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The Cuban troubadour Raúl Torres has done it again. Under the title "Imminent Trench Declaration!!!" (with three exclamation marks), "committed" another lyrical declaration addressed to President Miguel Díaz-Canel, turning the leader into the protagonist of an epic revolutionary novel, complete with royal palms, mud-filled boots, "fierce humility," and other sentimental elements: pure "poetry of resistance."
The "prose poem" begins with an image that would make any creative writing instructor blush: "In the deepest bone of this long night, where the horizon sometimes turns into a mist of exhaustion, there is a root that does not yield." From there, Torres does not hold back: he glorifies Díaz-Canel alongside José Martí, affectionately calling him "companion" and portraying him as the selfless captain of a ship that carries "an entire people on board," heroically sailing "with fierce humility" against the waves of imperialism.
"Your bravery takes the strange and worthy form of someone who decides to stay when the world offers the easy way out of shipwreck," Torres asserts. He adds a few lines later: "Save a bit of that light for when your chest feels as heavy as lead; you know that in the invisible furrow of this island that endures, there is a silence of millions that becomes a shield when you pronounce the word 'Homeland.' It is not just a country, Diaz-Canel; it is a struggle of love against the geography of the empire."
It would be good, by the way, to save a bit of that "light" to compensate for the incessant blackouts that the Island suffers, which reach more than 20 to 30 hours in many localities.
The "official necrotrovador" defines the ruler's attitude towards his adversaries: "That is the poetry of resistance: to know oneself vulnerable and yet, not to yield to fear." The enemy, he explains with precise metaphor, "has the name of a bank and a letter of destiny," while the critics are merely "cynics" who "calculate the weight of the blocks in cold dollars," but are unable to measure "the armored tenderness" that is required to defend the utopia.
The poetic outburst continues with an agro-meteorological reference: "Keep going, keep going with the certainty of one who plants in a cyclone, because after the downpour, when the boots are filled with mud and exhaustion tries to disguise itself as reason, a shoot of royal palm will break through the concrete of the siege. And it will bloom, my friend, it will bloom because you have not let go of the root."
The text concludes with an update on the classic Guevarist sentiment, with an added touch of emotion: "Until victory. Always. Beyond victory, to the tenderness of what is just."
This post is the third of its kind in less than ten days. On Sunday, April 13, Torres had already published another statement of militant affection praising Díaz-Canel following his interview with NBC journalist Kristen Welker. According to the troubadour, each response from the president was like "another brick in that different wall that is not of hate, but of dignity." And on Wednesday, the 8th, a kind of lyrical street manifesto appeared on his Facebook, which began: "... buddy, let me explain to you… how sad and ashamed I feel for those pseudo-artists who dream of seeing the blood of their own people shed," referring to exiled artists who, he claims, promote sanctions and a possible military intervention in Cuba from the comfort of Miami.
Although he has tearfully complained about not being included in the Museum of Music, Torres has been acting as the unofficial laureate poet of the regime for years. He composed "Cabalgando con Fidel" after the dictator's death in November 2016, followed with "Laureles y olivos" in 2017, dedicated "El último mambí" to Raúl Castro, and released "Soy por Fidel" in August 2025, marking the 99th anniversary of Castro's birth.
His poetic and flattering manifestations occur while Cuba is undergoing one of its worst energy, economic, and migration crises in decades, marked by widespread blackouts, intense protests, and a historic exodus of people, which seemingly finds no place in his verses; not even a small "shoot of the royal palm" to break through the concrete of reality.
The political alignment of the troubadour has resulted in a sustained loss of followers on social media documented since January 2022, a fact that the "cynics," Torres is sure, will also calculate in cold hard dollars.
The trench poetry, the troubadour might think, can replace the electricity, the bread, and the freedom that are lacking for that people whom, according to him, Díaz-Canel is heroically guiding. Please, stop the boat; we want to get off.
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