Mike Hammer, mission chief at the Washington Embassy in Havana, posed a direct question to the Cuban people this Saturday through a video published on the embassy's official account on X: what do you feel when you see your flag?
The message, lasting just 21 seconds, is part of the campaign #Freedom250, with which Washington has commemorated the 250th anniversary of its independence throughout 2026.
"In the United States, when we see our flag, we think of freedom," Hammer explained in Spanish, before turning to his "Cuban friends" to ask what feelings their flag evokes in them.
The question directly points to a symbolic tension that permeates Cuban society: the flag, designed in the 19th century by independentists in exile as a symbol of the fight against Spain, has been appropriated by the regime as a revolutionary emblem, while large sectors of the opposition and the diaspora reclaim it as a symbol of the Cuban nation, independent from any government.
The video is the most recent appeal in a sustained series of public messages that the embassy has directed to Cubans throughout the year.
In May, the mission invited Cubans to send messages, photos, and videos about freedom to be published around July 4th, and in June launched a new call with the question "What would you say about freedom?".
The peak of that campaign came on July 4th, when Hammer declared in Havana: "May the United States enjoy another 250 years of freedom, and may Cuba be free in the year 2026. Long live Free Cuba!"
On that same day, State Security prevented the attendance of opponents, activists, and journalists at the embassy events, to which the mission publicly responded with the message, "Why are they so afraid of them?"
Since arriving in Havana in November 2024, Hammer has employed an active style of public diplomacy that includes visits to provinces, meetings with opponents, Damas de Blanco, and former political prisoners.
The regime has responded with organized acts of repudiation: in January, he endured one in Trinidad after visiting Father José Conrado Rodríguez, and the next day he stated that those who insulted him "do not represent the Cuban people."
In August, Hammer met again with families who received aid and with opposition members, defying the restrictions that the regime attempts to impose on his interactions with civil society.
The question about the Cuban flag, posed in an approachable tone and in Spanish, invites Cubans to reflect on what that symbol represents to them beyond the official discourse, at a time when Washington's diplomatic and political pressure on Havana shows no signs of easing.
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