A professor from the MININT Academy "Hermanos Marañón" in Santiago de Cuba, a former member of Fidel Castro's personal security team, walked over 800 kilometers from Santiago de Cuba to Havana in 30 days to pay tribute to the dictator on the year of his centenary.
His name is José Luis Pérez Balart, he is 64 years old and claims that his "power source is solar energy".
He left on April 30 almost in secret, lying to his wife: he told her he was just going to walk to Birán, Fidel's birthplace, when in fact he planned to cross the entire island.
"If I tell you the truth, you wouldn’t have gone out yourself, I'm sure of that. That's why I didn’t tell you. It’s a little white lie to fulfill a dream that I had pending for many years," he explained without the slightest hint of guilt, which is undoubtedly evidence of the harm the regime has caused to several generations of Cubans.
The regime, which proclaimed 2026 as the "Year of the Commander-in-Chief's Centenary", not only authorized the adventure but also provided assistance with a pair of sneakers and a flag.
This worshiper of Castro spent the night in units of the MININT, the FAR, the People's Power, and the Combatants' Association. The entire revolutionary infrastructure was available for the traveler.
The most notable detail is not the distance, but the technique.
To avoid fatigue, he applies what he describes as a "Chinese technique of filling and emptying": "a swaying motion where, while I transfer my weight to one leg, the other leg rests, harmonized with the swinging of the arm and the tip of the tongue on the upper gum meridian so that the yin and yang rotate in a circular motion."
He walks between seven and nine hours a day at a pace of seven to eight kilometers per hour, starting at a quarter past five in the morning. He also practices meditation with a "blank mind": "There are no thoughts; any thoughts that come can be good or bad, but they just pass."
The context in which all of this takes place deserves attention.
While the defender of castrism proclaims that there is an abundance of solar energy and revolutionary motivation, Cuba is facing its worst energy crisis in decades in May 2026: the electricity deficit exceeds 2,000 megawatts, 61% of the island experiences blackouts during peak hours, and the UN reported that the country has gone over three months without sufficient fuel. For millions of Cubans, walking is not a heroic feat but rather the only option available.
Not content with having arrived in Havana, he plans to continue the route of the mambí invasion to Cape San Antonio in Pinar del Río—where he promises to "dunk his feet in the sea"—visit the Presidio Modelo on the Island of Youth, and walk to Duaba and Playitas de Cajobabo in Holguín.
His ultimate goal is to enter Santiago de Cuba on July 26, the date of the anniversary of the attack on the Moncada Barracks.
"Then I say, commander, I have fulfilled my duty to you," he declared. And just in case there was any doubt about his devotion: "I was, I am, and I will be until the very last moment of my life. I am sure that one of my last thoughts will be about the commander."
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