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A regime supporter posted on Facebook this Saturday a text that praises the gaunt appearance and thinness of the leader Miguel Díaz-Canel as proof of his "sacrifice" for Cuba, which sparked a wave of mockery and outrage among Cubans who strongly rejected the narrative.
The author, identified as Luis García, accompanied the post with the hashtags #IStandWithMyPresident and #TheHomelandIsDefended, and wrote phrases such as "His thinness is the exact measure of his sacrifice" and "The Homeland has been taking away flesh to add hope," presenting the visible physical deterioration of the leader as heroism.
The publication includes an image of Díaz-Canel wearing a blue and white plaid shirt, with gray hair and a serious expression, along with the number 2026 at the bottom.
The citizens' response was radically opposed to the intent of the text. One comment noted, "a year ago I was plump and robust, while the people suffer hunger and misery," and another summarized the situation with a phrase that dismantles the official argument: "Total surrender of the country to misery."
Other users attributed the president's appearance not to sacrifice but to the "weight of his conscience," with one describing him as "the face of someone who is scared and cannot sleep because he knows he has been an opportunist."
There was also someone who simply replied, "Is this a joke?? Allow me to burst out laughing."
A comment on a Facebook post summarized it with a clarity that official propaganda cannot counter: "We have had to endure sacrifices, without electricity, food, water, transportation, or a decent salary, while those in power live the good life and want to talk to you about sacrifice after sacrifice, and it's been 67 years now."
The publication comes amid a buildup of viral images of the leader. This Friday, Díaz-Canel appeared disheveled on television announcing economic reforms, and hours later he showed up in uniform at a military event in the Playa municipality, which sparked another wave of mockery with the phrase "the gringos see that photo and die laughing".
The visible physical decline of Díaz-Canel, marked by notable thinness, dark circles, and drooping eyelids, has been a recurrent subject of memes since March, when his first public appearance of the year showed clear signs of fatigue.
While the official propaganda portrays a self-sacrificing image of the president, Cuba is undergoing its worst crisis in decades. Nearly 34% of households reported recent hunger according to the Food Monitor Program, over 2.7 million Cubans are suffering from a shortage of drinking water and the electricity deficit exceeded 2,000 MW, leaving more than 65% of the country without electricity simultaneously.
Only 30% of the basic medicine supply was available in June 2026, and Díaz-Canel himself publicly acknowledged that in the last five months, only one oil ship had arrived on the island.
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