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The Defense Council of Granma province assessed this Tuesday the mass distribution of a “Family Guide for Protection Against Military Aggression”, created by the Civil Defense of Cuba, during a meeting chaired by Yudelkis Ortiz, the first secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba in Granma.
Ortiz published on his Facebook account the results of the Provincial Defense Council session, where they evaluated how to convey the document to every corner of the province through the popular movement "My Neighborhood for the Homeland," the Youth Community Network, meetings with activists in residential areas, and labor and student collectives.
"The best way to avoid war is by preparing ourselves. This idea, this concept is being implemented in Granma," wrote the official, who justified the initiative based on what the regime describes as direct threats from U.S. President Donald Trump.
The Civil Defense document carries the slogan “Protect, resist, survive, and overcome” and outlines the measures that each individual and family should take in the event of a military aggression.
Ortiz was explicit in her post: "In the midst of this adverse context of the President of the USA's threat of war against our country, it is essential to prepare the defense areas to ensure the defense and protection of the population; every granmense must know their position in the face of aggression."
The campaign is part of a rhetorical escalation that the regime has maintained since the beginning of the year. The government of Havana declared 2026 "Year of Preparation for Defense" and since January 11 established Saturdays as permanent military preparation days for the civilian population.
The most recent trigger was a statement by Trump at an event in Palm Beach in early May, where he said that Cuba would be taken "almost immediately."
Miguel Díaz-Canel responded on April 28, stating that Trump "raises his threats of military aggression against Cuba to a dangerous and unprecedented level" and warned: "If military aggression occurs, we will counterattack, we will fight, we will defend ourselves."
The U.S. military deployment in the Caribbean and the signing of Executive Order 14380 —which declared the Cuban government as an "unusual and extraordinary threat" to U.S. security— have fueled the militaristic rhetoric of the regime.
In that context, Raúl Castro also sent a significant letter to military personnel of the Eastern Army in April, amidst plans for a potential "State of War."
Yudelkis Ortiz is a controversial figure in Granma. She was appointed as the first secretary of the provincial PCC in November 2023 following the dismissal of her predecessor in an extraordinary plenary session.
In March 2025, she tried to calm a massive protest in Río Cauto triggered by power outages, and in November of that year, she described Hurricane Melissa as "an opportunity to demonstrate that the Revolution is still alive".
Just two days before presiding over the Defense Council meeting on Monday, Ortiz attended a spiritual cordon to "ward off" external threats against Cuba, an episode that garnered significant attention.
"A revolution is valuable to the extent that it can defend itself, and knowing what to do is part of this concept," Ortiz concluded in his publication, summarizing the doctrine with which the regime intends to mobilize the civilian population in the face of a conflict that, until now, only exists in its own narrative.
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