Slogans on Walls Increase Castroist Nervousness
“Down with Batista! Down with the dictatorship! Long live free Cuba!” These three slogans appeared daily on walls and buildings throughout Cuba in the 1950s. I was a witness to it.
Since Batista’s censorship prevented the media from criticizing the dictatorship, the people did it themselves. Those slogans were uplifting for the population. They expressed the public’s rejection of Batista’s regime.
At the same time, they enraged the regime’s henchmen and provoked concern, fear, and insecurity in the upper echelons of those politically or economically connected to the dictatorship, who realized the Cuban people’s rejection of the regime of General Fulgencio Batista, a repeat dictator who had already held power from 1934 to 1940.
Municipal workers and the regime’s own henchmen couldn’t keep up with erasing all that graffiti, which constantly appeared everywhere, and after being erased, would reappear in the same place or nearby.
I’ve made this detour through time because the same thing is happening again on the island today—on a larger scale than ever in the history of Castroism.
They wouldn’t rush to erase them if they weren’t effective; it’s a political-psychological effect
And although at first glance this may seem harmless to the military mafia led by Raúl “The Cruel”, it actually isn’t. If it weren’t, they wouldn’t send henchmen so quickly to erase these slogans—popular expressions like: “Down with the dictatorship!”, “Down with Fidel!”, “Homeland and Life”, “Down with Raúl!”, “Freedom!”, “Díaz-Canel motherf***er!”, “Down with communism!”, and other phrases rejecting the “revolution.”
What does the dictatorial oligarchy fear? The political-psychological effect these slogans have on the regime—so appreciated by a tired and starving Cuban society.
Today in Cuba, there is not only a more overwhelming censorship than under Batista, but even the media are owned by the dictatorship—except for the independent press, which is blocked and inaccessible to the masses. Even more so now after the “rate hike” that has drastically restricted or overpriced internet access.
And I repeat, the effect of this graffiti is psychological-political. If this type of protest expands and becomes more massive, it will further weaken the “monolithic unity” that Castro II and the gang propping him up in power boast about.
The truth is that such graffiti had never been so numerous or in such central places. For example, just a few days ago in the center of the city of Sancti Spíritus, right below the regime’s slogan “Sancti Spíritus keeps moving forward” (displayed in giant metal letters on a wall), there appeared in large letters: “Down with the dictatorship.”
Thousands of people in Sancti Spíritus saw the graffiti live—it was done with asphalt, very hard to erase. Photos and videos showing the contrast between the two slogans went viral on social media.
Some go to the root of the tragedy—they attack the main culprit
Soon after, also in Sancti Spíritus, in the very central Commercial Plaza on the main boulevard, consumers could read on a wall: “Down with Fidel” and “Down with the Revolution.”
And note—they didn’t say “Down with Díaz-Canel” or attack Raúl Castro—they went to the root of the national disaster. They “resurrected” Fidel Castro to condemn him as the creator and main culprit of the tragedy that has, in effect, destroyed Cuba. Oh—and these slogans were painted while the plaza was open to the public.
A woman told 14yMedio: “I saw someone painting a wall and thought it was maintenance. But when I walked out, I heard a lady say they’d put up some signs. I thought it was a joke—until I saw what they said (‘Down with Fidel’, ‘Down with the Revolution’).” In other words, no one snitched on the authors. Hours later, some henchmen came to erase them.
On June 19 (2025), in Isla de Pinos (I refuse to call it “Isla de la Juventud”), banners appeared on walls and busy street corners saying “Down with communism”, “Díaz-Canel motherf***er”, and others.
In Holguín, just days ago, on the wall surrounding the cemetery, no fewer than 20 slogans appeared, including “Down with the dictatorship”, “Homeland and Life”, and “Freedom for the people”. In Artemisa, one often sees in the streets “Homeland and Life” and “Change the System”. In the San Agustín neighborhood of Havana, appeared “Homeland and Life” and “Down with the Dictatorship”. And so it goes, all across the island, the same thing is happening constantly.
One key detail: MININT henchmen rush to erase the graffiti—but only after it’s been photographed and spread online
This is why the MININT wants to recruit more informants—and well paid ones.
Moreover, the growing fear within the regime’s top leadership is evident in various ways. A timely example: MININT just launched a nationwide recruitment campaign. They’re offering 5,000 pesos a month (higher than the average salary) to those who agree to become “operative agents”—that is, snitches for the dictatorship.
This has never been seen before. Not even Batista did it so blatantly, and paying so much. It’s said he paid only 33 pesos to each snitch, in secret. But secrecy didn’t help much, because everyone knew who the “trumpets” were. I remember when one of those snitches approached, we’d whisper: “Guys, let’s talk baseball, here comes…” (so-and-so).
This new, shameless plan to recruit snitches is a sign of growing fear in the totalitarian oligarchy. And even more so now with the peak of the harsh Cuban summer and the government’s inability to end the medieval-length blackouts.
Given this situation, it’s expected that popular pressure against the dictatorship will increase—and one way is by increasing graffiti with anti-regime slogans, especially taking advantage of the blackouts. Every piece of graffiti denies the official narrative that “the people support the revolution.”
In short, the more graffiti appears, the more nervous the abusers who starve the Cuban people will become.
Roberto Alvarez Quiñones
June 22, 2025