Raúl Torres Paints a Rosy Picture of Cuban Resilience Amidst Collapse

On Friday, the regime's favored troubadour, Raúl Torres, posted a lengthy piece on Facebook, where he romanticized Cuba's collapse, treating the country's hardships as if they were elements of literary fiction and 40-hour blackouts as metaphors for the resilience of the human spirit.

Torres, a steadfast supporter of the government, began his post with an affectionate greeting: "To my brothers and sisters on this island, beating now to a rhythm that’s both difficult and discordant... listen to me," showcasing his full poetic flair.

Central to his message was a declaration of love for the Cuban people, which sounded more like a soothing lullaby than a realistic portrayal: "I love you for your courage to stand firm as the ground shakes, for your laughter that seeps through the cracks of collapse, for your ingenuity that turns nothing into everything."

In 2026, in Cuba, shaking ground and cracks are not poetic images—they are the daily reality in any neighborhood of the capital. Building collapses have become common, including one on the Malecón on June 10th and at least two more in Old Havana recently.

The Omission of Accountability

Torres does not dwell on these uncomfortable details. In his universe, the woes of Cuba are not attributed to 67 years of communist dictatorship but to "the owners and magnates of media and networks, with their echoes of division." The regime, the Communist Party, the military conglomerate GAESA: none of these are mentioned even once.

The troubadour also echoed the regime's favorite propaganda solution: "solidarity," represented by the dispatch of doctors and teachers abroad, without acknowledging the international denunciations of these missions as forced labor. He concluded by asserting that "if there is a living school of what it means to be human under the worst conditions, that school is called Cuba."

Reality vs. Romanticism

The reality that Torres transforms into poetry is far less lyrical: Cuba has suffered an economic contraction of over 26% since 2020, with an average salary of just 15 dollars a month and blackouts lasting between 20 and 40 consecutive hours. The regime recently unveiled a package of 176 economic measures, which economist Pedro Monreal labeled a "monster" and a "deformed hybrid," while the U.S. State Department described them as "superficial smoke signals."

This is not Torres' first foray into propagandistic lyricism. In May, he claimed that "in Cuba, those who govern do not enrich themselves," a statement widely ridiculed given the documented wealth accumulation by the Castro family and their cronies. In March, he posed atop a MINFAR tank and became the meme of the day. In August 2025, he released "Soy por Fidel" to celebrate Castro's 99th birthday.

On social networks, the reactions to the post were not what Torres anticipated; several netizens pointed out the vast gap between his text and the lived reality. "More of the same, we are continuity and going for more," one person sarcastically commented.

The piece concludes with an invitation to be "a beacon," and with a "lyrical" outburst for a people who, from ruin, teach the planet that the only possible homeland is one of love. Meanwhile, Cuba's housing deficit exceeds a million homes, and 116,000 people live precariously in shelters. In this scenario, Torres reaffirms himself as the architect of officialist lyricism, serving those who oversee the collapse.