Roberto Morales Ojeda, Secretary of Organization of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba (PCC), shared a message on the eve of the start of the school year in Facebook, in which he praised the "resilience" of the people in the face of shortages, attributing all the problems to the U.S. embargo.
The response from internet users was overwhelming: a flood of comments that described a reality radically different from the one depicted by the leader.
In his post, Morales Ojeda acknowledged that it "will not be easy" and that "many things necessary for the teaching-educational process will be lacking," but he placed the responsibility solely on what he referred to as "the claws of the blockade."
The text praised the resilience of Cubans in their commitment to education and promised that "there will be women and men with intact dignity and the infinite love of those who go daily to impart knowledge; they will not be able to block them."
The criticisms in the post quickly dismantled that narrative.
"One must have a lot of nerve to start a school year where the children can't sleep, there's no water, and even less breakfast," wrote one.
"You can't learn well if you haven't eaten and slept well," another person pointed out.
A third person pointed directly to the material conditions: "If there are no teachers, schools without water, broken bathrooms, and not even a decent lunch for those children."
The situation of teachers was also reported: "The teachers are exhausted, sleepy, and hungry, not to mention that many haven't even received their vacation pay, while the children go without breakfast, as most don't even have a glass of milk and are tired due to poor sleep caused by the power outages."
Another user pointed out that their child was returning to school "thanks to my family, everything brought from the bad country," referring to shipments from abroad.
A comment sarcastically criticized the official discourse: "And even though they haven't slept or had breakfast, many of them we stopped in the beautiful morning sun to talk to them about the blockade (...) What a pity, so lovely and with so much desire to enjoy school, and they don't even have a decent bathroom to take care of their needs or wash their little hands."
The contrast between Morales Ojeda's speech and the reality faced by Cuban families was summed up in another comment: "How many children do not have the proper rest and necessary nutrition, along with resources to start their school year like any child in the world?"
The start of the school year in Cuba occurs amidst a devastating economic and social scenario. The Minister of Education, Naima Ariatne Trujillo Barreto, who in August promised that the return to classes would be "a great celebration," had to later admit that the school year begins under "very difficult" conditions.
The education system faces a deficit of at least 24,000 teachers, which is equivalent to 12.5% of the expected positions, and only 20% of students will be able to have new uniforms, as between 2.2 and 2.3 million garments were produced out of the 3.6 million needed.
All of this is happening amidst the worst energy crisis in its history, with daily blackouts lasting over 20 hours that affect 70% of the national territory during peak hours.
In the face of that reality, the official discourse maintains its empty propaganda rhetoric, praising non-existent achievements.
The Communist Party published on Facebook on Saturday that the start of the school year represents "another act of heroism and firm determination not to yield."
Days earlier, a political leader in Camagüey described the return to classes as a "blow to imperialism."
Related videos:
Filed under: