The division general Víctor Leonardo Rojo Ramos, head of the Political Directorate of the Revolutionary Armed Forces (FAR) and a member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba, stated this Friday that the public demand by singer-songwriter Silvio Rodríguez to receive an AKM rifle does not constitute a call to war, but rather a declaration of "cultural and political resistance against the threats from the United States government".
Rojo Ramos delivered these words as the keynote speaker at the ceremony held in the Granma Hall of the Ministry of the FAR on the occasion of National Defense Day, an event where the regime formally presented Silvio Rodríguez with a real AKM combat rifle and a symbolic replica of the same.
The event was presided over by Miguel Díaz-Canel in his capacity as president of the National Defense Council, and the weapon was handed over personally by the Minister of the FAR, Army Corps General Álvaro López Miera.
The Minister of the Interior, General Lázaro Alberto Álvarez Casas; the first deputy minister of the FAR and chief of the General Staff, General Roberto Legrá Sotolongo; and the wife of the singer-songwriter, flautist Niurka González, were also present.
The ceremony responded to a statement that Silvio Rodríguez published on his blog Segunda Cita, in a post titled "Cuba at the Crossroads of Hypocritical Multilateralism."
There, the troubadour of 79 years wrote: "I demand my AKM, if they launch it. And let it be clear that I say this very seriously." The phrase was a direct reaction to the threats from President Donald Trump, who last Sunday claimed it would be "a great honor" to take Cuba, describing it as a "failed nation."
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