A Cuban professor from Matanzas publicly denounced that the regime eliminated the Ministry of Science, Technology and Environment (CITMA) without consulting the workers in the sector, who would not agree with the measure.
Luis Ernesto Martínez González, a graduate of the ISP Juan Marinello and residing in Matanzas, posted a direct criticism on Facebook on Wednesday regarding the government's decision to dissolve CITMA, which was approved by the National Assembly on Thursday.
"To create the Science Law, they consulted us multiple times. To eliminate CITMA, not a single written question," the teacher wrote, accompanying his message with silence emojis that emphasized his complaint about censorship.
Martínez González, also a worker at CITMA in his province, according to his Facebook profile, went further in another post, stating that the exclusion was not accidental: "The only diagnosis made to eliminate CITMA showed that we would not agree. That is why we were not consulted."
The professor framed the dissolution of the ministry within a pattern of three government decisions made without consultation of those affected over more than a decade.
In 2014, he recounted, he was told that "the best" option was to integrate the pedagogical universities into the Ministry of Higher Education to create a "new university": "They didn't ask for my opinion. Nor did they ask many others." In 2022, he was forced to leave the premises of the Pedagogical University to move to the central headquarters of the University of Matanzas, with the same argument and the same lack of consultation. And in 2026, the story repeats itself with CITMA.
"I'll just say one thing: No, thank you," the teacher concluded.
Martínez González also emphasized the speed with which the regime carries out dismantling compared to the slowness with which it creates new spaces: "It was on May 8, less than three months ago, that we were informed that CITMA would be eliminated as a ministry. Its death certificate has already been signed. The measures to destroy are expedited and urgent. To open pathways and create new spaces, they are morbidly delayed and slow without justification."
As an additional note, the professor recalled that the president Miguel Díaz-Canel had celebrated in April 2024 the 30th anniversary of the ministry, mentioning on social media its founding as an initiative of the "Commander in Chief" during the Special Period. Two years later, that same organization was dissolved without consulting its workers.
The voice of Martínez González is not the only one. Dr. Enrique Diego Arango Arias, head of the National Seismological Service, described the measure as a "serious mistake" and a "sad day for Cuban science," denouncing that "many workers at CITMA were hurt by this decision made without consultation, behind everyone's back, as if we were pieces in a game."
Arango also warned that "the vast majority of the workers in our organization are not even aware that the CITMA is disappearing," and noted that he had sent his objections to the National Assembly without receiving a response.
The National Assembly approved the Law on the Organization of the Central State Administration on Thursday, which reduces the central government agencies from 27 to 21 and distributes the functions of CITMA among two new ministries: the Ministry of Higher Education, Science and Innovation, and the Ministry of Environment, Habitat, and Hydraulic Resources.
The Prime Minister Manuel Marrero Cruz also announced the elimination of more than 92,000 positions in four ministries as part of the restructuring, while the Secretary of the Council of Ministers presented the reform as a process of "reorganizing, resizing, and enhancing" the state apparatus.
Martínez González's post generated significant resonance on social media. One user captured the sentiments of many: "The Cuban chainsaw has taken down the Citma. Another blackout, this time for science." Another pointed out the root of the issue: "For those in power, the enemy, now and always, is critical thinking, reason, and science." A third voice highlighted the futility of any consultation within the Cuban system: "Consult you for what? We have an Assembly that will vote unanimously."
The ministries will have up to a year to complete the organizational changes following the official publication of the law, as stipulated by the approved regulation itself.
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