The Union of Young Communists of Cuba (UJC) published a few-second propaganda video recorded during the May 1st parade on its Facebook profile this Friday, under the slogan "The Homeland is defended," and the response from internet users quickly turned into a flood of mockery that once again exposed the gap between the regime's propaganda and the reality faced by young Cubans.
In the clip, the author, identified as Hamlet Álvarez Aguiar, states: "Look where we are, May 1st in Cuba, the youth marching and they said we were coming with few." The video garnered over 1,300 comments in a very short time, most of them harsh.
What the enthusiastic propagandist seemed to overlook is that the faces of the marchers tell a story very different from what the title of the video suggests: "Cuban youth do not stop." Internet users did notice it, and they didn’t hold back.
"One person wrote, 'You can see the joy on people's faces; they look like zombies.' Another remarked, 'The joy stayed at home... the sleepwalkers of commitment... are heading to the proletarian circus.' A third summed up what everyone knows: 'Those faces show a parade out of inertia, out of 'commitment,' but we all know the meaning of the word commitment in Cuba.'"
In Cuba, "commitment" is not an innocent word. Those who do not attend may face work or academic consequences, something that Cubans themselves acknowledge candidly: "You and I are young, and I lived in Cuba, and you know very well what happened to us if we didn't go to the parade," wrote one user. Another added: "It's well-known that many would go because there is no freedom of choice."
Black humor also made an appearance. “Did they have light last night to sleep well? Have they had breakfast yet?” someone asked, directly referencing the power outages of 10 to 25 hours a day that the island suffers from. Another went further: “When they arrive at the house, they put on a good lunch: banners, with flags and slogans, and they'll be well-fed, while the higher-ups and their entourage will have lunch of rice, beans, meat, and nice cold beer.” And one concluded with perfect sarcasm: “What spirit and passion everyone has... they exude such joy that they've infected me.”
No geographic reference was more telling: "I believe they prefer to parade down Calle Ocho," someone wrote, referring to Miami's Calle Ocho, a dream destination for a generation fleeing en masse. This is not an unfounded joke: the 93% of Cuban youth between the ages of 18 and 30 state that they would leave the country if they could, and 97.61% disapprove of the government's management.
This is not the first time that the UJC has garnered mockery instead of applause. The organization has intensified its propaganda activities on social media with campaigns such as "We Offer Our Lives" and the signature campaign "#MySignatureForTheHomeland", both met with identical rejection.
The parade took place in the context of the "Year of Preparation for Defense," with Raúl Castro presiding over the political event and Miguel Díaz-Canel leading the march from the Plaza de la Revolución. The day before, children were taken out of their schools in San Miguel del Padrón and Santiago de Cuba for pre-parade activities, and independent journalist Ángel Cuza was arrested in front of his daughter.
The reality behind those expressionless faces is that of a country with salaries of around 16 dollars per month, a projected economic contraction of 7.2% for 2026, and an unprecedented exodus: more than a million Cubans emigrated between 2021 and 2025. That is the true "tremendous spirit" of Cuban youth: one that cannot fit into 11 seconds of a propaganda video, but can be found in the more than 1,300 comments that refute it.
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