Cuba's Repetitive Rhetoric at UNESCO Overshadows Nation's Deepening Crisis

Last Friday, Dulce Buergo, the representative of the Cuban regime at UNESCO, delivered a speech at the 224th session of the organization's Executive Board in Paris. Her speech echoed the same old narrative: portraying Cuba as a victim of U.S. imperialism, while completely ignoring the severe internal crisis, repression, and widespread public discontent gripping the island.

The Cuban Mission to UNESCO shared the video on social media on Thursday, two days after the Executive Board session concluded, which took place from April 8 to 23 in the French capital.

Buergo claimed that Cuba has been enduring "the longest sustained act of economic aggression in contemporary history" for over 60 years. She criticized the island's inclusion on the list of state sponsors of terrorism and condemned the executive order by Trump, which she argued aims to "impose a total blockade on our fuel supplies under the premise that economic hardships and consequent human suffering will force our people to renounce their sovereignty and independence."

She concluded with a rhetorical challenge: "It will not happen. We will never relinquish our sovereign right to build the country we desire, while also contributing to the development of a better, more supportive, and peaceful world."

Buergo's address entirely overlooks the grim reality faced by the Cuban population. While she spoke of "peace" and "multilateralism" in Paris, Cuba is enduring its most severe energy crisis in decades: power outages lasting up to 20 to 25 hours a day, an energy shortfall of up to 2,040 MW, and at least three complete system collapses in March, including a 30-hour blackout on the 16th of the month.

Worsening Energy Crisis and Political Unrest

The energy crisis has intensified since January 2026, following the capture of Nicolás Maduro, which halted Venezuelan shipments of 25,000 to 30,000 barrels daily, and Mexico ceased its deliveries under U.S. pressure. On January 29, Trump signed Executive Order 14380, declaring a national emergency and imposing tariffs on third countries supplying fuel to Cuba.

Public discontent quickly erupted. In March 2026, Cubalex documented 229 protests, the highest number in a single month since the July 11, 2021 demonstrations, with pot-banging protests across all provinces. The regime responded with arrests—at least 14 detained since March 6—and deployed shock troops. Díaz-Canel labeled the protests as "vandalism" and warned, "There will be no impunity."

Ignoring Internal Turmoil

Buergo's speech also neglected to mention that Cuba ended 2025 with a record 1,192 political prisoners or that the island's population has dwindled to about eight million, losing 24% over four years due to mass emigration.

What the regime does effectively is accumulate positions in international organizations. On April 13 and 14, Cuba was elected to preside over the Intergovernmental Network of National Commissions for Cooperation with UNESCO. Just two days earlier, on April 11, Cuba was chosen for the UN ECOSOC NGO Committee for the 2027-2030 term, despite formal protests from the United States, United Kingdom, Spain, and France, highlighting the contradiction that a country legally prohibiting independent NGOs oversees civil society's access to the UN.

International Strategy and Internal Silence

The pattern is not new. In October 2025, Díaz-Canel likened Cuba to Gaza before the FAO. That same month, the annual UN vote against the embargo saw the lowest global support for Cuba in over a decade, with two Latin American countries abstaining or voting against for the first time.

The regime's strategy remains unchanged: blame the embargo for a crisis stemming from other sources and use multilateral forums to project a victim image while silencing internal repression. The Cuban people, who endure blackouts, hunger, and persecution, are absent from these speeches.