The national coordinator of the Committees for the Defense of the Revolution (CDR), Gerardo Hernández Nordelo, appealed to fear this Saturday during an official event in the La Güinera neighborhood, in the capital municipality of Arroyo Naranjo, in order to discredit Cubans in exile who support military intervention on the island.
The event, called "neighborhood debate on patriotic duty and anti-imperialism," included a symbolic tribunal titled "I Accuse Imperialism," where the United States was found guilty of the embargo, the lack of medications for children, and the genocide against the Palestinian people, as shown in a report from the official channel Canal Caribe.
During his speech, Hernández posed a rhetorical question filled with drama. "How can a person call themselves Cuban, claim to be a defender of our people, and ask for bombs to fall in a place like this? No one can understand that," he stated.
The official sought to draw a line between the moderate diaspora and those he refers to as the "far-right in Miami," acknowledging that "there are many Cubans in the world, in Miami, in Florida in general, in the United States, in Europe, who do not want military aggression against their country, regardless of how they think, regardless of their ideology, their religion."
The national secretariat of the CDR also issued a statement read during the event. "When the drums of war against Cuba beat loudly from the United States, the brave people of Fidel are called to say no to terrorism, no to the blockade, no to hatred, no to the war that has been imposed on us for more than six decades," the text states.
The event is part of a rhetorical escalation from the regime in response to statements made by President Donald Trump, who on March 27 declared, "Cuba is next," and on April 15 suggested, "we may stop in Cuba," referring to a potential military action against the island's government.
In recent days, Hernández warned that a U.S. military occupation would face guerrilla warfare, although he admitted that "our military capacity cannot compete with that of the largest empire in the world. We are aware that if they intend to occupy the country, they might be able to do so, despite our resistance."
The event in La Güinera is part of the campaign #MiFirmaPorLaPatria, launched by the Communist Party of Cuba on April 19 in honor of the 65th anniversary of the Bay of Pigs, aiming to collect millions of signatures before May 1st.
The campaign has generated massive rejection. Residents of block 4 in Cárdenas, Matanzas, collectively refused to sign despite pressures and threats from regime emissaries.
Independent analysts describe the campaign as a smokescreen in response to a 23% contraction in GDP since 2019, prolonged blackouts, and shortages of food and medicine that are affecting the Cuban population.
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