The Cuban playwright and activist Yunior García Aguilera published this Saturday in 14ymedio an opinion column in which he dismantles the official narrative of the regime regarding the XXIV International Meeting of Communist and Workers' Parties, held in Havana on August 7 and 8, and concludes that Castroism has created, with its own hands, the enemies that now surround it.
The forum, presented by the regime as a demonstration of international support, brings together according to its organizers 118 party organizations from around the world. However, only about 100 representatives from 48 parties arrived in Havana, less than half of the network that the event claims to represent. García succinctly summarizes it: "If that was the muscle they intended to showcase, the demonstration ended up being unintentionally flaccid."
Roberto Morales Ojeda, the number two of the Communist Party of Cuba, opened the meeting by declaring that the island "is not alone and will never surrender." García reverses the argument: "The regime has never been so alone. This is precisely demonstrated by the meeting that aimed to show the opposite."
The columnist notes that most of the attending parties are marginal forces in their own countries. The Communist Party of Greece, the strongest in Western Europe, hovers around 8% of the votes. The one in Portugal has been in decline for years. The one in Spain doesn't even run under its own brand.
But the most compelling point of the article is the thesis that Castroism methodically created its own adversaries. García argues that the U.S. sanctions did not emerge out of nowhere: "The sanctions did not arise spontaneously nor were they the result of an abstract evil called 'imperialism.' They were the direct consequence of a long chain of decisions made in Havana."
The regime nationalized American properties, allied itself with the Soviet Union during the height of the Cold War, agreed to install nuclear missiles just 90 miles from the shores of the United States, supported guerrillas in Latin America, and engaged in espionage activities against Washington.
Even more serious, García argues, was the enemy manufactured within the island itself: “Castrismo turned millions of Cubans into its most tenacious adversaries. It confiscated property, imprisoned dissidents, persecuted religious individuals and homosexuals, even executed thousands of compatriots, separated families, and expelled those with differing views.” He then insulted them with what the columnist refers to as “a catalog of insults that has already become part of national history: 'worms', 'scum', 'traitors', 'vermin', 'bastards'.”
This exile has built a significant political influence in the United States and uses it against the very regime that expelled it. "Demanding such a dose of masochism from its victims would be asking too much," writes García, "even for a revolution that has never been known for its 'sense of historical moment'."
The article also points out the internal contradictions of the model. After demonizing the market for decades, the regime relies on private mipymes; after condemning the dollar, it needs remittances from Miami or Madrid; after promising socialist self-sufficiency, it imports most of its food, even from the United States.
This doctrinal collapse occurs while Cuba is experiencing an unprecedented crisis: the National Electric System has accumulated at least seven total collapses in 2026, and the country recorded only 68,051 births in 2025 —a historic low— against 134,354 deaths, with a negative migration balance of 245,264 people.
García concludes his column with an image that encapsulates the irony of the situation: "Meanwhile, in an air-conditioned hall in Havana, a hundred representatives of the international extreme left approve yet another resolution against capitalism. Just a few blocks away, millions of Cubans continue to wait for something much more revolutionary: to speak without fear, for the light to return, and for a liter of sunflower oil not to cost three salaries."
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