The ruler Miguel Díaz-Canel urged the residents of Havana on Friday to learn where and how to protect themselves in basement areas, semi-basements, and tunnels, during a visit to the Civil Defense Council of the Casa Blanca area, in the municipality of Regla.
"The preparation of the people for defense remains a top priority," stated the president of the National Defense Council during the meeting with members of that territorial defense structure, reported the digital site of the Presidency of Cuba.
The president of the Zone Defense Council of Casa Blanca, Johannes Milián Morales, reported that this territory, covering only 2.9 square kilometers, is home to more than 10,000 people.
During the session, he presented the warning and protection plans for the population, as well as the production and defense brigades.
Díaz-Canel insisted that residents must know "where to go to seek shelter, how to get there, how to evacuate the elderly, children, and other individuals who need protection." He also presented a report from the Canal Caribe of the official television.
According to the head of state, the provincial, municipal, and regional defense councils "have become the core where the main analyses are conducted and key decisions are made, both in political and ideological aspects, as well as in economic and social matters."
Such a formulation combines military preparation with the management of the daily crises of blackouts, water shortages, and food scarcity that the Cuban population endures.
The leader took advantage of the event to denounce the recent sanctions from Washington against Cuba, which he described as a "cruel energy blockade," and linked them to statements from the administration of Donald Trump that, he stated, reveal a policy of "maximum pressure" against the Island.
The leader headed the activities for National Defense Day accompanied by Esteban Lazo Hernández, president of the National Assembly, Roberto Morales Ojeda, secretary of Organization of the Central Committee, and the army corps generals Álvaro López Miera, minister of the FAR, and Lázaro Alberto Álvarez Casas, head of Minint.
The division general José Amado Ricardo Guerra, secretary of the Council of Ministers, and general Ernest Feijóo Eiró, head of the Western Army, also participated.
Last week, Díaz-Canel presided over a similar event in Marianao, within the framework of the Year of Preparation for Defense declared by the regime in January.
The call to take shelter in basements and tunnels aligns with the instructions from the Family Guide for Protection Against Military Aggression, developed by the National Civil Defense General Staff in April, which instructs Cuban families to prepare emergency backpacks with candles, water, food for three days, and medications, under the motto Protect, resist, survive, and triumph.
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