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While Cuba is experiencing its worst economic and energy crisis in decades, with power outages of more than 20 continuous hours and the euro breaking the historic barrier of 600 pesos on the informal market this Sunday, the Union of Young Communists (UJC) celebrated its major achievement of the weekend: cycling approximately 230 kilometers from Havana to Playa Girón to commemorate the 65th anniversary of the Bay of Pigs battle alongside Miguel Díaz-Canel and the top leadership of the Party.
Meyvis Estévez, the first secretary of the National Committee of the UJC, documented the journey on her social media with epic prose worthy of a revolutionary adventure novel. "It’s ideology, it’s homeland, it’s common sense. It’s 65 years since the first great defeat of imperialism in America. Under siege, Economic War, no oil - okay - we’re going by bicycle! Fortunately, we’re a bunch of crazy people," wrote the official, apparently unaware of the irony in celebrating resistance to imperialism while the population lacks food and electricity.
This is the eighth edition of this commemorative bike ride, which saw the participation of nearly 200 young people from Havana, Matanzas, and Cienfuegos. The regime's youth organization frequently uses cycling as a symbol of resistance: another "bike ride" against Trump, which also included scooters and electric motorcycles had joyfully rolled along the Malecon in Havana weeks earlier.
What the organizers did not mention in their publications is the context in which the activity took place. The electricity deficit reached 1,872 megawatts last Wednesday and 1,848 this Friday, leaving millions of Cubans without power for endless days. While the young communists pedaled and chanted slogans with flags, their fellow citizens endured blackouts lasting more than two full days without electricity.
The food situation is equally severe. Recent reports reveal that five provinces are at critical levels of food security, and chicken is selling for 4,850 Cuban pesos in state stores, an amount unattainable for most salaries on the Island.
The revolutionary scenery also fails to conceal the decline of the very organization that embodies it. According to official data, the UJC went from 609,000 members in 2007 to 415,000 in 2024, a drop that reflects the widespread disillusionment of Cuban youth with the political project that the "bicycle parade" aims to exalt.
In this context, President Miguel Díaz-Canel called on selected youth to encourage them to fight and uphold the Revolution, a call that contrasts sharply with the reality of thousands of Cubans who emigrate each year in search of living conditions that the system does not provide.
"There are men and women in Cuba who are not afraid of difficulties," wrote the first secretary of the UJC in this new lyrical outburst. Who could she be referring to?
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