The national leadership of the Committees for the Defense of the Revolution (CDR) announced 23 activities for September under the slogan "From the Neighborhood with Fidel," in a celebration that once again places the dictator Fidel Castro (1926-2026) at the center of the organization.
According to a report on Wednesday by the state-run newspaper Trabajadores, the press conference was led by the national coordinator of the organization, Gerardo Hernández Nordelo, and the vice-coordinator, Yosveny Verdeal Castellanos, who presented the program scheduled until September 28, the date of the 66th anniversary of the CDR.
The choice of slogan directly connects the celebration with the centenary of Castro and reinforces his role as a political reference for an organization that seeks to renew its image without letting go of its founding symbols.
Hernández acknowledged that the CDR cannot continue to operate as it did 10, 20, or 30 years ago, although he framed the change as a necessity for adaptation rather than a fundamental review.
"The times change," he asserted, and stated that the organization must take an active stance and engage with the issues faced in the neighborhoods and the challenges within the communities.
The renewal, according to the leadership of the CDR, also involves finding new leaders. Verdeal emphasized the need to increase youth participation and summarized the challenge in a phrase directed at the new generations: "We want many more young people to say: I want to be the president of my CDR."
The program includes voluntary blood donations, with over 9,579 units accumulated in the current phase, in addition to the "Cultiva tu pedacito" movement, which brings together more than 607,000 backyards and plots dedicated to food production.
It also includes recycling festivals under the name "My Neighborhood Recycles" and an exercise of Revolutionary Popular Surveillance scheduled for September 17.
That last activity serves as a reminder that, despite the discourse on adaptation, revolutionary vigilance continues to be part of the functions that the CDR claim for themselves.
The organization, founded by Castro in 1960, thus maintains a blend of community tasks and political functions that it seeks to present as a response to the daily problems of the neighborhoods.
Havana will celebrate its provincial event on September 26 at the La Güinera Popular Council in Arroyo Naranjo, while Matanzas will host the national event on the 28th after being awarded the status of National Vanguard.
Sixty-six years after its creation, the CDR's strategy seems to involve changing the way it reaches neighborhoods without altering the political reference that remains central to its identity.
The organization wants new young people, new ways of participation, and greater community presence, but it operates under a slogan that makes it clear that renewal has its limits: staying "beside Fidel."
In April 2025, at their IV National Plenary, the CDR acknowledged a deficit of leaders characterized by the aging of its membership and a lack of interest from young people, with calls for revitalization failing to yield lasting results.
Last March, the authorities launched the movement My Neighborhood for the Homeland, which was approved by the State Council and formally presented in May at the National Capitol.
Analysts and independent media describe it as a reinforced CDR with a new name, designed to regain community control where traditional structures have lost influence.
The initiative, however, has already faced rejection from many Cubans. When the Havana government promoted it in August, the official announcement received an avalanche of criticism.
"The slogans cannot be eaten, they do not provide us with the vital water for life, and they do not light up the endless nights of our children and elderly," wrote an internet user in a reaction that summed up the mood on the street in response to the regime's new campaigns.
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