The Cuban Television News (NTV) has once again faltered with an error in its propaganda message: during the regime's annual campaign against the U.S. embargo, the subtitle "The United States blockade against Cuba does not prevent the people of the island from capitulating" aired right beneath the face of Fidel Castro.
The video, aired on October 12 during its prime time slot, accumulated 3,600 views on the official Canal Caribe channel on YouTube, although the phrase has already been removed.
The slip quickly went viral. The exiled Cuban playwright and activist Yunior García Aguilera shared it on his Facebook account with surgical irony: "The Cuban Television News, where apparently there is no one left who passed Spanish in high school, has gifted us this gem of revolutionary journalism."
García Aguilera did not stop there. "After decades of proclaiming that the Cuban people will never surrender, the NTV has just acknowledged that it has given in. And, to make matters worse, that the U.S. blockade has been unable to stop it," he wrote.
The activist, who acknowledged that the regime's propagandists likely intended to convey the opposite, detailed the reasons for the breakdown: "Amid the overload of slogans, the exodus of professionals, and the deterioration of the education system, it seems they have also run out of semantic advisors."
The reaction of internet users in the post was a cascade of sarcasm. "Their subconscious betrayed them," wrote one user. Another declared: "Communism as the ultimate expression of mediocrity." A third commented: "What can we expect from these ignoramuses? They're flailing like drowning people. Their mediocrity and ineptitude are such that anything is too little, and they continue to surpass themselves in incompetence."
Speculations about the internal consequences also surfaced. "Heads will roll!" warned one internet user. Another one asked, laughing: "They must already be figuring out who made that blunder!" A user suggested the perfect scapegoat: "Now they'll surely blame ChatGPT for the mistake."
Comments pointing to structural reasons were not lacking. "The PCC's scriptwriters, who prepare the controlled media, indicate the massive exodus of members, along with retirements and deaths," noted an internet user.
Another added, "There is still talent in Cuba, but most have gone into exile. The most talented are not staying, and that has its costs." And one more, with a dark sense of humor, concluded, "Look at the Commander's face trying to understand the parable."
The incident is not isolated. The NTV has already displayed the word “DESICIÓN” during a segment in 2021, and official government accounts have published nonsensical words like “mamiobras,” “alrrededor,” and “Bienbenidos” in previous years.
The very Prime Minister Manuel Marrero Cruz wrote "sensillez" on X in 2020.
The video was part of the regime's annual campaign against the U.S. embargo, just before the UN General Assembly vote scheduled for October 29, 2026. It is hardly likely that the regime imagined that its latest propaganda piece would end up being the strongest argument for its critics.
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