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This Sunday, while a large part of Cuba endures blackouts of up to 20 hours a day, 95 students, workers, agents from the Ministry of the Interior, and military personnel from the Revolutionary Armed Forces are cycling from Parque Martí to Playa de Rancho Luna in Cienfuegos, in what the regime solemnly calls the Great Bicycle Ride 95-Raúl, in honor of the 95th birthday of Army General Raúl Castro.
The number of participants is not coincidental: exactly one for every year of life of the man who ruled Cuba for more than a decade, commanded his army for over half a century, and whose shadow continues to loom over the Island. This symbolic figure was chosen with the propagandistic precision that characterizes these events. In this case, the organization is led by the Unión de Jóvenes Comunistas (UJC) in the province.
Anisley Cordero González, first secretary of the UJC in the territory, described the event as "a day of patriotism, joy, and revolutionary reaffirmation." She also clarified that the bike ride has an explicit political purpose: to firmly reject "the recent maneuvers and information from the U.S. government against her figure and legacy," reported the newspaper 5 de Septiembre.
The trigger for this official outrage is the federal criminal charge declassified on May 20 by the U.S. Department of Justice against Raúl Castro and five former Cuban military personnel for the shooting down of two planes belonging to Brothers to the Rescue on February 24, 1996 and the death of four Cuban Americans: Armando Alejandre Jr., Carlos Costa, Mario de la Peña, and Pablo Morales.
The regime's response was swift. On May 22, President Miguel Díaz-Canel led an event in front of the United States Embassy in Havana to defend the accused, although Raúl Castro himself was notably absent. Since then, anti-imperialist open forums have been multiplying across the country under the redundant slogan "Raúl is Raúl," with events reported in provinces such as: Artemisa, Villa Clara, Pinar del Río, Camagüey, and now Cienfuegos.
Today's bike ride is not the first of the season. In April, the UJC already organized a trip of 230 km to Playa Girón to commemorate the 65th anniversary of the Battle of the Bay of Pigs, with almost 200 young people from Havana, Matanzas, and Cienfuegos. The first secretary of the national UJC, Meyvis Estévez, enthusiastically summarized it at the time: "Without oil, we’re going by bicycle. Fortunately, we’re a bit crazy."
The issue with oil is significant. This Sunday, the Electric Union reported a capacity of only 1,113 MW against a demand of 2,720 MW, with a projected deficit for the nighttime peak of more than 2,042 MW. The company itself admitted that the country could experience less than two hours of electrical service in some areas. In Santiago de Cuba, outages exceed 20 hours daily; in Havana, they have reached 19 hours at certain times in May.
Meanwhile, the UJC calls on young people to record videos and write poems under the hashtag #95DeRaúl, in an organization that has lost nearly 200,000 affiliates between 2007 and 2024, decreasing from 609,000 to 415,000 members. The generational disillusionment is inversely proportional to the fervor displayed by its leaders in official events.
The propaganda agenda continues: on Monday, June 1, at 7:30 AM, the "Cienfueguera youth vanguard" will be at the Open Forum "Raúl is Raúl" in front of the 5 de Septiembre Secondary School, near José Martí Park. And on June 3, the day the former dictator turns 95, the festival "Cuba is my country" will take place across all eight municipalities of that province, with activities in parks and plazas.
A grand display to celebrate the man who, according to the U.S. federal indictment, ordered the downing of civilian aircraft three decades ago and has, alongside his brother Fidel, been a key figure in the decades-long oppression of the Cuban people. The bicycles roll; the light, on the other hand, does not reach.
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