The Cuban regime presented this Saturday as a scientific milestone the meeting that Miguel Díaz-Canel held with executives and researchers from the Ministry of Interior (MININT), under the grandiose title “Knowledge at the Service of the Country”.
The Presidency of Cuba reported that the aim of the meeting was to understand "the application of science and innovation" in this state entity, in order to contribute to the economic and social development of the country.
They reviewed the use of artificial intelligence, the savings on energy carriers, and the modernization of services such as identity cards, visas, driving licenses, and the digital platform Soberanía.
Díaz-Canel toured a MININT laboratory dedicated to the production of syrups, nutritional supplements, and natural products based on medicinal plants, presented as an "effective alternative for health protection."
The irony of the situation did not go unnoticed. The MININT is the most repressive institution of the Cuban regime, and the government is attempting to clean up its image by presenting it as a scientific leader in the use of medicinal plants.
This surreal visit comes just a few months after the organization itself acknowledged that it did not have physical cards to issue identity cards due to a lack of raw materials. It now announces this service as an achievement in knowledge management.
The regime recently announced that it is preparing the biggest change to the Cuban identity card in decades, which will include voice and iris registration, a technological ambition that contrasts with the inability to print a plastic card.
The use of artificial intelligence in this Cuban state institution is not new, but the government's assertion of it amid the current energy crisis has sparked mockery.
In June, the regime promoted Cuba's push for that technology, and Cubans responded online with these questions: "Which electricity?", "What energy does this artificial intelligence run on, coal?", or "They have neither electricity nor internet nor cloud services. You are delusional, but at a chronic level."
This visit by Díaz-Canel to showcase photos of the laboratories where MININT produces "syrups with medicinal plants" comes at a time of extreme political tension on the streets of Cuba and in relations with the United States.
The ruler was accompanied on his tour by Roberto Morales Ojeda, the Secretary of Organization of the Central Committee of the Party, and by Army Corps General Lázaro Alberto Álvarez Casas, the Minister of the Interior.
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