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Díaz-Canel is booed in Batabanó and Cuban Television calls for his visit "pinnacle moment"

Díaz-Canel is booed in Batabanó and Cuban Television calls for his visit "pinnacle moment"

In a display of populism, Miguel Díaz-Canel toured the towns most affected by Hurricane Ian in the west of the island. Dressed as a soldier, National Television dispenses with his titles of president and first secretary of the Party, and presents him with the name of Chief of the National Defense Council.

The photographers have done the rest. Each snapshot seeks a comparison between Díaz-Canel and Fidel Castro, which still excites the old combatants and tries to shed a little credibility on the figure of the designated president.

During his visit this Thursday to the municipality of Batabanó, in Mayabeque, one of the most affected by the floods, Díaz-Canel and his entourage had to continue by. “He is surrounded,” shouts a woman from the crowd that blocks the passage of the luxurious Civil Defense cars, “and they don’t let the people speak.” “Walk so you can see,” they yell at him, calling the agents of the Ministry of the Interior who push the population “brazen” and “snitches.”

“They make fun of the town” and then “they adorn it in the News,” concludes the same woman, who captures the moment with her phone, while the cars move away from the center of Batabanó at full speed

“They make fun of the town” and then “they adorn it in the News,” concludes the same woman, who captures the moment with her phone, while the cars move away from the center of Batabanó at full speed.

Hours later, the Noticiero Estelar reported a “dialogue with the neighbors” of Batabanó, which had meant a “peak moment.” “Díaz-Canel came to every corner where the population requested his presence to express concerns,” said journalist Talía González.

In the images, he is seen hugging local officials, also in military dress, and greeting several families, who correspond by repeating slogans and long live the Revolution, in an environment protected by his escort. Díaz-Canel said he was very concerned about the “Batabanó issue” and about the people who lost their homes during the floods.

“We are making more progress,” he assured the neighbors, amid landslides, overflowing ditches and trees uprooted by the cyclone. “The things that are lacking here are also lacking in other parts of the country,” she blurted out, “every day you have to take a little bit away from the problems.”

“But there are people here who have lost everything,” interrupted a woman, to which Díaz-Canel, impassive, responded with a litany of “uprising” measures that the government had taken in the face of the hurricane. “We are guaranteeing the issue of mattresses,” he said with annoyance, “because the most important thing is that people can sleep on a mattress.”

In accordance with Cubadebate, 85% of the damage in Mayabeque is concentrated in Batabanó, Melena del Sur and San Nicolás, due to flooding and damage to crops. Díaz-Canel also toured the dilapidated Ernesto Guevara thermoelectric plant in Santa Cruz del Norte, which despite the promises of its technicians is not in a position to provide enough energy to the National Electric System.

As the hours go by, it becomes more impossible for the Government to keep the population satisfied and without protests. Three days of electrical instability, drop in telephone and internet services, shortages and the impossibility of preserving foods that require refrigeration, are already detonating demonstrations in various parts of the country.

“He has just resigned already,” said the artist, “where are the millions that were donated to you to fix the thermoelectric plants?”

Protests and barricades in the Havana municipalities of El Cerro, Arroyo Naranjo, San Miguel del Padrón, in addition to cacerolazos in the provinces, such as those in Holguín, have inaugurated a new wave of social informality.

Some public figures have expressed, also from the networks, their desperation and the demand for political change in the country. This was the case of the actor Ulyk Anello, sanctioned by Cuban Television in July for granting an interview to an independent journalist and placing a white rose on his Facebook profile, which attacked Díaz-Canel in a direct broadcast on instagram.

“He has just resigned,” said the artist, “where are the millions that were donated to you to fix the thermoelectric plants?” “Just leave now,” insisted Anello, who lamented that his family’s food was in poor condition after three days without electricity.

The response of the Government has been, once again, the threat of repression. Throughout yesterday, several vehicles of the Special Troops and the Armed Forces, in addition to Police patrols, have circulated through the streets of the capital to intimidate Cubans.

In the midst of the energy crisis, the Editorial Office of 14ymedio recorded how the building of the Ministry of the Armed Forces, in the municipality of Plaza de la Revolución, remained this Thursday night with all its lights on. This waste, in a building usually dark at this time, suggests not only a display of power by the military leadership, but also a sign that they are vigilant to repress any possible protest.

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