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The Cuban regime organized a political event on Saturday in front of the municipal headquarters of the Communist Party of Cuba (PCC) in Morón, Ciego de Ávila, the site of protests that shook the city on Friday night.
The event, presented by the state media as a "revolutionary reaffirmation act," took place on the morning of March 14 and was presided over by Julio Heriberto Gómez Casanova, the first secretary of the Provincial Committee of the PCC in Ciego de Ávila.
According to the state newspaper Invasor, the event took place “in rejection of the vandalistic acts that occurred in the early morning,” referring to the protests that took place in the municipality, where residents took to the streets to protest the blackouts, food shortages, and the economic crisis.
The images shared by official media and government-linked profiles show party officials and a small group of supporters in front of the PCC building while delivering speeches and slogans in support of the regime.
However, several observers noted that many of the photos circulated from the event are taken with close-up shots, creating the impression of a larger turnout than what is actually evident in other images of the same event.
Independent journalist José Raúl Gallego commented on social media that, despite the attempt to frame the photographs to show greater popular support, the images themselves reveal a limited number of participants in the activity called by the PCC.
The event takes place just hours after a night of heightened tensions in Morón, where numerous videos circulated on social media showing groups of residents walking the streets, chanting slogans against the government and conducting pot-banging protests.
During the protests, clashes also occurred outside the municipal headquarters of the Party, where a fire broke out on the street and damage was reported to the building.
One of the most striking moments of the protest was captured in a video that went viral on the internet, showing the instant when a young man is injured after a gunshot is heard while he was near the PCC building.
In the images, the boy falls to the ground and is helped by several protesters, who carry him and transport him on a motorcycle to take him to a hospital.
Although various reports on social media claim that the young man was shot by a police officer —with some even suggesting he might be a minor— official media have denied that there were any shots fired at protesters and assert that the young man was injured from a fall.
The official narrative has also sought to portray the events as isolated disturbances led by a small group of individuals manipulated from the outside.
Meanwhile, profiles linked to government institutions have shared videos recorded in the early morning showing empty streets in Morón, accompanied by messages stating that the city is "in complete tranquility."
The protests occurred amid growing social unrest on the island, fueled by prolonged power outages, food shortages, and the deterioration of living conditions.
In this context, the swift organization of a political event in front of the very building that was the scene of the protest appears to be part of the regime's propaganda apparatus strategy to project an image of control and popular support following the unrest.
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