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The Havana municipality of Cotorro was the setting this Saturday for National Defense Day, featuring exercises that included instruction on assembling and disassembling the AKM rifle, shooting practice, the use of gas masks, anti-tank mines, and notably, a demonstration of the ability to produce bread and other foods under wartime conditions.
The activities began at 7:00 a.m. at the Guido Pérez Valdés Brewery, in the Lotería Popular Council, where the Production and Defense Brigades and other participants received instructions before dispersing to the various exercise areas, reported the official newspaper Tribuna de La Habana.
The actions were led by Liván Izquierdo Alonso, a member of the Central Committee and president of the Provincial Defense Council of Havana, along with Brigadier General Regis Amorós Delgado, head of the Western Army General Staff, and Brigadier General Raúl Pérez Ávila, head of the Military Region of Havana.
Izquierdo provided guidance on evacuation, communications, water supply, electricity, and sanitation conditions, emphasizing that "in the current moments, the defense of the Homeland is the primary task."
A blood bank also operated under campaign conditions, among whose donors was the Vice President of the Provincial Defense Council, Yanet Hernández Pérez.
The central event included an explicit rejection of the criminal charges brought by the United States Department of Justice against Raúl Castro, citing words from the leader Miguel Díaz-Canel: "The Heroes of the Fatherland are not disrespected, history and traditions are not offended without consequence. Not in Cuba, the Army General is Cuba, and Cuba is to be respected," the source emphasized.
The first secretary of the Municipal Committee of the Party, Zulia Muñoz González, stated that "we live under the threats of the historical enemy of the Cuban people, the government of the United States," referring to both the embargo and the criminal charges against Castro.
The exercises of El Cotorro take place during a week of intense military deployment. In April, the Municipal Assembly of the People's Power of Central Havana released a video in which a private business explains how to feed 300 people “in wartime” using charcoal, firewood, and sawdust as fuels.
Also today, the Western Army published images of training with armored vehicles and a video of missile exercises by the Navy in Mariel, under the slogan "Combat readiness continues."
The day before, Cienfuegos was the scene of military drills by sea and air, featuring maneuvers by the Revolutionary Navy from the bay and evacuation exercises in response to an airstrike.
All of this takes place within the framework of the Year of Preparation for Defense 2026, declared by the regime, which instituted exercises every weekend since January under the doctrine of the People's War.
As a backdrop, on May 20, the United States Department of Justice presented a criminal indictment against Raúl Castro and five Cuban military officials for the downing of the Brothers to the Rescue airplanes in 1996, alongside reports of planning sessions by the Pentagon and Southern Command for potential military actions against the island.
Since January, the Trump administration has imposed more than 240 sanctions against Cuba, including an executive order signed on May 1, as the regime intensifies its rhetoric of resistance in the face of a population grappling with blackouts and widespread shortages.
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