The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Cuba, Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla, published this Sunday on his X account a quote from Raúl Castro proposing the formula to overcome "these difficulties," avoiding the euphemism of naming the economic and social debacle caused by 67 years of dictatorial government and communist totalitarianism.
According to the regime's chancellor, to "overcome these difficulties," the Cuban people must fight "with the same determination as in Baraguá, Moncada, Granma, and Girón." The post, accompanied by the hashtag #RaúlEsRaúl, strikingly summarizes the comatose state of the Cuban regime's propaganda in 2026.
Rodríguez Parrilla reproduced the words of the ex-dictator verbatim in his post: "History has taught us abundantly where resignation and defeatism lead. Let us not limit ourselves to merely resisting."
And he added: «We will overcome these difficulties, just as we always have, by fighting!, with the same determination as Baraguá, Moncada, Granma, and Girón, and with the firm convictions instilled in us by the Commander in Chief.»
The message arrives at the worst economic moment the island has seen in decades, and when Cubans are more fed up than ever with the propaganda and messages calling for "creative resistance," appealing to "heroism," or trying to sanctify the "little battles" of Castroism and its outdated narrative.
In the national economic landscape, Cuban GDP fell by approximately 5% in 2025 and CEPAL projects a contraction of up to -10.3% for 2026. Year-on-year inflation approached 25% in August.
Eight out of ten Cubans skip daily meals due to scarcity, the electrical system is collapsing, and the UN warned that blackouts threaten the vaccination of 70,000 children. The magazine Foreign Affairs cautioned in September that Cuba is approaching a "point of no return".
In that scenario, the solution offered by the regime is to recycle episodes from revolutionary mythology: Baraguá—the protest by Antonio Maceo in 1878 against a peace without full independence—the attack on Moncada in 1953, the landing of the Granma in 1956, and the defeat of the Bay of Pigs invasion in 1961.
These four milestones that the regime's narrative has linked for decades serve as evidence for Havana that the so-called "revolution" and its heirs and continuators "never" accept defeat, regardless of the suffering endured by the people.
This is not the first time that Rodríguez Parrilla has turned to this manual.
At the end of September, the Committees for the Defense of the Revolution were celebrated from New York while Cuba was on the brink of collapse. Weeks earlier, he dug up another quote from Raúl Castro, without providing the date or the original context, proclaiming that “the Revolution dignified Cuba and Cubans.”
On September 4th, the chancellor himself acknowledged that Cuba has been in its current situation for "too long," without providing any explanation about who caused it.
The external context exacerbates the irrelevance of the message. The Trump administration imposed over 240 sanctions against Cuba in 2026.
On September 22, Trump described Cuba as a "failed state" before the UN General Assembly and warned that "Cuba will fall, freedom will come."
Four days later, he ruled out immediate military action but did not completely close off that option, while reports circulated about U.S. Army assessments to reinforce Southern Command.
In the face of unprecedented pressure and an internal collapse that can no longer be concealed, the regime's official response is to invoke Raúl Castro, appeal to the spirit of Baraguá, and call on Cubans to fight. What it does not explain is against what, or with what.
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