The Cuban regime celebrated National Defense Day on Friday in Jibacoa, a municipality in Manicaragua, Villa Clara, with tactical exercises in which weapons and ammunition were transported in carts pulled by oxen and donkeys, sparking a wave of mockery and criticism on social media.
According to the newspaper Granma, the training included a simple ambush for air defense and the interception of a boat that simulated being an enemy.
The videos shared by the Facebook page "Soy Villa Clara," which show the oxen trying to flee upon hearing the gunshots so close, sparked numerous jokes and mockery.
"Good strategy, they shoot once, the bulls are sent running and then the Yankee planes can't detect them," mocked a young emigrant.
"Those oxen wanted to take off flying like Santa Claus's reindeer," expressed a resident of Sancti Spíritus. "They must have good aim with those oxen moving around," said another user.
"Fortunately, the oxen were tied to that old cannon, otherwise, they wouldn't be seen again," commented a Habanero, to which a teacher added, "The oxen almost took off."
The authorities tried to present the maneuvers as evidence of the country's defensive capability, but they had the opposite effect among Cubans who followed the images online.
"Let the Americans see that technology of transporting weapons with oxen. Now that's something they don't have," mocked a netizen.
"What a way to eat crap, with the hunger and need there is for that nonsense," criticized a glazier.
"Look at the number of people without jobs, not producing anything. Get to work and stop eating nonsense," criticized a resident in Santa Clara.
"Honestly, you have no self-respect. To showcase all this nonsense internationally, what's the point?" asked a Cuban from Ecuador.
The event was presided over by Army Corps General Joaquín Quintas Solá, Deputy Minister of the Revolutionary Armed Forces (FAR), along with Brigadier General Israel Cubertier Valdés, head of the Military Region, and Susely Morfa González, President of the Provincial Defense Council and First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba in Villa Clara.
The scenes of soldiers transporting military equipment using animal traction did not surprise those who have been following the military preparations of recent months.
In February, teams of oxen were documented blocking roads in February during similar maneuvers, a tactic that the regime justifies as part of its people's war doctrine.
The use of draft animals partly reflects the precarious situation of Cuba's military equipment. According to recent reports, Cuba has not purchased foreign weapons since 1991, leaving the Armed Forces with an aging arsenal and no real prospects for modernization.
The militarization of civilian life is not new either. Since the beginning of the year, Saturdays are dedicated to weekly military exercises across the country, a measure that the regime has presented as part of strengthening national defense against what it describes as external threats.
The context in which these exercises are held is particularly striking. Villa Clara is one of the provinces most affected by the energy crisis, and just weeks ago it only recovered a quarter of its electricity supply after months of prolonged blackouts that impact the daily lives of its residents.
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