Miguel Díaz-Canel began his second term in the midst of a mirage, among his most powerful allies and among multiple congratulations on his 62nd birthday. A scenario that has nothing to do with the perpetual crisis that Cuban society is suffering.
“Dear people to which I am proud to belong, receive the respect, admiration and immense affection of those who always feel indebted. I confirm that I will serve with passion, commitment, without reluctance, until the last consequences,” the president reiterated what he said before the 462 deputies of the National Assembly of People’s Power. A “huge challenge” in which he counts on the front line of combat with his political godfather, Raúl Castro, the same one who trained him from his regional positions in his native Villa Clara.
The historical leader and the president until 2028 entertained the Russian Foreign Minister, Sergüéi Lavrov, at the Palace of the Revolution, in the last stop of his Latin American tour, which began in Brazil and continued in Venezuela and Nicaragua. “We reaffirm the priority that our governments give to historical ties of friendship and the will to continue deepening bilateral ties in sectors of mutual interest,” said the also first secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba (PCC), who last week justified the acute fuel crisis that the island is suffering, with queues for hours to recharge vehicles, due to the fact that Venezuela and Russia (without mentioning them) have not been able to comply with their usual shipments of oil and gasoline.
In Havana, the municipal government has already imposed fuel rationing to alleviate a crisis that the government itself is not sure how long it will last.
The Cuban entourage made it clear to Lavrov that it maintains its support for Vladimir Putin in his invasion of Ukraine, whose main cause is “the expansion of NATO to the Russian borders,” summed up Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez.
Lavrov double congratulated his ally Díaz-Canel, who did not stop adding congratulations throughout the day. For the daily Granma, the official bulletin of the PCC, the most notable were those of the General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party and President of China, Xi Jinping, and those of Nicolás Maduro, who wished him “many more years of life and strength for to continue as brothers in this fight for the well-being of our peoples and the union of the Great Homeland”.
The supreme leader of North Korea, Kim Jong-un, was also absent, who stressed that the second term of Raúl’s successor is a guarantee “in the midst of machinations, sanctions and blockades, subversions by hostile forces and innumerable difficulties.”
Of course, not everything was going to be congratulations for a president with a popularity rating below 20%. “They can talk all they want about alternatives and democracy, but the Cuban elections are illegitimate, among other reasons because they only serve the elite that has kidnapped the sovereignty of the people,” activist Hilda Landrove summed up the process that has led to Díaz- Canel to renew his mandate as established by the PCC.
And so, between queues at gas stations, threats of new power cuts, the largest diaspora in history and 1,066 political prisoners, the second presidency of Canel began, as he is called on the Cuban streets. At least he will always have the unconditional love of his wife, Lis Cuesta, who claims through her social networks the romance with “the dictator of my heart” and who today also greeted him on Twitter: “Congratulations, my love! May life reward you with more health, intelligence, patience and strength to continue pushing this island and serving your people, whom you love so much, and that I can, together with our family, protect you more”.
According to the criteria of The Trust Project
