The Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla posted a video on his X account of Cubans dancing during the International Workers' Day events, showcasing it as the Cuban people's response to the new executive order signed on the same day by President Donald Trump.
"The Cuban people respond to the new Executive Order from the U.S., issued today #1DeMayo, which includes new unilateral coercive measures. They will not intimidate us," wrote Rodríguez, accompanying the message with the hashtag #LaPatriaSeDefiende.
The new executive order signed by Trump significantly expands sanctions against the Cuban regime: it blocks assets in the United States belonging to officials, former officials, companies, and entities linked to repression and key sectors such as energy, defense, mining, and financial services.
For the first time, the order imposes secondary sanctions on foreign banks and financial entities that conduct transactions with sanctioned Cuban entities, which could limit their access to the dollar.
The measure also prohibits entry to the United States for officials, collaborators, and adult family members of the designated individuals.
The image accompanying the chancellor's tweet shows a crowd with Cuban flags and dressed in white and red, at what appears to be an official outdoor gathering under a clear sky.
The events of May 1st had a distinct anti-imperialist character: the central event was moved from the Plaza de la Revolución to the José Martí Anti-Imperialist Tribune, in front of the United States Embassy on the Havana seawall, under the pretext of "austerity" and "energy blockade."
Raúl Castro, 94 years old and visibly unwell, presided over the central political event, where he was presented with two books containing over 6.2 million signatures from the government campaign "My Signature for the Homeland."
However, opposition sources reported low attendance at the march compared to previous years, and denounced pressure on state workers and students to attend.
The independent journalist Ángel Cuza was arrested in front of his daughter on April 30, the eve of the march.
The national coordinator of the Committees for the Defense of the Revolution, Gerardo Hernández —a former spy from the group known as the Five— also posted a photo of Cubans dancing with a message similar to Rodriguez's.
However, in a video from the Young Communist Union, he was heard saying "Force yourselves, force yourselves" amid laughter, which sparked ridicule on social media about the spontaneous nature of the celebrations.
The order of May 1 is based on Executive Order 14380, signed on January 29, 2026, which declared Cuba an "unusual and extraordinary threat" to U.S. national security and authorized tariffs on countries that supply oil to the island.
Since January 2026, the United States has imposed over 240 sanctions against Cuba, intercepted at least seven tankers, and exacerbated the energy crisis, with power outages of up to 25 hours a day affecting more than 55% of the national territory.
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