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A Cuban identified as Elizabeth González Aznar published two texts on Facebook in which she openly questions the regime's decision to organize marches and open forums throughout Cuba in honor of Raúl Castro while the population endures power outages of up to 20 hours a day and lacks fuel for essential needs.
The regime called for these mobilizations from May 23 to June 3 —the 95th birthday of Castro— in response to the criminal charges presented by the United States against the former dictator for the shooting down of planes from Brothers to the Rescue in 1996.
González highlights the central contradiction with a direct question to the leaders: "Is the only way to express disagreement with what has been heard to hold marches and political events, knowing the expenses involved and considering the critical moment for the people in which these actions take place?"
Its argument is supported by concrete data that the regime itself has acknowledged: the Ministry of Energy and Mines attributes the blackouts to a lack of fuel, the director of Hydraulic Resources explains the water shortage for the same reason, and Cupet justified the price increase for that same cause.
However, González Aznar mentioned that more than 12 buses were mobilized for a single march.
"When there isn't, there isn't. But what is being demonstrated is that THERE IS, but for what a group of powerful men decides to use it. Sadly, not to produce, not to generate money, no, it's for acts and marches," he wrote.
The Cuban also points to the direct human cost: a liter of gasoline in the informal market exceeds 5,000 pesos, and a taxi ride to the hospital can cost more than 20,000 pesos.
"Do they know how many Cubans lose medical appointments every day because they don't have 20,000 pesos or more to pay for a car? Ahhhh, nobody sees that," he denounced.
The energy context supports his complaint: the record electricity deficit exceeded 2,153 MW on May 13, with outages lasting up to 22 hours a day affecting 70% of the population. Díaz-Canel acknowledged that in April only one fuel ship arrived out of the eight minimum required per month.
Some supporters of González Aznar defended the mobilizations, arguing that "we must respond to them and make them understand that the people and their leaders must be respected."
She responded that she understands the indignation, but insists that consistency requires not spending what one does not have.
Meanwhile, Díaz-Canel raised the rhetorical tone and the Council of State and the National Assembly described the U.S. accusation as "infamous, immoral, and illegitimate," with the Committees for the Defense of the Revolution and the National Association of Small Farmers joining the official chorus.
González Aznar concluded his publication with a phrase that summarizes the demand of thousands of Cubans: "Raúl is Raúl and he must be respected, but the people are the people, and they also must be respected. Homeland is humanity, and humanity is the people, the true owner of their homeland. Enough of spending and squandering over our undignified lives."
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