The Cuban Foreign Ministry published this Saturday on its official Facebook account a 23-second video under the hashtag #CubaEstáFirme, featuring Cuban diplomats training with rifles, which triggered a wave of mockery and criticism on social media.
The piece includes the phrase, "We must prepare ourselves so that there are no surprises in Villacopas. Cuba is a country of peace, but in the face of aggression, revolutionary diplomacy is ready to defend the homeland."
The comments on the video were overwhelmingly mocking. "Paper propaganda," wrote one user. "Customized ridiculousness," replied another. "A circus," declared a third. "I don't know why I can't stop laughing," added a fourth person.
Several commentators immediately drew a parallel with Venezuela. "The Venezuelans said the same thing," noted Carlos Magaña. "These territories follow the same script; Maduro did the same thing, and they led him by the ear," wrote Carlos César López.
A more extensive comment from Yosvani García summarized the widespread skepticism: "Only this government, in its desire to cling to power, could entertain the idea of confronting the world's leading military power."
The video is the latest episode in a sustained propaganda campaign that began in January 2026, when the regime declared the year as the Year of Preparation for Defense and instituted National Defense Day as a weekly observance, following the death of 32 Cuban military personnel in Venezuela during the operation that concluded with the capture of former President Nicolás Maduro on January 3rd.
Since then, military exhibitions have sparked a wave of ridicule, beginning with the spread of images showing university students camouflaged next to rusty helicopters, maneuvers with mules and ox carts in Villa Clara, and the Sancti Spíritus Military Region boasting about coal as "care for personnel."
The national coordinator of the Committees for the Defense of the Revolution, Gerardo Hernández, acknowledged on Friday that the United States could invade Cuba without the regime being able to prevent it.
"Our military capacity cannot compete with that of the world's greatest empire. We are aware that if they set out to occupy the country, they might be able to do so, despite our resistance," he admitted.
The ruler Miguel Díaz-Canel declared to the American magazine Newsweek on April 7 that he would fight against military aggression and invoked the doctrine of "people's war," while the diplomat Johana Tablada admitted that she does not rule out the possibility that weapons are being distributed to the population.
Independent analysts point out that the war rhetoric serves as a smokescreen in light of a 23% contraction of GDP since 2019 and five total or partial collapses of the National Electric System in recent months.
René García, another commentator, starkly summarized what many Cubans think of the spectacle. "Preparing the people to immolate themselves so they can continue living their millionaire lives," he stated.
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