Related videos:
As of the time this news was published, only 16 people have subscribed to the declaration of Cuban intellectuals in defense of sovereignty published yesterday by the Communist Party of Cuba (PCC).
All the signatories were identified as National Prize winners in Social Sciences or History, which critical observers interpret as a sign of the regime's difficulty in mobilizing intellectual support beyond those historically committed and awarded by the government.
The document, also circulated by Granma, Cubadebate, and the Cuban News Agency, reaffirms the signatories' loyalty to the revolutionary process, denounces the U.S. embargo as "forms of aggression that directly affect the daily lives of the population," and characterizes the "neofascist surge" led by the United States as a threat "to the peace, stability, and self-determination of nations."
The number of signatories is striking: the National Prize for Social Sciences has existed since 1995, which implies decades of award winners accumulated. The fact that only 16 of them have endorsed the declaration highlights a call with limited reach even within the intellectual community aligned with the regime.
The statement also includes a veiled warning against critical intellectuals, by raising awareness about "the dangers of discourses that, under the guise of academic analysis or civic concerns, may contribute to legitimizing destabilization agendas."
The text arises in the context of the rhetorical escalation between Havana and Washington following statements made by President Donald Trump on May 1, 2026, to which the PCC responded with massive mobilizations and a call for international solidarity.
The statement contrasts with the activism of critical intellectuals that has gained visibility in the preceding months. In April, the academic Alina Bárbara López Hernández dismantled the official narrative regarding the Cuban crisis, attributing it to failed internal policies, and denounced over a thousand political prisoners.
Days earlier, the intellectual Miryorly García had publicly called for a boycott of the government campaign "My Signature for the Homeland", launched on April 17, describing it as a mechanism of coercion and social control.
In March, the activist Madelyn Sardiñas Padrón challenged the regime to call a free plebiscite on the change of government, while musicologist Rosa Marquetti criticized the international solidarity performances with the regime which, in her view, "folklorize Cuban misery."
None of the 16 signatories of the new declaration are known for critical positions against the government. Among them are the philosopher Isabel Monal Rodríguez, the historian María del Carmen Barcia, the sociologist Aurelio Alonso Tejada, and the economist José Luis Rodríguez García, all of whom have long careers in official institutions such as the Institute of History of Cuba and the University of Havana.
This is not the first time that the regime has tried to articulate an organized intellectual response in moments of pressure. Following the protests on July 11, 2021, the official cultural apparatus also mobilized support signatures, with results similarly questioned by the international academic community and by artists and intellectuals who sent letters to Díaz-Canel demanding an end to the repression.
The statement concludes with the assertion that the signatories act "in defense of Cuba, of its right to exist without guardianship and without fences or threats, and of a future built on peace, with social justice and full sovereignty," a formula that the regime repeats in every moment of tension with Washington, but this time it garnered only 16 signatures.
Filed under: