Miguel Díaz-Canel published a message to celebrate the Children's Day in Cuba, which is commemorated every third Sunday in July, and the comments section immediately turned into a barometer of public indignation.
The leader called the Cuban children "little giants, guardians of the future of the Homeland" and promised that the regime "will always look out for our children, even in the most difficult times."
He also recalled Fidel Castro as the "giant pioneer" who promoted the event, remembering that "more than once he allowed the scarf to be tied around his neck while talking with Cuban pioneers."
The publication included historic black and white images of Castro with children and an official poster featuring the logos of the José Martí Pioneer Organization and the Union of Young Communists.
The post received hundreds of critical comments: "There isn't a single place I can take my son today for him to have fun, what happiness are you talking about?" wrote one user.
Another comment captured the contradiction between the official rhetoric and reality: "Cuban children do not drink milk, do not eat meat, and even less sleep. In a country without electricity, where a kilogram of milk costs 5,000 pesos, which is the salary of a professional. Cuban children have no vacations, they have no life."
One of the recurring ideas in the comments was: "What future is he talking about?"
A user wrote: "Congratulations to all the children of Cuba. I hope that one day they can celebrate with what they truly deserve: food on the table, electricity, medicine, toys, and a future full of opportunities. No child should grow up amidst such scarcities."
Others pointed directly to the hypocrisy of the ruler: “Many congratulations to those children who sleep in darkness, who don’t have breakfast, and many of whom haven’t gone on vacation because their salaries don’t even cover their meals. This does not happen with the children in your family, does it? Those in your family and those in the elite.”
There were also those who pointed out the irony of the promise to "watch over" childhood: "They have watched over so much that they took away milk at seven years old, and now they don't even have milk."
A bitter summary captured in the comments reflects the harsh reality of life on the island: "Congratulations on the blackout."
The contrast between the festive message and the available data is evident. More than 100,000 Cuban children do not receive their daily ration of milk, and the Ministry of Food Industry itself admitted that the supply plan for children is "impossible to fulfill."
The infant mortality rate ended 2025 at 9.9 per 1,000 live births, the highest level in over two decades and an accumulated increase of 148% since 2018.
In July 2026, Cuba experienced four total blackouts of the national electric system, with interruptions lasting up to 87 consecutive hours in some provinces and between 20 and 35 hours daily in Havana, according to reports on the energy crisis.
Just days before Díaz-Canel's message, children were sleeping on the floor of a doorway in Havana fleeing the heat during blackouts lasting up to 30 hours, and mothers were posting photos of their babies exposed to mosquitoes without water or electricity.
One comment summed it up accurately: "President, those 'guardians' will abandon their homeland as soon as they grow up. The childhood they experience is very sad, and even worse is the old age that awaits them."
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