At 95 years old and with a health condition that the regime itself acknowledges as fragile, Raúl Castro sent a letter of congratulations to the Civil Defense Workers' Union on the 55th anniversary of its founding, which was broadcast by the official Channel Caribbean.
The text, dated in Havana, calls for "unity" and celebrates the "strength" of the guild as Cuba faces the most intense multidimensional crisis in its recent history.
The message begins with the usual solemn tone: "Dear colleagues, today, September 19, marks the 55th anniversary of the creation of the civil defense workers' union. For this reason, I wish to express my sincerest congratulations and my recognition."
Next, the Army General calls upon the founders and "many generations that knew how to unite their wills around a common goal: to defend the rights and well-being of the civilian workers who, from various roles, support the security and defense of the nation."
The most striking— and most challenging to read with a straight face— paragraph is the one that concludes the letter: "May this 55th anniversary renew our unity as our primary strategic weapon. Times change and bring new challenges, but the strength of this union lies in its people and in our ability to confront problems without abandoning our principles."
Talking about "strength" and "principles" in a country where 94% of the population lives in extreme poverty, according to a study conducted by the Cuban Observatory of Human Rights (OCDH) and the Cuba Social Rights Observatory, requires, at the very least, a significant dose of abstraction.
The "new challenges" that Castro mentions have names and surnames: 2,411 MW of maximum recorded electric deficit in August, eight total collapses of the electrical system so far this year, and blackouts lasting over 80 consecutive hours in some areas of the country. In addition, there is a projected GDP contraction of 6.5% for 2026 according to CEPAL, and rampant year-on-year inflation.
The union that today receives the lettered "embrace" from Raúl was founded on September 19, 1971, as the National Union of Civil Workers of the Revolutionary Armed Forces (SNTC-FAR), in a process directly driven by the then Minister of the FAR.
Three decades later, in 2001, the civilian workers of the FAR and MININT were integrated into the new National Union of Civil Defense Workers (SNTCD). It is, in a way, a creation of its own that the elderly general once again congratulates, this time for its 55th anniversary
The letter arrives amidst an unrelenting propaganda campaign that the regime enthusiastically maintains throughout 2026. Cubadebate published this very Saturday an article by the Mexican philosopher Fernando Buen Abad, in which he praises Castro as a symbol of "revolutionary permanence" with "extraordinary political leadership capacity."
At the beginning of this month, the International Book Fair concluded in Santiago de Cuba with the presentation of the "Selected Works of Raúl Castro": a luxurious collection of nine volumes, over 500 documents, and more than 5,000 pages, all while the country is practically devoid of resources for anything.
Raúl's public appearances in 2026 have been few and carefully managed. A relevant detail is that hemissed for the first time in at least three decades the central event of July 26; on August 13, he reappeared at the event for the centenary of his brother Fidel, mainly from a distance and without saying a word; and on September 5, he was present at a MININT event, also without a speech. This time, instead of appearing in person, he chose to communicate through a letter.
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