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The official Facebook account of the Provincial Health Department of Cienfuegos shared a completely false post on Monday claiming that Cristiano Ronaldo had donated 250 solar panels, batteries, and spare parts to the Government of Cuba to bring energy to "the most vulnerable communities in the country."
The Cuban journalist Magdiel Jorge Castro was one of the first to denounce the post from his X account, describing it as "madness."
"The official public health account in Cienfuegos states that Cristiano Ronaldo donated 250 solar panels and batteries to Cuba. It ends with the hashtag 'Homeland with Fidel'. They went crazy," wrote Castro.
The post was accompanied by a photo montage showing Ronaldo, seemingly in a white Real Madrid jersey, with his arms raised, in front of solar panels and the Cuban flag.
The official text declared that Ronaldo and the Government of Cuba had "sealed a historic alliance," and concluded with a series of propagandistic hashtags: #PatriaConFidel, #SolidaridadSinFronteras, #NoAlBloqueo, and #CubaPorLaSalud, among others.
There is no verifiable evidence that the Portuguese footballer made such a donation to the Cuban regime or to any health institution on the island.
Hours after its publication, the Provincial Health Directorate of Cienfuegos removed the news from its account without providing any public explanation.
Other journalists and Cuban activists also condemned the publication, which was widely described as institutional misinformation.
Apparently, the source used by the Provincial Health Directorate of Cienfuegos was the Facebook page José Forever - El Taiger, which has been repeatedly identified for promoting false news.
The episode takes place against the backdrop of the most severe energy crisis in the history of Cuba, with blackouts in 2026 exceeding 20 hours a day in some provinces and a generation deficit of up to 2,000 MW. Only 5% of the energy generated in the country comes from renewable sources, making any narrative about donations of solar panels plausible for a desperate population.
The incident is part of a documented pattern of institutional disinformation by the regime.
In June 2026, the Cuban Embassy in Mozambique published a video generated with artificial intelligence containing false information about the arrest of a football player.
The UJC in Cienfuegos has also created "digital wasp nests" to manipulate discussions on social media, and activists have previously reported that health institutions in that province use propaganda images to conceal the actual deterioration of the hospital system.
The false publication from the Provincial Health Directorate of Cienfuegos is, ultimately, yet another example of how official institutions of the Cuban regime resort to fabricating content to uphold a narrative of international solidarity that does not withstand the slightest comparison with reality.
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