The Cuban regime celebrated a new day of the National Defense Day this Friday in Aguada de Pasajeros, a municipality in the province of Cienfuegos, with military exercises that included training for territorial forces and the activation of the alert schedule for reservists in the care areas.
The Federal Defense Zone was the main stage of the event, which, according to the official newspaper 5 de Septiembre, was replicated throughout Cuba as part of the preparations for what the government describes as a potential external aggression.
During the exercise, participants developed combined theoretical and practical classes, protective actions for the population, and specialized training for the support groups for mobilization.
The working groups of the Defense Zone assessed the achievement of the established objectives, while the highest authorities of the Provincial Defense Council led the day, the media reported.
Armando Carranza Valladares, president of the Provincial Defense Council, and Yolexis Rodríguez Armada, vice president, led the event alongside the representatives of the Municipal Defense Council of Aguada de Pasajeros.
The authorities took advantage of the occasion to quote one of the most well-known phrases of Major General Antonio Maceo (1845-1896): "He who attempts to seize Cuba will gather the dust of its soil soaked in blood, if he does not perish in the struggle."
The exercise this Friday is part of the series of mobilizations that the regime has maintained almost continuously since it declared 2026 as the Year of Preparation for Defense and instituted National Defense Days as weekly events under the doctrine of the War of All the People.
At the end of May, Cienfuegos was the site of military drills by sea and air, when the Revolutionary Navy conducted exercises from the Cienfuegos bay during the fifteenth National Defense Day of the year.
In June, the province once again participated in simultaneous events with four other provinces, while in Matanzas a squad of shooters simulated engaging enemy drones and set up anti-tank mines.
The United States Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth, warned in mid-August from Panama that "all options are on the table, including military options."
For its part, the State Department sanctioned five entities and eight individuals linked to the acquisition of weaponry for the Cuban Armed Forces.
Three days before the exercise in Aguada de Pasajeros, the Central Army publicly aligned itself with Miguel Díaz-Canel, stating that the FAR "accept those declarations as their own," referring to the controversial statements made by the leader in an interview with the Brazilian newspaper Folha de São Paulo.
On several occasions, military exercises have sparked mockery on social media due to the use of outdated means, such as when oxen teams transported metal obstacles to block roads in Taguasco, Sancti Spíritus, in February.
According to an analysis by CNN published in June, the active personnel of the FAR fell from 235,000 to a maximum of 50,000 soldiers, with outdated Soviet equipment and MiG fighters nearly inoperable due to a lack of fuel and spare parts.
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