标签： Cuba

Cuba’s national energy expansion and restoration initiative is making steady progress, with the full reconstruction of the Felton Thermoelectric Plant’s Unit 2 moving forward entirely through local, homegrown solutions, according to official statements from the country’s energy leadership. Once completed, the strategic unit will add 250 megawatts of stable generation capacity to Cuba’s National Electric System. This project sits at the core of the nation’s 2026 plan to restore national generation capacity relying exclusively on domestic resources and local innovation, as outlined by Minister of Energy and Mines Vicente de la O Levy during an appearance on the national television program Mesa Redonda.

Levy explained that rather than relying on imported original factory components, the restoration initiative leverages locally developed solutions forged through domestic innovation, adaptive engineering, and targeted technological substitution. The 2026 roadmap sets a target of restoring 570 megawatts of total thermal generation capacity across the country by the end of the year. Official data shows that Cuba has already outpaced its first-quarter interim goal: while the target called for adding 365 MW by the end of March, the country successfully brought 370 MW of restored thermal capacity online in the first three months of the year.

Levy credited key completed projects for this early overachievement, including the successful reactivation of Unit 2 at the Santa Cruz del Norte thermoelectric plant following comprehensive maintenance, and the integration of Céspedes 4 into the national grid. He noted that Céspedes 4 faced unplanned delays after a critical malfunction was detected during its synchronization process with the National Electric System, but the project still moved forward enough to contribute to the first-quarter results.

Edier Guzmán Pacheco, Director of Thermal Generation at Unión Eléctrica, Cuba’s national electric utility, detailed the background and current progress of the Felton Unit 2 reconstruction project. The Lidio Ramón Pérez thermoelectric plant in Felton holds unique strategic importance for Cuba because it is designed to run on domestically produced crude oil, a feature that directly supports the country’s energy sovereignty efforts.

Guzmán recalled that the unit was knocked offline after a fire broke out in its boiler several months ago. The blaze damaged a core structural component of the boiler, which in turn caused cascading damage to the rest of the facility that left the original structure unrepairable, eliminating any possibility of reusing the original boiler framework. The 250 MW unit had been a key contributor to national generation before the incident, so its outage created a significant gap in Cuba’s power supply.

Given the extensive scope of the damage, Cuban energy officials made the decision to launch a full, complex reconstruction of the unit rather than scrapping the project. All structural components for the new boiler are being manufactured locally in Las Tunas province, even though the full restoration requires working with highly complex internal engineering parts. Guzmán emphasized that work on the reconstruction has proceeded without interruption since the project launched. Officials prioritized continuous progress to get the unit back online as quickly as possible, given its outsized role in boosting Cuba’s energy independence and sovereignty by running on local crude oil supplies.

On a Thursday held at the Council of Ministers headquarters in Cuba’s Palace of the Revolution, Prime Minister Manuel Marrero Cruz headlined a formal gathering to join the nationwide “My Signature for the Fatherland” movement, a grassroots initiative galvanizing national unity amid escalating external pressure on the island nation.

Marrero Cruz was joined at the event by José Amado Ricardo Guerra, Major General and Secretary of the Council of Ministers — both of whom hold seats on the Political Bureau — alongside deputy prime ministers and other senior government officials. Palace of the Revolution workers also added their signatures to the movement, aligning with the core goals that have driven the initiative since it launched across the country on April 19.

Far more than a simple exercise in public participation, the movement stands as a deliberate, collective reaffirmation of Cuba’s revolutionary values, a public condemnation of the U.S. trade embargo that has crippled the country’s economy for decades, and a defense of Cuban national sovereignty that organizers say is non-negotiable. Every signature collected through the campaign represents a individual commitment to protecting the nation’s right to self-determination, free from external interference, economic coercion, or military aggression against the Caribbean nation.

The gathering at the Palace of the Revolution comes against a backdrop of intensifying external sanctions, marked most acutely by a worsening energy blockade and coordinated international disinformation campaigns targeting Cuba’s government. In this context, participants used the event to send a clear message: the Cuban people reject all destabilizing external measures and remain steadfast in their defense of the foundational principles of the Cuban revolution.

Thursday’s signatures also formalized support for a call issued by Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, First Secretary of the Party’s Central Committee and President of the Republic. During a ceremony marking the 65th anniversary of the proclamation of the socialist character of the Cuban Revolution, Díaz-Canel called on Cubans to spread the unfiltered truth about Cuba’s reality and struggle to every corner of the globe.

Organizers and participants alike reaffirmed that the movement’s collective voice stands for a nation committed to upholding global peace, advancing cross-border dialogue, upholding international solidarity, and safeguarding hard-won independence at any cost. As the campaign continues to spread across every region of Cuba, the gathering at the seat of national government served as a high-profile demonstration of the commitment of the country’s leadership and public sector workers to the movement’s core mission.

On Wednesday morning, Cuba’s highest political leader, Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez — who holds dual roles as First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba and President of the Republic of Cuba — took part in a solidarity gathering at the Communist Party Central Committee Headquarters to publicly back the growing ‘My Signature for the Homeland’ movement.

The grassroots initiative has emerged as a nationwide call to action, inviting every Cuban to stand together in defense of the country’s revolutionary project and national sovereignty in the face of what Cuban officials frame as external imperial aggression. During Wednesday’s event, both senior party officials and administrative staff based at the headquarters added their signatures to the initiative, which is already circulating through communities, workplaces and public institutions across the entire island.

Díaz-Canel first outlined the movement’s broader ambitions during an April 16 commemoration of the 65th anniversary of the proclamation of the Cuban Revolution’s socialist character. At that event, he stressed that the signature drive should grow beyond Cuba’s borders to become a global solidarity movement, tasked with sharing the unfiltered truth of Cuba’s situation with audiences across the world. This includes raising international awareness of the widespread harm inflicted on the Cuban people by the long-standing U.S. economic blockade, a measure that has been escalated into a multidimensional economic war further tightened by an energy embargo. Díaz-Canel has described this campaign as genocidal, pointing to the severe, widespread deprivation it has imposed on all sectors of Cuban society.

Wednesday’s gathering, which also included attendance from Roberto Morales Ojeda, a member of the Communist Party Political Bureau and Organization Secretary of the Central Committee, is just one of hundreds of similar events rolling out across the country. It follows an initial high-profile signing held April 19 at the Bay of Pigs, a historic site of Cuban resistance to foreign intervention, where Díaz-Canel and other senior leaders of the revolution first put their names to the initiative.

That opening signing ceremony reaffirmed the Cuban nation’s long-standing, unwavering commitment to peace, a core value rooted in the national identity forged through decades of resistance. It also reiterated a principle enshrined in Cuba’s constitution: that standing in defense of the nation is not merely a fundamental right for Cuban citizens, but the highest honor and most fundamental supreme duty of every person on the island.

Against a backdrop of intensified U.S. economic pressure, Cuba has logged notable progress in restoring its National Electric System while laying out a clear, long-term roadmap to achieve full energy sovereignty, according to the nation’s top energy official. In an extensive interview aired on the *Round Table* public affairs program, Vicente de la O Levy, Cuba’s Minister of Energy and Mines, detailed the challenges imposed by the ongoing U.S. blockade, the gains secured by the 2025 national recovery strategy, and the government’s priorities for stabilizing the power grid in 2026.

When the recovery program launched in early 2025, Cuba’s energy sector faced a catastrophic starting point. Of nearly 3,000 megawatts (MW) of installed distributed generation capacity, only around 350 MW were operational at the end of 2024, hamstrung by chronic shortages of spare parts and limited access to international financing. Through targeted, system-wide repairs and strategic resource allocation, the country expanded available distributed generation capacity to more than 1,000 MW by the close of 2025. This gain proved life-saving late in the year when major hurricanes swept through Cuba’s eastern provinces of Granma, Guantánamo, Holguín, and Las Tunas, cutting those regions off from the central national grid. Local distributed generation allowed communities to maintain critical services through the emergency.

In addition to distributed generation, the government prioritized repairing core thermal power infrastructure, bringing Units 3 and 4 at the Céspedes thermoelectric plant and Unit 5 at Santiago de Cuba’s Renté facility back online. Though the return of Céspedes Unit 4 was delayed by planning missteps and substandard maintenance work, it is now fully operational.

One of the most striking shifts over the past year has been the rapid expansion of domestic fuel production and renewable energy integration. New drilling operations have boosted domestic associated gas output, bringing the nation’s gas-fired generation capacity to 370 MW, with a consistent average output of 340 MW running entirely on domestically produced fuel. For renewables, penetration jumped from just 3% at the start of 2025 to 10% by year’s end – a seven percentage point increase in 12 months. When accounting for smaller-scale renewable projects deployed by the private sector, state enterprises, and public agencies, total renewable penetration already reaches 15% across the system, with combined installed capacity and energy savings from renewables hitting roughly 1,700 MW.

Despite these gains, de la O Levy emphasized that the intensified U.S. blockade, ramped up in January 2026, has created crippling, ongoing disruptions to Cuba’s fuel supply. After the U.S. seized a Cuban-chartered vessel carrying one million barrels of fuel in December 2025, no new fuel shipments arrived until a Russian cargo vessel delivered 100,000 tons of crude in early 2026. Since the January 2026 expansion of U.S. sanctions, which include secondary penalties against third countries that trade fuel with Cuba, most international suppliers have been deterred from doing business with Havana, effectively cutting off most regular import channels. This has left Cuba reliant almost entirely on domestic production and existing stockpiles for months, creating a persistent 600 MW generation shortfall across the national grid. As of mid-April 2026, Cuba is only able to distribute 800 tons of fuel daily, half of the 1,600 tons needed to eliminate widespread rolling blackouts.

To minimize harm to the national economy amid persistent power shortages, the Cuban government adopted a deliberate prioritization framework that reserves available power for critical economic and social sectors. A total of 631 electrical circuits serving key industries, agricultural production, and export-oriented businesses are protected, requiring more than 800 MW of dedicated capacity that is only cut during extreme grid emergencies. This policy has allowed irrigation for major staple crops including tobacco, corn, and soybeans to continue, and keeps export-generating industries operational, even as it means longer and more frequent rolling blackouts for residential consumers.

For 2026, the government’s 62-point action plan – tracked weekly with monthly milestones – focuses on consolidating the gains of 2025 rather than pursuing rapid new expansion, while rolling out key new infrastructure to stabilize the grid. As of April 2026, available distributed generation capacity stands at 1,114 MW, and domestic oil and gas production has reversed years of decline to begin growing again. The most notable new initiative is the deployment of utility-scale energy storage systems, with all necessary equipment already in Cuba and installation underway. The government has also restarted the manufactured cooking gas expansion program for Havana, which was paused due to gas shortages, with a goal of adding 25,000 new residential customers to reduce residential electricity demand.

Cuba’s strategy prioritizes importing crude oil rather than finished refined petroleum products, a choice de la O Levy said is driven by economic efficiency: processing crude domestically produces gasoline, fuel oil, diesel, and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) all in one facility, cutting the high freight and third-party refining costs that come from importing each finished product separately. Priority for available refined fuel is given to critical social services, including hospitals, public transportation, and medical facilities, while crude oil is reserved for running the nation’s core thermoelectric plants – a necessity to avoid a total national blackout. The recent 100,000-ton Russian crude shipment was unloaded in just 90 hours at an alternate port after draft restrictions prevented it from docking at Cienfuegos, with coastal barges used to transfer the cargo to smaller vessels for refining.

De la O Levy acknowledged that unequal blackout impacts across provinces and unplanned disruptions remain persistent challenges, rooted in structural differences between regional grids and unforeseen events. Provinces with higher concentrations of essential services have fewer non-critical circuits that can be taken offline to reduce demand, meaning local residents face more frequent outages even when allocation formulas are designed to be equitable. Unplanned events, from unexpected thermoelectric plant breakdowns to sargassum blooms blocking cooling water intakes at coastal power facilities, require constant last-minute adjustments to blackout schedules that cannot be fully anticipated.

To address the inherent intermittency of solar and wind power, the government is rolling out large-scale battery storage systems across four major sites totaling 200 MW, with all equipment already delivered to Cuba. The first 50 MW storage facility will allow the country to push total renewable capacity over 900 MW. Even with limited financing, the government has rolled out targeted small-scale renewable solutions to protect vulnerable communities: 15,000 modified solar-only portable power units have been distributed to teachers, medical workers, and households dependent on electricity for life-sustaining medical equipment, while 5,000 fixed solar systems have been installed at critical public facilities including polyclinics, maternity homes, nursing homes, and telecommunications infrastructure.

Looking ahead, Cuba has laid out a three-phase roadmap to achieve full energy sovereignty by 2050. The first phase targets 24% renewable penetration by 2030, rising to 40% by 2035 – a threshold that would allow Cuba to eliminate all fuel imports, saving more than one million tons of fuel purchases annually. The final phase, targeted for 2050, will deliver 100% renewable energy across the entire national system, leveraging Cuba’s abundant natural resources including forest biomass, hydroelectric potential, onshore and offshore wind, and tidal power. Installation of turbine towers has already begun this year at the Herradura 1 wind farm, marking the first step in the next phase of the nation’s energy transition.

In an exclusive interview hosted by Brazilian journalist and author Breno Altman on his popular current affairs program *20 Minutos* (published by Opera Mundi), Cuban President and First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez has laid out Cuba’s long-standing position on diplomatic engagement with the United States. The discussion, the second recorded meeting between Altman and Díaz-Canel, was held at the Palace of the Revolution and covered a sweeping range of pressing topics facing the Caribbean nation, from the ongoing economic damage caused by the decades-long U.S. blockade and the more recent tightening of oil sanctions to Cuba’s domestic structural transformations, global solidarity movements, and the early history of bilateral negotiations between Havana and Washington. Cuba’s state-owned newspaper Granma has made the full unedited video of the conversation available to the public on its official website, following the original broadcast via the Cuban Presidency’s YouTube channel. Opening his remarks on bilateral relations, Díaz-Canel emphasized that Cuba has maintained a consistent willingness to enter into constructive dialogue with the U.S. government throughout modern history, but any such talks must be premised on full respect for Cuba’s core national sovereignty and independent political system. The interview comes at a time of sustained economic pressure on Cuba from U.S. trade restrictions, making the country’s stance on diplomatic engagement a key point of international interest for global observers and regional policymakers.

On the 65th anniversary of the founding of Cuba’s iconic Eastern Army, Army General Raúl Castro Ruz, leader of the Cuban Revolution, has issued a heartfelt commemorative message celebrating the armed corps’ decades of service, revolutionary legacy, and ongoing commitment to defending the island’s socialist project.

The Eastern Army was formally established on April 21, 1961 — just two days after Cuba’s landmark victory over foreign-backed incursion at the Bay of Pigs, a moment that marked the first major defeat of U.S. imperial ambitions in Latin America. In his greeting, Raúl Castro recalled the urgent, defining order issued by then-Commander-in-Chief Fidel Castro Ruz at the corps’ founding: “If we save the East, we save the Revolution!” The phrase underscores the Eastern region’s outsized historical and geographic strategic importance to Cuba’s revolutionary project, a priority that has shaped the army’s mission from its earliest days.

Over its 65-year history, the Eastern Army — affectionately known by the nickname the “Lord Army” for its stature and reputation — has built its legacy far beyond traditional military operations. Raúl Castro emphasized that the corps’ standing stems not only from its military strength, but from its unwavering resistance to repeated enemy provocations and acts of aggression, as well as its long record of self-sacrifice in internationalist solidarity missions across the globe.

A core contribution of the Eastern Army highlighted in the message is its role in advancing and implementing Cuba’s core strategic doctrine of the “War of all the People” — a framework that Raúl Castro noted remains particularly critical today, as the island faces persistent external threats to its socialist sovereignty.

Beyond national defense, the Eastern Army has long been integrated into civilian support efforts across Cuba. Raúl Castro pointed to the still-raw public memory of the corps’ rapid deployment for search, rescue, and relief work in the wake of devastating Hurricane Melissa, followed by months of post-storm recovery work. This commitment to serving the Cuban people in times of crisis, he noted, is a core thread running through the entire history of the institution, and has earned the enduring gratitude of the Cuban public.

In closing his message, Raúl Castro called for solemn tribute to the service members who have lost their lives in the line of duty, arguing that ongoing respect for fallen heroes reinforces the Eastern Army’s unshakable commitment to defeating any future act of enemy aggression. He extended formal congratulations to the corps’ founding members and all currently serving combatants for their service and achievements over 65 years, ending with a warm personal embrace to all members of the Eastern Army.

Sixty-five years after Cuban forces secured the first major military defeat of U.S. imperialism in the Americas at the Bay of Pigs, tens of thousands of Cubans across every province of the island have come together to participate in the nationwide “My Signature for the Homeland” movement, throwing unified public support behind the Revolutionary Government’s latest declaration of sovereignty.

Across the country, the movement brought together Cubans of all generations, professions and backgrounds, each adding their name to the statement to reaffirm national unity, reject long-standing foreign intervention, and defend the Cuban Revolution against ongoing external pressure.

In the southern coastal province of Cienfuegos, crowds gathered at José Martí Park to kick off local activities. Damián Cosme, an educator and recipient of Cuba’s Hero of Labor honor, emphasized his unwavering commitment to the revolutionary cause, stating he was prepared to fulfill every demand the Revolution placed before him, even giving his life if called upon. Anay Morera Guillen, secretary of the Central Workers’ Union of Cuba in Cienfuegos, added a clear message for the global community: “We are here to tell the world that Cuba will not surrender. Now, when the Homeland needs us most, we are more united than ever to overcome every adversity.”

Across central Cuba in Sancti Spíritus, the movement extended beyond collective public action to become a intergenerational family commitment for many participants. Transportation worker Andrés Concepción traveled to the signing event with his wife Yudiana, his adult son Dairon, and his young daughter Dina, describing the act as a personal and family duty driven by pure conviction. “These are moments to give a resounding yes to our country,” Concepción explained. “It’s the legacy from colonial times, but it’s also about continuity, which is of utmost importance. For us, it’s not over. There will be Cuba and the Revolution forever.” He framed his participation as a passing of legacy from his parents’ generation to his own, and on to his children and future descendants, noting no one had pressured him to attend: “It is a way of demonstrating to imperialism and the entire world the unity we have as a people, our rejection of the United States blockade, our repudiation of war, violence, and terrorism, and the commitment to peace that we have always had as a nation.”

In Bayamo, the historic hub of Granma province, generations of residents gathered in Revolution Square to echo the resolve that carried Cuba to victory at the Bay of Pigs, reaffirming that national freedom is non-negotiable. Representing the country’s veteran revolutionary combatants, Reynaldo Fernández Moreno denounced the ongoing harassment from the U.S. government: “The United States has not relented in its efforts to crush the Cuban Revolution through various plans of aggression to divide and destabilize us.” He also called out what he described as Washington’s hypocrisy, noting U.S. officials falsely accuse Cuba of supporting terrorism while carrying out thousands of subversive campaigns intended to break the Cuban people’s capacity for resistance.

At the Valle del Yabú Agricultural Enterprise in Santa Clara, veteran tourism worker Manuel Soliño Guevara, another Hero of Labor of the Republic of Cuba, added his signature after completing a day of volunteer farm work. He reaffirmed his commitment to the homeland, echoing the iconic revolutionary slogan first introduced by Fidel Castro 66 years prior: “Homeland or Death.” Soliño emphasized that unity of purpose is critical to protecting peace and preventing foreign military aggression, noting that Cuba has never posed a threat to any other nation.

In Santiago de Cuba, widely known as the cradle of the Cuban Revolution, commemorations for the 65th anniversary opened with flag-raising ceremonies at the province’s most iconic historic sites. Young activist Yesenia Acuña Borrero spoke at the Revolution Plaza named for fallen independence hero Antonio Maceo, in front of his equestrian monument, reaffirming: “Although we are a people who love peace, our flag will be defended at any cost.” Nearby, at the Guillermón Moncada Stadium, hundreds of residents of all ages gathered to celebrate the anniversary, which stands as a permanent demonstration of the Cuban people’s refusal to tolerate foreign interference or invasion. Local resident Yaney León added: “Without a doubt, I also take this opportunity to pledge my support for the Homeland, for our dignity, and for peace.”

In eastern Cuba’s Holguín province, thousands of signatories used their participation to reaffirm Cuba’s long-held core commitment to peace, paired with the unshakable conviction that defending national sovereignty is a supreme duty for all Cubans. At a patriotic gathering in Calixto García Park in the provincial capital, young public health professional Elaine Cruz Bobas spoke before the signature drive began, stating: “The truth of these people will not be silenced. The suffering of millions of Cubans as a result of the blockade and the brutal economic war is an act of genocide.”

At José Martí Park in Ciego de Ávila, provincial economy and planning worker Edilia Gutiérrez Cordero arrived early on the Sunday of the event. While her daily work centers on balancing budgets and calculating achievable development targets, on this day her task was to add her name to the statement of national commitment. “My signature for the Homeland is a way of saying: We are here,” she said, her voice cutting through the park’s bustle. She repeated the line firmly, standing against what she described as escalating imperialist threat. Gutiérrez explained that her signature carried both a yes and a no: it was a yes to Cuban sovereignty and national presence, and a resounding no to the war foreign powers seek to impose on the island. Even amid widespread economic hardship caused by the decades-long U.S. blockade, she described herself as happy: “Every day I make Cuba the way I want, because I feel free in the country where I was born. That freedom is not an empty phrase. It is the freedom to choose to stay, to build alongside my compatriots, and to stand in solidarity.”

In Las Tunas, hundreds of residents gathered in José Martí Square in front of a monument to the national hero to condemn the U.S. blockade and repeated threats from the U.S. government. University professor Carlos Alberto Suárez Arcos noted that the gathering was marked by hope and energy, pointing out that global solidarity actions for Cuba continue to grow because the island remains a powerful global symbol. “It is not a weapon of mass destruction, it is a soul of mass construction,” Suárez Arcos said.

In Camagüey’s Victoria de Girón neighborhood, the neighborhood named for the 1961 Bay of Pigs victory, hundreds of local residents gathered to add their signatures. Two young participants shared powerful reflections on the meaning of their participation. University of Camagüey student Yolanda Molina Castillo emphasized that her signature was no empty gesture, noting: “History confirms our tradition of struggle, and the examples are written in the blood of thousands of men and women who fell for this freedom and peace we enjoy.” Juan Carlos Blanco, another young Camagüey resident, told reporters his signature was a binding oath: “I signed for Cuba and for Fidel, for the Homeland, the Revolution, and Socialism. My signature is my commitment to defend our future, our principles, and our sovereignty.”

In the eastern border province of Guantánamo, at the historic Arroyo Hondo agricultural complex where Cuban independence leaders José Martí and Máximo Gómez relaunched their revolution in 1895, agricultural worker Taylienis Acosta Jiménez put forward a clear message to U.S. political leaders threatening Cuba. “Here are my hands, if needed to save the Revolution,” she said. “I am like my people: peaceful. Gringo, think before you attack us. If you do, there will be deaths and grieving families on both sides; something very painful. It is your responsibility to prevent it.”

On April 19, at the historic Bay of Pigs, Cuba’s top leader Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez — who serves as First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba and President of the Republic — officially kicked off a nationwide mass movement called “My Signature for the Homeland” by adding his own signature first. This new initiative grows out of a call Díaz-Canel made during ceremonies marking the 65th anniversary of the proclamation of the socialist character of the Cuban Revolution, aiming to rally both domestic Cuban organizations and global allies to spread accurate, unfiltered information about Cuba across every region of the world. It also serves as a public, tangible manifestation of the Declaration of the Revolutionary Government, recently published by Cuban state newspaper Granma.

In the days following the movement’s launch, millions of Cuban residents from the westernmost tip of the island to its eastern border have been participating in the signature drive, turning public squares and community parks across the country into gathering points for collective national expression. This Sunday, April 20, saw the first large wave of participation, with signature collections set to continue in coming days to allow people of all ages, professions, religious backgrounds and social sectors to take part. For every participant, adding a signature is more than a symbolic act: it is a public declaration that the Cuban people refuse to be intimidated or coerced by growing, repeated threats from the United States government.

The core of the movement’s message echoes the text of the Revolutionary Government’s declaration, titled *Bay of Pigs is Today and Forever!* The declaration emphasizes that Cuba is a nation rooted in centuries of shared history and unshakable collective convictions. It frames the Cuban people as a peace-loving, solidarity-focused population that builds its future through daily work and persistent reclamation of its right to self-determination. Just as 65 years ago, Cuban forces defeated foreign-backed aggression on the sands of the Bay of Pigs under the iconic rallying cry “Homeland or Death!”, the declaration affirms that the Cuban people will once again secure victory in their ongoing defense of national sovereignty and the socialist system they have chosen.

Across the island, the signature drive has underscored a unified national position: the Cuban people will never surrender their fundamental right to chart their own independent course of historical development, even in the face of long-standing external pressure and intervention.