While the Cuban regime called for the May Day march this Friday under the slogan of peace and against the "genocidal blockade," social media erupted when several images showed the leader Miguel Díaz-Canel parading in Adidas Retropy F2 'Legacy Indigo Red' sneakers, which are priced at around $1,449 on e-commerce platforms.
The event, moved from the Plaza de la Revolución to the José Martí Anti-Imperialist Tribune in front of the United States Embassy on the Havana Malecón, gathered the leadership of the regime.
It was precisely the leader's footwear that diverted attention from the political speech.
The journalist Mario J. Pentón summed it up bluntly on Facebook. "With just the cost of Díaz-Canel's sneakers and (the chancellor) Bruno Rodríguez, a Cuban family can live for six months."
The user of X @NavaMayelin addressed the ruler directly. "Look, you shameless person, while you let that population die of hunger, misery, and need, you wear these very expensive shoes. You don't fool anyone."
The contrast is striking. Cuban retirees earn less than five dollars a month, and many workers do not exceed fifteen dollars monthly, while the country suffers from blackouts of up to twenty hours, shortages of food and medicine, and a collapse in transportation.
What happened this Friday is not an isolated incident, but rather a part of a documented pattern of ostentation that has been recurring for years.
In October 2024, Díaz-Canel and Prime Minister Manuel Marrero marched in solidarity with Palestine in front of the U.S. Embassy wearing Nike and Skechers sneakers worth over 100 dollars.
In November 2025, the leader was photographed during a volunteer work day in Artemisa wearing sports clothing and high-end Adidas sneakers, which sparked massive mockery on social media.
In May 2025, during his visit to Moscow for Victory Day, he was seen wearing a Rolex GMT-Master II "Batman" valued between 14,000 and 18,000 euros and a silk Hermès tie priced at 285 dollars, while urging the Cuban people for "creative resistance."
The pattern dates back at least to 2018, when the official newspaper Granma published a photo of Díaz-Canel visiting areas affected by a cyclone while wearing a Lacoste shirt valued between 85 and 175 euros, under the headline "In the face of problems, sensitivity."
As analyst Carlos Cabrera Pérez wrote in 2018, when the Lacoste shirt scandal erupted, "A dictatorial and impoverished Cuba views these poses as a slap in the face from those who have made the discourse of poverty their favorite liturgy."
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