"Our answer to the suffocating conditions is resourcefulness, inventiveness, and, much to their annoyance, the enduring joy of the Cuban people."
With these words, spoken at the main event for July 26 in Pinar del Río, Miguel Díaz-Canel once again leaned on a staple of the official narrative: turning the resilience of Cubans into the primary defense against the country's worsening economic and social conditions.
The Cuban leader asserted that the response to the "blockade" involves "intelligent and efficient efforts" and claimed that unity stands as "the main strategic weapon" of the so-called "revolution."
He further stated that the government is driving "deep and necessary changes" through ongoing economic transformations, always subordinated, he said, to the principle of social justice.
However, for millions of Cubans, these words clash with a reality that becomes increasingly difficult to endure.
The State's Endorsement of Resilience
For decades, the official discourse has portrayed the people's ability to endure hardships as a revolutionary virtue.
Scarcity is rebranded as "resilience"; power outages are viewed as tests of heroism; massive emigration is scarcely mentioned in official speeches; and economic difficulties are often attributed almost exclusively to U.S. policies.
The appeal to "creativity" is not new. For years, the regime has showcased what many Cubans see as mere survival strategies: repeatedly repairing obsolete equipment, cooking with wood due to gas shortages, improvising solutions amidst a lack of medicine, or spending hours searching for basic food items.
What the government terms inventiveness, millions experience as the ongoing obligation to survive amid shortages that have become part of everyday life.
Joy Amidst an Unprecedented Crisis
Díaz-Canel's reference to "the joy of the Cuban people" seems difficult to reconcile with the current state of the island.
Cuba continues to face a severe energy crisis, with prolonged blackouts affecting a significant portion of the country; inflation that has eroded the purchasing power of wages and pensions; and a severe shortage of food and medicine.
Additionally, essential services like healthcare and transportation are deteriorating, and there's an unprecedented migration wave, with hundreds of thousands of Cubans leaving the country in recent years, resulting in separated families and abandoned elderly.
In this context, promoting joy as a political response may appear disconnected from the general sentiment of the population, who live daily with uncertainty, fatigue, and frustration.
Permanent Sacrifice and the Promise of Reforms
In the same address, Díaz-Canel acknowledged that "creativity and effort alone are not enough" and defended the economic and social transformations promoted by his government as a strategic priority.
However, numerous economists have pointed out that these reforms come after years of economic decline and leave the main pillars of the centralized model untouched, without introducing institutional changes to guarantee greater economic freedom, legal security, or equal competition.
Moreover, questions remain about who will benefit most from these changes, in a context where access to resources, credit, and investment opportunities remains tightly linked to political power.
A Call for Enduring Sacrifices
Díaz-Canel's statement encapsulates a recurring theme in the official narrative: facing the crisis means enduring, working harder, maintaining unity, and trusting that collective sacrifice will eventually overcome difficulties.
Yet, for many Cubans, this message is increasingly hard to accept after years of constant decline in living conditions.
The inventiveness of the people has allowed them to repair irreplaceable appliances, cook when gas or electricity is unavailable, improvise non-existent medicines, and stretch a salary that lasts only a few days.
But such creativity has not prevented widespread impoverishment nor stopped the exodus of those who no longer believe in perpetual sacrifice leading to a better future.
Thus, when the leader asserts that the remedy for "suffocation" lies in "the inventiveness, creativity, and joy of the Cuban people," many citizens hear not a message of hope, but yet another call for them to bear the burden of a crisis that the regime itself refuses to acknowledge as a consequence of its policies and decades of decisions that have led Cuba into one of the most challenging phases of its recent history.
Understanding the Cuban Crisis
What does Díaz-Canel mean by "inventiveness and creativity"?
Díaz-Canel refers to the resourcefulness and adaptability of the Cuban people in overcoming daily challenges due to shortages and restrictions, often by finding creative and unconventional solutions to problems.
How does the Cuban government view the ongoing crises?
The Cuban government attributes the crises largely to external factors like the U.S. blockade, while emphasizing resilience and unity as central to their strategy. They also claim to be implementing necessary economic and social reforms.
What are the main criticisms of Díaz-Canel's speech?
Critics argue that Díaz-Canel's speech fails to address the root causes of the country's problems, downplays the severity of the crisis, and relies on rhetoric of sacrifice without offering tangible solutions or acknowledging the government’s role in the current situation.