Miguel Díaz-Canel declared before the National Assembly on Thursday that he is "willing to be criticized," during the extraordinary session in which the parliament ratified a package of 176 economic and social measures. The phrase, captured on video by TV Cubana and shared on social media, sparked a wave of ironic and furious responses from Cubans who pointed out the most obvious contradiction: the regime has more than 1,200 people imprisoned for expressing exactly that.
The comment that best captured the widespread sentiment was straightforward: "But if there are people imprisoned for telling him what everyone knows they say. Or is the criticism selective?"
Other users were equally emphatic. "Criticism leads to prison," wrote one. "Whoever criticizes you goes to jail. You know it," pointed out another. "If criticism leads to you punishing everyone with 7-8 years in prison at a minimum, you're not very receptive to criticism," quipped a third.
The contradiction is not rhetorical. According to the organization Prisoners Defenders, Cuba registered 1,281 political prisoners in May 2026, the highest number documented up to that time. Hundreds of them were imprisoned precisely for critical posts on social media. Cases like that of Mayelín Rodríguez Prado, sentenced to 15 years for live streaming protests on Facebook, or Félix Daniel Pérez Ruiz, sentenced to five years for a critical post, illustrate what the Cubans demanded from Díaz-Canel in the comments.
Some users also recalled that the opening the regime now presents as a solution was punished as dissent for many years. "Many of us had those ideas a long time ago, and when we tried to express them, we were not heard, we were censored, we were imprisoned, and now it turns out that those same ideas we defended are the ones that will save the homeland," wrote a Cuban.
Another pointed out what many consider the minimum condition for any reconciliation: "The most important thing, for the country, the government, the people, and Cubans abroad to reconcile... has not yet been announced: the release of political prisoners."
The approval process of the measures itself highlighted the nature of the Cuban parliamentary "debate." The package was announced by Díaz-Canel on June 12, endorsed by the Extraordinary Plenary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party on Wednesday, and ratified by the Assembly on Thursday, all within less than a week. Raúl Castro participated via video conference, which was interpreted as political endorsement from the historic leader. "The Assembly where they are mute and only talk about what the Castro family wants," summed up a user.
In his speech, Díaz-Canel also urged citizens: "Trust, but demand. Join us, but hold us accountable." He admitted that "there are obstacles that do not come from outside or from blockades" and that "resistance alone is not enough," phrases that some interpreted as a belated acknowledgment of the model's failure. "Trump has them fainting and shouting for capitalism; oh, how much they told us that wealth was bad," wrote another Cuban.
The context intensifies the irony of the presidential invitation. The CEPAL forecasts a decline of 6.5% in Cuba's GDP in 2026 and a cumulative contraction of 10.3% in the two-year period of 2025-2026, marking the deepest crisis since the Special Period. The Cuban Observatory of Human Rights reported 332 repressive actions just in May of this year, including arbitrary detentions and threats against critics.
The economist Pedro Monreal described the package as “late pragmatism”, while the opposition figure Manuel Cuesta Morúa referred to it as “late Chinese reforms.” Meanwhile, Díaz-Canel concluded his speech before the Assembly with a phrase that his critics considered a summary of the contradiction: “We are not renouncing socialism.”
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