The Cuban content creator José Martínez published a video poem on Facebook titled "I Do Not Sign", in direct response to the government campaign "My Signature for the Homeland", launched by the Communist Party of Cuba (PCC) to gather endorsements in commemoration of the 65th anniversary of the Battle of Playa Girón.
In his verses, Martínez bluntly denounces what he believes is endorsed by those participating in the campaign: "They sign for the lack of bread, of meat, of medicines. They sign to remain in ruins, following the example of Iran. They sign that they will continue with a single miserable and arrogant party. More imprisonment of innocence, more lies, decay. They have a chip in their nape. There are people so naïve that they will sign their own sentence."
The campaign was announced on April 18 by Yuniasky Crespo Baquero, head of the Ideological Department of the Central Committee of the PCC, and presented as a "supreme duty" of the constitution.
Miguel Díaz-Canel inaugurated it in Ciénaga de Zapata, Matanzas, under the slogan of the declaration "Girón is today and always," which affirms that Cuba will never be a trophy, nor an additional star of the American constellation.
Morales Ojeda, Secretary of Organization of the PCC, insisted last Monday that the initiative originated from civil society organizations, although in Cuba there is no real independent civil society: mass organizations are constitutionally subordinate to the PCC as the leading political force of the State.
Signature books were opened in communities, workplaces, and student centers across the country under institutional pressure, and in Matanzas, there were reports of threats of dismissal for workers who refused to sign.
Workers from the Antonio Guiteras thermoelectric plant also signed the campaign, which raised a question that circulated widely on social media: "When will they sign to restore electricity in Cuba?"
The rejection of the campaign was not limited to the viral poem. José Daniel Ferrer García, leader of the Patriotic Union of Cuba (UNPACU), issued a call not to sign, arguing that the campaign supports those who oppress the people. Activist Lara Crofs (Yamilka Lafita Cancio) joined in with the slogan "No signatures in favor of tyranny".
Filed under: