The Prime Minister Manuel Marrero Cruz chaired the central event for the 45th anniversary of Popular Camping in Mayabeque this Wednesday, where he took the opportunity to praise Raúl Castro as a driving force behind tourism development in Cuba, stating that he envisioned it "to achieve prosperity for the people through job and income generation."
The event took place a day after the United States Department of Justice declassified a formal charge against Raúl Castro for the shooting down of the Hermanos al Rescate planes in 1996, with charges including conspiracy to assassinate U.S. citizens and four counts of murder, which could carry the death penalty or life imprisonment.
Marrero, who had already described that accusation as a "farce" the previous day, once again defended the figure of the former leader in front of workers in the tourism sector: "With the sensitivity that characterizes him, he was always in tune with the needs of the land, considering that every tourism development should include the essential infrastructure and services for the population."
The coincidence between Raúl Castro's public defense and the U.S. criminal charges gave a distinctly political tone to the official discourse at an event that, in theory, was celebrating decades of popular recreation.
Popular Camping was founded in May 1981 at the initiative of Fidel Castro and today has 98 facilities, 74 non-hotel points, and four roadside inns, with more than 18,000 capacities, having provided recreation for over 40 million Cubans since its inception.
The event was also framed as a tribute to the centenary of Fidel Castro, regarded as the undeniable precursor of the initiative, and coincided with the 20th anniversary of the Fundación de los Cocos.
Marrero attributed the problems in the tourism sector to "the suffocating measures and the energy blockade from the United States government," avoiding any responsibility on the part of the regime for the collapse of the industry.
The reality of Cuban tourism contradicts the official narrative: the sector plummeted by 48% year-on-year in the first quarter of 2026, with only 298,057 visitors between January and March, while by the end of 2025 Cuba received only 1,810,663 international tourists, a decrease of 17.8% compared to 2024.
In his speech, the head of government announced an "updated government program based on a popular consultation involving almost two million people" and promised to tackle the total shortage of fuel with new directives.
During the event, employees of the popular camping company Mayabeque received cards certifying them as members of the Union of Young Communists and the Communist Party, while workers with over 20 and 25 years of uninterrupted service were honored with the Elpidio Casimiro Sosa González distinction.
Marrero concluded his speech with a statement that encapsulates the regime's stance on international pressure: "The more sanctions, the more solutions will come. We will not cease to change everything that needs to be changed and to do things differently with the active participation of our people."
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