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The Cuban president Miguel Díaz-Canel visited the IDEAS Multimedios booth yesterday during his tour of the V International Colloquium Homeland, held in Havana, to exchange compliments with the workers of the main digital propaganda apparatus of the Cuban regime and to urge them to present the truth of Cuba on the current media stage.
In the meeting, covered with devotion by Cubadebate —the flagship of the IDEAS group...—, Díaz-Canel acknowledged the importance of the website Fidel Soldado de las Ideas, dedicated to promoting the "thought of the historical leader," and called for improvements to its search function to increase its visibility. He also celebrated the audiobooks projects on the dictator's legacy and the partnerships with international media such as Al Mayadeen and Sputnik, which are natural allies of an event that gathers leftist communicators from about 25 countries to combat the so-called "communicational aggression" against Cuba.
"There is a revolutionary, media-driven, and humanistic activism," declared the leader, visibly pleased with the work of those who, according to everyday Cubans, have only one specialty: disinformation.
While the president congratulated his propagandists, Cubans responded on social media with an irony that no audiobooks about Fidel can silence. "If they produced sweet potatoes and bananas with the same intensity that they lie and waste time, at least we wouldn't be facing such hunger in Cuba," wrote a user, referring to a population living on meager wages, often going more than half the month without food. Others were more direct: "All they do is manipulate and, of course, misinform," "And when will there be freedom of the press?" "So many ideas and no production of anything, that's how the country is run."
The contrast between the self-satisfied discourse and the reality of the Island is striking. Cuba ranks 165 out of 180 countries in the 2025 World Press Freedom Index by Reporters Without Borders, with a score of just 26.03 out of 100, making it the second worst country in Latin America. Díaz-Canel himself is listed as a press predator in that organization's records since the repression following July 11, 2021.
The Cuban Constitution establishes that all media is owned by the state, which effectively makes independent journalism clandestine. The harassment and violent actions against those who dare to practice their profession independently and critically are ongoing on the Island. For official media, the authorities always have affection and praise.
The pattern repeats itself edition after edition. At the IV Patria Colloquium in 2025, Díaz-Canel of hate and fake news. At the III Colloquium in 2024, he minimized internal protests by comparing them to those in other countries. In March of this year, he referred to state media as an "ideological trench" and a "worthy companion of the Revolution." Meanwhile, in May 2025, Meta blocked Razones de Cuba's accounts on Instagram and Facebook for violations of its community standards.
"At the expense of a working-class community. Meanwhile, in meetings, stories, and lies," summarized another netizen. It's hard to find a more accurate description of the V International Homeland Colloquium.
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