"Celebrating misery? The municipal secretary of the PCC in Ciego de Ávila boasts about hard bread and fried yucca."

The posts by the first secretary of the Municipal Committee of the Communist Party (PCC) in Ciego de Ávila, Misleidy Abad Modey, regarding the activities for National Defense Day highlighted foods that many Cubans consider a symbol of the deep food crisis the country is facing.

Through several posts made on August 1 on Facebook, the leader shared dozens of photographs from events organized in various locations throughout the municipality. Among images of political acts, training exercises, and cultural presentations, there are numerous tables featuring rustic bread, yuca fritters, plantain balls, yuca discs, community soup, and other foods made with substitutes, displayed as part of the offerings for the community.

In one of the posts, Abad Modey highlighted the "excellent preparation of the groups and subgroups" during National Defense Day at the Roberto Rivas Fraga Defense Zone. In another, he showcased a "community projection" in the Central City Popular Council, while a third emphasized support actions in the locality of El Purial, in Ceballos, where residents received food distributed by an agro-industrial company.

However, it was precisely the images of the food that caught the attention of numerous users, as they displayed products that just a few years ago would have been considered emergency alternatives and that today are showcased as part of an official activity.

The photographs show trays of rustic-looking bread, tables with fried dishes made from cassava, banana balls, soups served in large pots, and small makeshift stands where attendees buy or receive these foods.

A contrast with the reality that the province experiences

The publications arrive at a particularly critical time for Ciego de Ávila, one of the provinces most affected by the food crisis.

In May of last year, the authorities themselves acknowledged that regulated bread could only be distributed a few days a month due to the shortage of flour. In this context, the Food Industry admitted that it was resorting to substitutes such as cassava, pumpkin, and sweet potato to produce various products intended for the population.

The situation has also forced many bakeries to cut back on production, while bread from the basic food basket has ceased to be a daily staple for thousands of Cuban families.

For this reason, many citizens find it difficult to separate the images circulated by the leader of the PCC from the daily reality marked by scarcity, high prices, and the inability to regularly access basic food items.

Propaganda in the Face of a Daily Crisis

This is not the first time that official publications have faced criticism for the disparity between institutional rhetoric and the daily lives of Cubans.

In recent years, there have been frequent negative reactions to photographs of markets set up for visits by officials, fairs organized with products that are difficult to find at other times, or propaganda activities that present an image of normality very different from what citizens themselves describe.

On this occasion, the images released by the highest leader of the PCC in the municipality reopened that debate: while thousands of families face long lines, power outages, and shortages of essential food items, official publications showcase improvised foods with substitutes and low-quality bread as examples of community success, which many Cubans recognize as one of the most visible signs of the deterioration of their daily nutrition.