标签： Cuba

On September 8, 2026, Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, who also serves as First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba, convened a high-level meeting at the Palace of the Revolution with more than 30 leaders of top-performing state-owned economic entities. The gathering centered on advancing the country’s sweeping 176-point economic and social transformation agenda, a reform package designed to level the playing field between state-owned enterprises and other economic actors across the island.

The meeting was co-led by other senior Cuban leadership, including Prime Minister Manuel Marrero Cruz, Vice President Salvador Valdés Mesa, Central Committee Organization Secretary Roberto Morales Ojeda, and Deputy Prime Minister Inés María Chapman Waugh. Moderated by Roberto Ricardo Marrero, head of the National Institute of State Business Assets, the discussion offered space for participating business leaders to share on-the-ground results from early reform implementation, as well as to unpack existing strengths, emerging threats, and ongoing challenges facing the state-owned enterprise sector.

Multiple enterprise representatives highlighted tangible early progress from the reforms. Alberto Vicente Águila Abreus, general manager of the National Beekeeping Company, noted that working groups have tailored reform rollout to the specific needs of the beekeeping sector, with new flexible financing policies already enabling faster interim payments to primary producers. Wilson Ramírez Peña, president of the Agricultural Logistics Business Group (Gelma), which operates across most Cuban municipalities, acknowledged that the radical scope of the changes has sparked uncertainty among frontline workers, underscoring the critical need for ongoing open dialogue and experience-sharing to build broader buy-in.

Oscar Carvajal Serrano, general director of the Automotive Group under the Ministry of Transportation, reported that the new flexibilities have already put his sector on a strong financial footing. He confirmed that no subsidiary company will end 2026 with a loss, with projections for growth in both tax contributions and corporate profits. “Our companies now face no structural barriers to progress, and we have the autonomy to resolve our own problems,” Carvajal Serrano said, adding that the reforms represent a critical long-term leap forward that will require sustained effort to deliver full results.

Leaders from other key sectors, including pharmaceutical giant Labiofam, the hydraulics industry, and the electronics sector, echoed these observations. Edel Gómez Gómez, general director of the Comandante Camilo Cienfuegos Electronic Industrial Company, emphasized that the reforms fulfill a longstanding demand of state-owned enterprises: equal operating status alongside non-state and private actors. “These changes remove long-standing bureaucratic obstacles and barriers, allowing us to move faster to generate the wealth our country needs right now,” Gómez Gómez explained.

In closing remarks, President Díaz-Canel noted that the meeting followed a similar gathering just days earlier with representatives of Cuba’s non-state business sector, and that regular cross-sector meetings will continue moving forward. Future discussions will include leaders from state-owned, non-state, and cooperative business segments, with the goal of integrating all groups into a unified national business system aligned with Cuba’s broader economic and social model.

Díaz-Canel explained that a large share of the 176 transformation measures, which are organized into 23 thematic areas, already have full legal backing through new regulations and laws published in the Official Gazette. However, he urged enterprises not to wait for final regulatory approval to begin designing their own local implementation strategies, noting that dozens of the most proactive pioneering companies have already developed their roadmaps and are well-positioned to accelerate progress after taking early risks.

The president stressed the urgent need to update outdated leadership and management styles across the state sector, emphasizing that all reform efforts must center on frontline worker participation. He highlighted two key priorities for the remainder of 2026: company-level debates on the 176 transformations, and collaborative development of the 2027 national economic plan. “If workers do not embrace the transformations, there will be no transformation,” Díaz-Canel said, noting that reform is an iterative process that should welcome worker suggestions and course corrections identified by on-the-ground teams. For the 2027 plan, he added, priorities should emerge directly from worker input, reflecting the new autonomy granted to state enterprises.

He also pushed back against a common misperception among some local leaders that the reforms are primarily focused on immediate salary increases, reminding attendees that sustainable wage growth depends entirely on increased productivity and domestic wealth creation.

Framing the socialist state-owned enterprise system as Cuba’s core economic actor, Díaz-Canel reaffirmed the government and party’s full confidence in the sector’s ability to lead national economic recovery amid ongoing external economic pressure. “We must build productive sovereignty, strengthen connections between all economic actors, and leverage the national political will to help the state-owned enterprise system deliver on its promise to the Cuban people,” he stated.

The meeting ended with a collective call to action for sector leaders to embrace internal change and drive the reform agenda forward, cementing the role of state enterprises as the engine of Cuba’s ongoing economic evolution.

On September 8, 2026, Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla unveiled a comprehensive report detailing the devastating human and economic harm inflicted by the United States’ decades-long economic, commercial, and financial blockade against Cuba, covering the 12-month period from March 2025 to February 2026. Speaking to an assembled audience of domestic and international journalists, Rodríguez framed the current intensification of the U.S. policy as an intentional act of collective punishment that meets the international legal definition of genocide.

Rodríguez painted a visceral picture of daily life for ordinary Cubans under the tightened blockade, describing widespread, prolonged power cuts that leave communities with just two to three hours of electricity access, or less, each day. “The long months living with only two or three hours of electricity a day or less, food spoiling, the heat that makes it impossible to sleep, parents fanning their babies, children doing their homework in near darkness, young people without internet access or recreation, grandparents without television or, sometimes, even radio—all family life is damaged,” he said.

The most acute crisis stems from a U.S. executive order imposed in January 2026 that formalized a full fuel blockade, which prohibits fuel imports, intimidates international shipping and tanker companies from delivering cargo to Cuba, and even blocks shipments of spare parts for the country’s existing thermoelectric and solar energy infrastructure. Rodríguez explained that 11 of Cuba’s 15 operational thermal power generation units are currently out of service for critical maintenance that cannot be completed due to blocked parts, resulting in a combined generating capacity shortfall of 1,400 megawatts. Despite Cuba’s rapid push to expand domestic solar energy capacity – with new photovoltaic parks able to be constructed in as little as 45 days – U.S. threats are now blocking shipments of solar panels and energy storage batteries needed to complete these projects. The energy crisis has rippled across every sector of Cuban society, from cutting power to water pumping stations that rely on electric infrastructure to disrupting public transportation that leaves most of the country’s vehicle fleet idled for lack of fuel, forcing students and workers to walk long distances to reach schools and workplaces.

The human cost of the blockade is most severe in Cuba’s universal public health system, which has long been a point of national pride. Rodríguez detailed how routine power cuts put vulnerable patients at extreme risk: newborns relying on electrically powered incubators must be sustained by manual ventilation when backup generators fail, and some emergency surgeries have been completed using only the light from rechargeable lamps or medical staff’s personal cell phones. More than 95% of the country’s medical equipment is affected by shortages of spare parts and supplies. Thousands of patients on hemodialysis face disrupted care due to ambulance fuel shortages, and 100,000 people – including 12,000 children – are currently on surgical waiting lists. The report documents that the childhood cancer survival rate has fallen from 85% to 65% due to blocked access to cancer medications and treatment supplies, with more than 70 people dying from the disease each day. Rodríguez emphasized that the rise in infant mortality recorded between 2018 and 2025 was entirely preventable: “These are children, not numbers. These are deaths that should not have happened” because Cuba was stripped of access to legitimate medical resources needed for its robust public health system.

The 2025–2026 report quantifies the total direct economic losses from the blockade at $8.083 billion, a 7% increase from the prior 12-month reporting period. Cumulative total damages, calculated at current dollar values, reach $178.7 billion; adjusted for gold price appreciation against the U.S. dollar, cumulative damages top $3.89 trillion. Without the blockade, Cuban GDP would have grown by 10.8% in 2025 alone. The energy blockade alone caused more than $802 million in direct losses over the reporting period, with a 2.67 million ton shortfall in planned fuel imports and more than 980 gigawatt-hours of lost generation capacity. The agricultural sector recorded $848 million in losses, with irrigation access falling to just 2 hours per day from the required 16 during the critical cold growing season, and 20,000 tons of prepositioned United Nations food aid for vulnerable communities held up by fuel shortages for distribution. The education sector recorded $98 million in combined losses, with 30% of students forced to relocate to access classes, and critical assistive technologies for disabled students – including 21 irreparable Braille machines and limited access to cochlear implants – left unavailable. Tourism, one of Cuba’s largest export sectors, suffered more than $2 billion in losses, while the national biopharmaceutical sector recorded $134 million in losses.

Rodríguez rejected claims that the harm inflicted by the blockade is accidental “collateral damage,” stressing that the suffering of the Cuban people is a deliberately planned outcome. He drew a parallel between the current policy and the genocide unfolding in Gaza, noting: “It is the same ruthless sentiment and destructive spirit behind the genocide being committed in Gaza. In Cuba, it is silent, without bombs, but it is killing nonetheless.” He also linked the current U.S. policy to the 19th century Spanish reconcentration policy that killed hundreds of thousands of Cubans, arguing that the ideological architects of the modern blockade, from mid-20th century U.S. policy planner Lester Mallory to current U.S. politicians and State Department officials, carry forward the same hostile intent to subjugate Cuba to foreign control for the benefit of anti-Cuban interest groups based in Miami.

Addressing claims from the U.S. government that it has provided $100 million in humanitarian aid to Cuba, Rodríguez called the assertion a deliberate falsehood. He noted that only a single small shipment of food and hygiene products for 700 families has been delivered to date, and challenged U.S. officials to disclose when full aid will arrive, why implementation has been delayed for months, and whether it will include critical medicine and food that Cuban communities urgently need. He clarified that Cuba welcomes all humanitarian aid offered in accordance with international law and UN norms, but will not accept aid that comes with political strings.

On the topic of bilateral talks between Cuba and the U.S., Rodríguez confirmed that exploratory discussions with the U.S. State Department are ongoing, but no progress has been made due to a lack of good faith on the U.S. side. Cuba remains open to continuing negotiations on the basis of sovereign equality, mutual respect, no preconditions, and non-interference in internal affairs, he said, but no binding agreements or roadmaps have been reached to date.

Responding to questions about recent economic and social reforms approved by Cuba’s National Assembly of People’s Power, Rodríguez emphasized that these reforms are an exercise of Cuba’s sovereign right to shape its own domestic policy, and do not require any approval or comment from the U.S. government. He added that broad sectors of U.S. society, including members of Congress, business leaders, and Cuban Americans living in the U.S., have expressed strong interest in exploring new trade and investment opportunities created by the reforms. The U.S. blockade’s recent escalation, particularly the energy strangulation policy, has hit small and medium-sized Cuban private enterprises particularly hard, with more than 7,000 pre-paid, contracted cargo containers still blocked from entering the country, most carrying food, medicine, and medical devices. Rodríguez called the energy blockade an act of war that violates freedom of navigation and international trade norms in peacetime.

Rodríguez noted that the damage figures included in the 2025–2026 report do not yet include the full impact of the January 2026 energy blockade and new secondary sanctions, whose effects only began to be felt after the reporting period’s cut-off. The report’s methodology, he added, adheres to strict international accounting standards and was previously audited and validated by a U.S. congressional commission. The Cuban government will release a full update on the additional damages from the recent escalation as soon as data collection is completed.

On the topic of rising threats of direct U.S. military aggression against Cuba, Rodríguez warned that the Cuban government takes these threats seriously, as multiple credible sources, independent analysts, and U.S. NGOs have documented active military preparations for a potential attack. He noted that senior U.S. officials, including the president, secretary of state, and secretary of defense, have publicly named direct military action as an option on the table. “Our people, our State, take them very seriously and are preparing to defend with determination, to the utmost, our independence, sovereignty, and territorial integrity,” he said. A U.S. military attack would serve no legitimate U.S. national interest, he added, and would result in a devastating bloodbath that would kill both Cubans and young U.S. service members forced to fight a war they do not support.

The United Nations General Assembly is set to vote once again on a resolution calling for an end to the U.S. blockade on October 27–28, 2026. Rodríguez said that despite intense U.S. diplomatic pressure and intimidation aimed at UN member states, the Cuban people remain confident in retaining the overwhelming international support the resolution has received for decades. “Behind every statistic is a human face. Behind every blockade measure is a tragedy, harm, or family drama,” he said. “Faced with this cruel challenge, Cuba is working tirelessly. It will never be defeated.” Reaffirming that Cuba poses no threat to the United States, Rodríguez ended with a simple demand: “Let us live in peace.”

Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla has publicly condemned the long-running U.S. economic blockade against Cuba, revealing stark new figures that document the escalating human and economic toll of the policy in his latest annual assessment. In a post shared to his X (formerly Twitter) account ahead of his official press briefing, Rodríguez told the diplomatic corps based in Havana that the decades-long blockade amounts to a genocidal policy that has inflicted devastating, widespread harm across the island nation.

The latest official Cuban assessment, covering the 12-month period from March 1, 2025 to February 28, 2026, calculates total damages from the U.S. economic strangulation policy at $8.083 billion. This marks a new record for annual damages, representing a 7% increase compared to the figures reported in the previous year’s assessment. When accounting for cumulative damages across the entire duration of the blockade, adjusted to current market prices, the total harm climbs to $178.75 billion — a 4.7% rise over the prior accumulated estimate.

On September 7, 2026, Rodríguez presented this fully updated damage assessment to both national and international journalists during a public press briefing. The event was broadcast live across Cuba’s national radio and television networks starting at 11:00 a.m. local time, allowing Cuban citizens and global observers to follow the presentation directly.

The report will now be taken up for debate once again at the United Nations General Assembly, where the international community has repeatedly voted overwhelmingly in favor of resolutions demanding an end to the U.S. blockade in recent decades. Cuba has regularly presented its formal accounting of blockade damages to the UN body as part of its ongoing global campaign to roll back the restrictive U.S. policy that has shaped economic and diplomatic relations between the two nations for more than 60 years.

On a historic Saturday in September 2026, Cuba’s most senior revolutionary leaders gathered to mark a major milestone: the 65th anniversary of the nation’s Personal Security Directorate, the specialized force that has protected Cuba’s highest leadership since the early days of the socialist revolution.

Army General Raúl Castro Ruz, a foundational leader of the Cuban Revolution, headlined the political and cultural commemoration, joined by Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba and President of the Republic. Formally established on September 6, 1961, the Directorate emerged from the chaotic, high-stakes early years of the revolutionary movement led by Fidel Castro Ruz, and has grown into an unwavering pillar of the Cuban revolutionary project over the past six and a half decades.

In a congratulatory message read to assembled guests by Lázaro Alberto Álvarez Casas, a member of the Political Bureau and Minister of the Interior, Raúl Castro hailed the Directorate’s 65-year record of unbroken, flawless service, noting that the force’s members have repeatedly risked their own lives to protect Cuba’s leadership. He echoed the description crafted by Fidel Castro, saying it is no overstatement to label the Directorate’s consistent success a historic feat. Álvarez Casas extended the leadership’s profound gratitude for the force’s work, which predates the formal 1961 founding, stretching back to the earliest guerrilla struggle in the Sierra Maestra mountains.

Raúl Castro’s message opened with tribute to the Directorate’s fallen founders and martyrs, who carried out hundreds of critical missions to defend the revolution. He extended recognition to every active-duty member serving on this core defensive front, and highlighted the force’s decisive success in foiling countless plots targeting Fidel Castro, a testament to the constant priority and care the agency brings to its mission. Referring to the force as a loyal, interconnected family, Raúl also honored the 32 agents who lost their lives in the line of duty while serving in Venezuela, calling for their sacrifice to never be forgotten and their example to guide all future work of the Directorate.

Addressing the ongoing geopolitical pressures facing Cuba, Raúl Castro emphasized that the revolution currently navigates extraordinarily difficult circumstances, fueled by unrelenting hostility from the United States government, which remains determined to eliminate the Cuban example that has inspired so many across the globe. He reaffirmed that the Cuban leadership will continue to rely on the Personal Security Directorate, just as it has for 65 years, to defend the nation and ensure that U.S. aggression is ultimately consigned to the history books, alongside the long record of Cuban people’s courage and resilience.

To honor Raúl Castro’s foundational role in building and supporting the force, Brigadier General Emir Mesa Corona, head of the Personal Security Directorate, presented him with a formal award naming him a “Founding Leader” alongside Fidel Castro. The commemoration was attended by a wide range of senior officials, including other members of the Political Bureau, Central Committee members, leaders of the Ministry of the Interior and the Revolutionary Armed Forces, retired veterans of the Directorate, and family members of the 32 agents killed in Venezuela.

As part of the anniversary recognition, five founding members of the force received special distinctions for their lifelong commitment and loyalty: Lieutenant Colonel Luis Rivera Rivera, Colonel Nelson Camejo Mas, Colonel Nivaldo Pérez Guerra, Major Reinaldo Figueroa Peraza, and Lieutenant Colonel Orlando Arias Álvarez. Raúl Castro personally congratulated each honoree and extended his sincere appreciation for their decades of service.

In his keynote address, Mesa Corona first extended tribute to Fidel Castro on the centennial of his birth and to Raúl Castro on his 95th birthday, noting that the two revolutionary icons remain the undisputed guiding examples for all Personal Security combatants. He recalled that while Fidel Castro shaped many of the force’s early protocols, it was Raúl who consistently prioritized the agency’s work, issued the first operational instructions for protection across all battlefronts, and dedicated consistent attention to strengthening the force. Mesa Corona emphasized that Raúl has dedicated his entire life to upholding the principles of the Cuban Socialist Revolution and protecting 65 years of revolutionary gains, teaching the force that no battle is unwinnable and serving as a permanent example of austerity, discipline, rigorous planning, and unwavering commitment to defending the revolution.

Mesa Corona walked attendees through the force’s unprecedented service record, noting that the men and women of the Personal Security Directorate have formed an impenetrable defensive barrier that has foiled more than 600 assassination attempts targeting Fidel Castro and Raúl Castro. “Enemies have tried every tactic imaginable, but they never succeeded, and what is more, they never will,” he declared.

He paused to honor the 32 agents killed in Caracas, calling them a defining symbol of the sacrifice and resolve of the Cuban people, and a demonstration of the courage that the sons and daughters of the nation hold. He posed a rhetorical question to the assembled crowd: If Cuban agents fought like lions on foreign soil to defend their mission, what can enemies expect from every member of the Cuban leadership, every member of the Revolutionary Armed Forces, counterintelligence, the Ministry of the Interior, and every revolutionary Cuban, should they attempt to attack or kidnap or assassinate even one of Cuba’s top leaders?

Mesa Corona stressed that at a moment of unprecedented operational complexity, as hostile forces escalate their aggression against Cuba, the Directorate must operate with even greater cohesion, commitment, discipline, and rigor. He called for the force to continue strengthening its work with a sharp focus on foresight, ethical conduct, and professionalism, and to protect the unity of the Cuban people like the apple of one’s eye, echoing the guidance set by Raúl Castro. He closed his remarks with a statement of unshakable conviction: “We have been, we are, and we will be a Personal Security of Homeland or Death: We shall overcome.”

The formal tributes were paired with authentic Cuban cultural programming that wove together the nation’s history and revolutionary spirit. A performance of the song “To the Heroes” by Annie Garcés paid homage to the agents who died in Venezuela, the land of Simón Bolívar and Hugo Chávez, followed by a historical video retrospective of the Directorate’s 65 years of work. At its core, the entire event was a tribute to the generations of men and women who have guaranteed the personal safety of Fidel Castro, Raúl Castro, Díaz-Canel, and other top revolutionary leaders, earning their trust as close allies and family.

A photographic exhibition organized by Estudios Revolución, titled “One Hundred Years with Fidel and His Fighting Spirit,” complemented the commemoration, honoring both Fidel Castro and the Personal Security agents who stood by his side throughout his decades of leadership. Original improvised Cuban verse also took center stage during the event, with young performer Flavia Rojas earning widespread applause for her verses, which affirmed that Cuba stands unafraid of external aggression, and no power can threaten the legacy of its revolutionary leaders. Troubadour Marcos David Fernández Brunet and Nelson Valdés delivered a clear message to critics and foreign adversaries, affirming that Cuba’s revolutionary legacy will endure regardless of opposition from foreign powers.

On September 2, 2026, Cuba held its national opening ceremony for the 2026-2027 academic year at the historic Paseo del Prado in Old Havana, a location deeply tied to the island nation’s educational legacy — the very spot where teacher Mendive once taught the iconic Cuban independence leader José Martí. Speaking after the ceremony, Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba and President of the Republic, framed the opening of the new school term as an act of national resistance against external pressure, while outlining three core takeaways from this milestone.

Against the backdrop of intensified U.S. economic blockade and energy restrictions that have created widespread logistical challenges across the country, Díaz-Canel emphasized that opening classrooms to students across the nation is itself a victory. This year’s school launch coincides with the centennial of the birth of Fidel Castro, founding father of modern revolutionary Cuba, adding historic weight to the occasion.

“As long as there are classrooms with students and schools with teachers in Cuba, there is a nation, there is a homeland, there is a Revolution, and there is socialism,” Díaz-Canel told reporters. He described opening the school year in current conditions as an enormous shared responsibility for all Cubans, noting that the successful launch defies efforts by the blockade to undermine the country’s social fabric.

“It means having started the school year in the middle of a complex situation that we cannot deny, neither to our teachers, nor to our students, nor to our children, nor to our adolescents,” the president said. “This beginning is also to show the capacity of a country, a nation, a Revolution, where the passion for knowledge and love for the Homeland are imposed on all restrictions, imposed on that genocidal policy of blockade that seeks to drag a country into barbarism.” He added that opening the term despite hardship is a deliberate act of resistance against colonial interference, proving that the Cuban people’s commitment to learning outweighs any adversity.

Díaz-Canel went on to credit the successful opening to widespread collective effort across all sectors of Cuban society. In the months leading up to the term, he explained, education leaders, government agencies at the local, provincial and national levels, families and community groups all joined forces to upgrade school infrastructure and prepare learning environments despite resource shortages. When Díaz-Canel tasked education leaders with developing a viable academic plan amid the energy and economic blockade, he said, they delivered an innovative, creative proposal in just two weeks — a result he said could only come from deep commitment to revolutionary ideals.

“It is worthwhile to express our gratitude and recognition to all our teachers, all our professors, all our institutions, parents, families, and communities for what they have accomplished,” the president stated.

The third core point Díaz-Canel highlighted is the ongoing challenge of delivering high-quality education amid national transformation. Beyond simply opening classrooms, the country’s priority this year is raising educational standards, with every classroom designated a “workshop for solutions” to overcome emerging challenges. He called this year’s term a difficult but dignified undertaking, framing it as a reaffirmation of Cuba’s commitment to protecting education as a fundamental social right.

“This start of the school year is an embrace of optimism and an expression of the Revolution’s and the country’s determination to continue defending such a sublime and paradigmatic social achievement as the nation itself,” Díaz-Canel said. “It is about giving our children, our grandchildren, our youth the right to an education; and it is also about giving them the right to dream and allowing us to share those dreams.”

The president also extended targeted calls to key groups involved in the school year. He acknowledged the economic hardships that Cuban teachers face, noting that salaries do not yet match the enormous effort educators put into their work, but emphasized that teachers are the backbone of the country’s cultural resilience. “Our teachers, our professors, our teaching staff, are above all builders of the resilience that distinguishes us as a nation and that distinguishes us as a people,” he said, calling on educators to bring innovation and dedication to supporting vulnerable students.

To students, Díaz-Canel emphasized that the entire country’s collective effort to open schools is for their benefit, and urged them not to use resource shortages as an excuse to disengage from learning. “On the contrary: dedicate yourselves passionately to your studies, dedicate yourselves passionately to learning, and let that also be part of your contribution to this daily effort and to the great effort that the entire country has made so that the school year could begin today,” he said. He also called on families to partner with schools, noting that successful education requires shared commitment from both household and school communities.

The opening ceremony, which opened with a tribute to Fidel Castro, featured performances from child, adolescent and young adult artists, drawing emotional responses from attendees in a reminder of what the nation is working to protect. The event was also attended by Cuban Prime Minister Manuel Marrero Cruz, other party and government leaders, and representatives of youth and student organizations.

Speaking at the ceremony, Education Minister Naima Ariatne Trujillo Barreto noted that the bell signaling the start of the 2026-2027 term is no ordinary bell. “It is the heartbeat of a nation that decides, once again, to invest in its future. It is the sound of resistance, of tenderness, and of hope. It is heard with the strength of those of us who know that educating is the noblest and most just thing we can do,” Trujillo said.

She reaffirmed that access to free education in Cuba is non-negotiable, noting that while the country continues to work toward better infrastructure, materials and uniforms, the value of Cuban education is measured not by physical resources but by its commitment to leaving no student behind. “Even if one resource is lacking, there will be an abundance of creativity, solidarity, and love from our teachers,” Trujillo said.

Trujillo tied this year’s effort back to the 1961 Cuban Literacy Campaign, a landmark initiative that eradicated illiteracy across the island 65 years earlier, noting that while current challenges are different, the same spirit of determination remains. She added that this year’s academic calendar is designed with flexible, localized decision-making to adapt to varying conditions across different regions and communities, with the core goal of making daily learning sustainable for all students. Closing her remarks, Trujillo thanked teachers for their heroic preparation work, called for continued family partnership, and noted that students’ curiosity and joy of learning are the core motivation for all the effort put into opening the term.