Miguel Díaz-Canel visited the Defense Council of the Zone (CDZ) of Los Sitios in Central Havana this Friday, as part of the fourth National Defense Day in October. He took the opportunity to launch one of those phrases that the regime loves and the Cuban people can no longer bear: "We cannot afford to get tired."
In response to the ruler's "spirit" regarding what official propaganda calls the "escalation of the blockade and the energy siege," the reaction on social media was as predictable as it was forceful: "Enough with the repressive measures," wrote users who have been weeks without electricity, without water, and with no defense council resolving anything at all for them.
The visit, shared by the official Presidency of Cuba page on Facebook, was presented as a review of "the consolidation of defense tasks and social problem-solving from structures meant for wartime in peacetime." The event highlighted the Production and Defense Brigades, the Mi Barrio por la Patria movement, and community projects such as Cabildo Quisicuaba and La Cobija.
According to the official publication, "progress and challenges" in electricity, water, solid waste, and care for vulnerable individuals were also presented. Challenges, many. Progress, the ones the regime invents.
The neighborhood of Los Sitios is home to over 33,000 people and plans to operate 22 Production and Defense Brigades. Díaz-Canel, convinced that military rhetoric can replace fuel and turbines, also stated, "I am convinced that in the current circumstances we will move forward, with our effort and our talent," according to Radio Rebelde.
The problem is that this "effort and talent" is exerted in the most literal darkness. This Friday, the electricity availability in Cuba was barely 1,030 MW compared to a projected demand of 2,850 MW, with a maximum estimated impact of 1,850 MW. In Matanzas, there have been reports of recent outages of nearly 70 continuous hours in the middle of the month, and in Pinar del Río, authorities acknowledged circuits with more than 90 hours of blackout.
The energy debacle must be added to the critical situation regarding water supply. Approximately 2.7 million people do not have drinking water or receive it intermittently due to power outages, as acknowledged by the regime itself at the beginning of the month.
The day Díaz-Canel called for resistance in Los Sitios was also a tumultuous one on the geopolitical front. Trump joked at a rally in Fort Myers, Florida, about stopping a warship about 50 yards off the Cuban coast: “They will raise their hands,” he said, before announcing he would send Marco Rubio "to seal the deal." Rubio himself issued an unprecedented call for Cubans to collaborate “discreetly with the CIA.”
Díaz-Canel responded on Facebook accusing the U.S. government of harboring "domination ambitions over Cuba." However, judging by the over 1300 political prisoners held by the regime, they are the only ones who dominate, with an iron fist, the mistreated people of the island.
Meanwhile, in a neighborhood of Camagüey, residents reported that the authorities collected the accumulated trash ahead of a supposed visit from the leader: “They collected the trash because someone important is going to pass through”, they said. A perfect metaphor for 67 years of revolution: cleaning up the misery just before the cameras arrive, and asking the people not to tire of enduring it.
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