Miguel Díaz-Canel debuted this Wednesday as the host of "Criterio Compartido," his new program on Radio Rebelde, and although the regime introduced it as a space for "citizen participation," the voices that managed to break through to the airwaves highlighted the harsh reality of the Cuban people: salaries that are insufficient, miserable pensions, and a country without fuel for months.
The premiere of Díaz-Canel's radio program was broadcast at 7:15 am with official journalist Bárbara Betancourt, and it is also available on podcast platforms, including Spotify.
The most forceful call came from Contramaestre. Pedro Rodríguez Martínez did not mince words: “Salaries and the budget are not enough to live on,” he stated, noting that the price of oil ranges between 3,600 and 5,000 pesos.
Eighty-eight-year-old Juana Pérez, a retiree in Havana, reported that she survives on a pension of 2,000 pesos and called for urgent attention for the elderly. Natalia Caridad Quintana denounced that she has been waiting for over a decade for uncultivated land in Arroyo Naranjo; Díaz-Canel responded, "You will receive a response regarding your land."
Another listener asked if Cuba could receive fuel from allied countries. The leader's response was revealing: "We have made all kinds of arrangements for fuel, and no fuel is arriving from anywhere in the world." He added, "In this country, no fuel ship has arrived in nine months."
This occurs days after Cuba experienced its eighth national blackout of 2026.
At the closing, Díaz-Canel responded to the speech that Donald Trump delivered the day before at the UN, where he referred to Cuba as an "absolutely failed state."
The Cuban leader described Trump’s words as “completely arrogant, domineering, and interventionist” and concluded with his defiant phrase: “Cuba's freedom arrived on January 1, 1959 with that Revolution, and we are not going to lose that freedom.”
Of course, the comments that made it to the air were more than filtered. Those that circulated freely on digital platforms painted a very different picture.
On the X account of the Presidency of Cuba, a netizen wrote: "67 years inventing how to govern a country and... yes, they have succeeded, ruining it, with repression, hunger, and misery. It's what communists know how to do."
On the wall of Facebook for the program «Hola Habana», the comments were not very kind. "It suffers from galloping ineptitis," wrote one user. Another joked, "Hahaha. I'm going to call in during the next broadcast to see."
A third person pointed out: "More of the same. If the program is going to continue with the same responses from the interviews conducted this year, it's better not to waste your time."
Several pointed out the ruler's disconnection: "He lives in another country called Siboney, where those who govern Cuba reside, and there is everything, nothing is missing."
A user added: "Apparently, they don't know that the country is adrift, the police are corrupt, and thieves are robbing in broad daylight, not to mention that food in Cuba is the most expensive in the world."
Another criticized: "The most convenient and limiting thing in this world... is blaming others."
The most striking summary was left by another internet user: "He never tires of making one blunder after another. The country is completely adrift and he's just playing around pretending to be a broadcaster, with no charisma at all."
"Criterio Compartido" will be broadcast on Wednesdays with a biweekly frequency.
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