off what is known as the "Year of Preparation for Defense 2026," a campaign that the government of Miguel Díaz-Canel presented as an effort to "strengthen military invulnerability" and "refine the combat deployment" of the Revolutionary Armed Forces (FAR).
The military speech coincided with the increasing pressure from Washington following the capture of the Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro by U.S. forces, an event that disrupted the balance of power in the Caribbean.
While the administration of Donald Trump consolidated its military presence in the region, the Cuban government resorted to the language of ideological confrontation, attempting to project internal cohesion amid its greatest political fragility in decades.
A few days later, the regime staged new military exercises as part of the National Defense Day, presented as a demonstration of “military strength and ideological cohesion.”
Analysts agreed that the government's insistence on the "war of the whole people" is less about a real risk of aggression and more about a political necessity: maintaining ideological control, emotionally mobilizing the citizenry, and reinforcing the narrative of external siege that justifies its permanence in power. In this context, military exercises symbolize more a theater of resistance than a true defense strategy.
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