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A publication this Friday from the national coordinator of the Committees for the Defense of the Revolution (CDR), Gerardo Hernández Nordelo, aimed at promoting the government campaign #MySignatureForTheHomeland turned into a wall of complaints, where dozens of Cubans rejected the regime's initiative, demanded free elections, and denounced the hunger and poverty that the island endures.
Hernández shared on Facebook an image with the slogan "My signature is for a Cuba without war and without blockade!" in order to gather support for the statement "Girón is today and always," launched by the PCC on April 19 in commemoration of the 65th anniversary of the victory at Playa Girón.
The most powerful response came from a forum member identified as Elexys Álvarez Molina, whose comment encapsulated the feelings of many: My signature is not to support dictatorships, nor eternal governments, nor last names in power. My signature is for the people. For our families, for our neighbors, for the old man who sells peanuts on the corner and deserves to live with dignity.
Álvarez went further and directly questioned the legitimacy of the system. "Because hunger is not a symbol of resistance. Hunger hurts. And pride does not fill stomachs," he argued.
His comment ended with a direct challenge to the regime: "And if they really say that the people support them, let them prove it: free elections, without fear. Let the people truly speak. Because the homeland is not a government. The homeland is its people."
Other users joined the rejection with equally direct messages. Darian Díaz stated that "my signature is for a Cuba without dictators or Castros, my signature is for the people to no longer be oppressed by dictators."
Isbel Gómez stated that her signature "is for a free Cuba, without dictatorship and without communism," while Jorge Luis López asked: "How can we live in peace if the dictatorship does not allow us to work honestly or in peace? How can you ask for peace against someone who kills our kids?"
Arialys Diaz was blunt when she questioned, "What is this person talking about when there is no peace in Cuba, there is nothing? The only things here are misery, hunger, and need."
The campaign #MySignatureForTheFatherland was presented by the PCC as a "spontaneous initiative" of civil society, although it is organized through the structures of the PCC via workplaces, universities, and mass organizations like the CDRs themselves.
The ruler Miguel Díaz-Canel was the first to sign on April 20 at the Memorial Museum of Ciénaga de Zapata, Matanzas, and stated that "we sign the unequivocal declaration that the Cuban Revolution will never negotiate its principles."
The goal is to collect millions of signatures before May 1st.
Independent analysts describe the smoke screen campaign to divert attention from the economic crisis, which includes prolonged blackouts, shortages of food and medicine, and a 23% contraction of GDP since 2019.
Residents of Cárdenas collectively resisted signing despite pressures and threats, and the activist José Daniel Ferrer, from the Patriotic Union of Cuba (UNPACU), publicly called on people not to sign, describing the campaign as support for the oppressors.
Hernández, released in December 2014 after being related to espionage and his involvement in the shooting down of Brothers to the Rescue planes in 1996, has been directing the CDR since 2020 and actively uses social media for regime propaganda.
The massive response to their post reveals that the campaign, far from demonstrating popular unity, has transformed into a platform for denouncing 67 years of dictatorship.
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