The Christian activist and young father David Espinosa reported this Thursday that the official tenth-grade Political Culture textbook includes a chapter dedicated to presenting international coverage of the July 11, 2021 protests as "fake news", turning the repression of the social upheaval into indoctrination material for Cuban teenagers.
Espinosa published images of the book on his Facebook profile, where it can be seen that the text reproduces a dialogue, apparently from the officialist program Mesa Redonda, between its host, Randy Alonso, and President Miguel Díaz-Canel, accompanied by screenshots of international news stamped in red with the words "FAKE NEWS" and "BULO".
"Perhaps there are no scientific or economic advancements in Cuba... but our children will certainly be well-versed in the ideological topics that our government desires," the activist wrote with evident irony.
Among the contents that the book presents as misinformation is a headline from the newspaper ABC Internacional —described by Alonso in the text as “a Francoist Spanish newspaper”— reporting on the alleged resignation of the First Deputy Minister of the Ministry of the Interior due to disagreements over the excessive use of force against protesters.
The material also reproduces statements from Díaz-Canel in which he denies the extent of the repression: "Where are the thousands of dead? Where are the reported deaths in Cuba? We acknowledge that there was one deceased, and we are conducting a thorough investigation."
However, independent human rights organizations documented more than 1,400 individuals detained in connection with the 11J protests. Human Rights Watch reported this figure, which came from Cuban organizations such as Justicia 11J and Cubalex, in their report on repression published a year after the demonstrations. By that time, at least 701 individuals remained incarcerated, according to Amnesty International, figures that stand in stark contrast to the official version reproduced in the school textbook.
The text also accuses international media of spreading false images: according to Díaz-Canel, a photo presented as the Malecon of Havana actually corresponded to the Malecon of Alexandria, Egypt, and another showed Argentine celebrations for the Copa América.
Espinosa framed the discovery within a systematic pattern that, in his view, permeates all aspects of Cuban life: "Political indoctrination in Cuba starts from the moment you are born until you die: on TV, in hospitals, on street posters, in schools, and in state workplaces."
While it is true that, following the massive outburst on July 11 and the days that followed, some images and news circulated with false or inaccurate information—contributed to, without a doubt, by the lack of transparency with which the regime has always handled public interest data in the country—the reality documented in dozens of citizen videos and various reports is far removed from the narrative of the Cuban dictatorship, according to which what occurred were merely minor disturbances.
The book on Political Culture is part of a mandatory subject in Cuban pre-university education, published by Editorial Pueblo y Educación under the supervision of the Ministry of Education. The Observatory of Academic Freedom had already warned in September 2024 that the so-called Third Improvement of Education redesigned 506 textbooks with a strong ideological load, including the glorification of figures such as Fidel Castro, Che Guevara, and Díaz-Canel himself.
Espinosa is not an outside observer of the repression he denounces. The regime has tried to silence him multiple times: he has been summoned several times by the MININT, State Security agents attempted to recruit him as an informant, and ETECSA cut off the phone lines in a coordinated manner along with his wife Laidy García and other activists.
Despite this, the activist continues to post on social media and making his Christian faith the cornerstone of his resistance, something he also addressed in his complaint.
The protests of July 11 and 12, 2021 (11J), the largest nationwide anti-government demonstrations recorded in Cuba since 1959, began in San Antonio de los Baños, Artemisa, due to prolonged power outages, shortages of food and medicine, a serious economic and health crisis, and growing discontent over the lack of freedoms. The outbreak quickly spread to about 50 cities and towns, from the west to the east of the country.
Five years later, the regime not only keeps hundreds of protesters in prison but has also turned its own version of events into mandatory curriculum content for young Cubans.
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