Miguel Díaz-Canel delivered a passionate speech this Thursday at the corner of 23 and 12 in Havana, on the occasion of the 65th anniversary of the proclamation of the socialist character of the Cuban Revolution, and reaffirmed socialism as the only solution for Cuba during the worst economic moment for the regime since the 90s. This was reported by the official newspaper Granma.
The event commemorates April 16, 1961, when Fidel Castro proclaimed the socialist character of the Revolution during the funeral of victims of the bombings that preceded the invasion of Playa Girón, which was defeated in less than 72 hours.
"The socialist character of our Revolution is not a phrase from the past. It is the shield of the present and the guarantee of the future," declared Díaz-Canel before the combatants of Girón, participants of the 5th International Colloquium Homeland and international solidarity delegations.
The ruler , which he described as "genocidal and multidimensional," and rejected the narrative of Cuba as a failed state: "Cuba is a besieged state."
"Cuba is a state facing multidimensional aggression: economic warfare, intensified sanctions, and an energy blockade. Cuba is a threatened state that does not surrender."
Although he acknowledged "his own mistakes" in the process of social construction, he subordinated them to the weight of the embargo and claimed that "the main cause of our problems is the genocidal blockade by the United States government against our people."
The speech, however, contrasts with a reality that Díaz-Canel himself described without euphemisms: "Cuban daily life is painful, from the vital rest interrupted first by the blackout and then by the return of electricity after long hours, which has pushed domestic work into the early morning, to the paralysis of industries, transportation, essential services, and production, because there is an absolute lack of fuel for almost everything."
The energy crisis of 2026 was triggered by the capture of Nicolás Maduro on January 3 by U.S. forces, which disrupted the Venezuelan supply of between 25,000 and 35,000 barrels per day of subsidized oil that represented two-thirds of Cuban imports.
This was compounded by the Executive Order 14380 signed by Trump on January 29, which imposed tariffs on countries that supply crude oil to Cuba, leading to the suspension of shipments from Mexico and the interception of at least seven tankers by the US Coast Guard.
Blackouts affect up to 63% of the national territory, with power outages lasting up to 25 hours a day. The UN estimates that two million people are affected, with 96,000 surgeries pending and a million without stable access to water. The Cuban GDP has accumulated a contraction of 23% since 2019, and 80% of Cubans believe this crisis is worse than the Special Period of the 1990s.
Díaz-Canel also warned about serious threats, including military aggression from the United States, although he expressed a preference for dialogue: "It is essential to consider everything that would affect human lives in our two nations if they were dragged into a senseless conflict."
The speech comes four days after Díaz-Canel granted the first interview of a Cuban leader with U.S. television since Fidel Castro in 1959, in which he told NBC News: "I am not afraid. I am willing to give my life for the revolution."
In the face of the deepest crisis the regime has faced in decades, Díaz-Canel concluded his speech with the same slogan as always: "Only socialism has turned the children of workers and peasants into top professionals, not in exceptional cases as in capitalism, but en masse."
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