Ulises Toirac Critiques a Regime Focused on Propaganda Over Practical Solutions

Cuban humorist and actor Ulises Toirac took to Facebook this past Saturday to share a biting post titled "Things Are Really Bad," in which he humorously yet poignantly dismantles the Cuban regime's priorities. He critiques the government's choice to allocate resources towards mobilizations and propaganda activities while the country grapples with overflowing trash and power outages that stretch over 20 hours a day.

The post followed closely on the heels of the Workers' Day marches, where the regime rallied thousands of people—officially reported as half a million in Havana alone—led by Raúl Castro and Miguel Díaz-Canel alongside over 600 international unionists, all under the slogan "Defend the Homeland."

"We've reached limits that even bringing together Salvador Dalí, Albert Camus, and Luis Buñuel wouldn't create," Toirac asserts, invoking these icons of surrealism and absurdity to describe a reality that outstrips them all.

Government Priorities Under Fire

Toirac's main target is the glaring disconnect between spectacle and reality: "A government that prioritizes mobilizations, signatures, and interviews—all requiring budget—over eradicating trash heaps or finding energy solutions that won't take until 2050," he writes with the irony of someone who has long witnessed the same political charade.

This propaganda machine also includes the "My Signature for the Homeland" campaign. Presented as a "spontaneous civil society" initiative, it is directed by the Communist Party of Cuba and reportedly amassed 6,230,973 signatures by May 1, according to official figures.

Additionally, Díaz-Canel's interview with NBC News, in which he denied the existence of political prisoners, blamed the U.S. embargo for the energy crisis, and stated that "resignation is not in his vocabulary," falls under this umbrella. Toirac had already responded to this interview, criticizing the extravagant homage event led by Díaz-Canel celebrating the socialist character of the revolution amid an ongoing blackout crisis.

Realities of a Country in Crisis

While the government signs declarations and organizes parades, Cuba is battling daily energy deficits ranging from 1,200 to 1,800 MW, with persistent outages since the year's start. The National Electric System experienced two total collapses in March. The economy has shrunk by 23% since 2019, and 1.25 million Cubans emigrated between 2021 and 2024, marking the worst migratory crisis in the island's history.

Toirac does not only criticize the government. He also points to the proliferation of opposition parties in exile, having launched his own satirical "Orthodontic Bembocratic Party" days earlier, cautioning that "there's a long way to go before these announced parties become functional."

The humorist clarifies that his critique of the regime's stagnation does not equate to supporting foreign intervention or annexation: "I don't want interventions or annexations. The term 'patriot' applies to someone who wants their Homeland to be sovereign. Like it or not. Anything else is hands-free masturbation."

The Cost of Absurdity

But patience has its limits. Toirac describes a nation where pot-banging protests over blackouts in La Güinera resulted in 14 arrests, where the regime responds to protests with revolutionary reaffirmation acts, and where "the deadly immobility has long surpassed its ten-stop journey" as he watches Julio Iglesias sing "Life Goes On."

"It seems that absurdity is the national sport and the ostrich, the bird that best identifies us as a nation," Toirac concludes, offering a vivid image that encapsulates 67 years of communist dictatorship: a nation burying its head while the world—and its own citizens—slip through its fingers.