Opposition to the Castro Regime Is, Indeed, Moving
“And Yet, It Moves” (“E pur si muove”) Thus, paraphrasing Galileo Galilei when the Roman Inquisition forced him to recant that the Earth revolves around the Sun, in Cuba—despite overwhelming political repression—popular pressure against Castroism has now reached levels never seen before.
To the localized protests and pot-banging demonstrations across neighborhoods and cities—against blackouts, food shortages, lack of gas, water, bread, housing, and the ongoing fight of political activists—has now been added open confrontation from university students and the country’s Catholic bishops.
Let’s start with the students. Shortly after the Castros seized power, the dictatorship launched the fascist slogan: “The university is for revolutionaries.” Political purges followed, and ideological-political conditions were imposed for admission into universities.
That forced many students to feign loyalty to a “revolution” they did not believe in. Either they pretended, or they couldn’t study. And the regime turned the University Student Federation (FEU) into a submissive appendage of the Communist Party and the UJC.
Well now, with the ETECSA (read: GAESA) “rate hike,” all that pretense has surfaced. To the great surprise of the mafia clinging to power, university students have broken away from the stooges installed by the PCC in the leadership of the FEU and have stood up to the regime—because the “rate hike” wasn’t imposed by a company, but by the government coordinated (not led) by Miguel Díaz-Canel.
Videos have emerged from meetings between student groups and ETECSA, prior to the creation of the regime’s so-called “multidisciplinary group”—a façade of dialogue with the government.
“This Country Also Belongs to Those of Us Without Dollars”
One video captures a powerful intervention from a student:
“This country also belongs to those of us who don’t have dollars, who can’t pay in MLC (freely convertible currency), and who only have CUP, soul, and the will to keep going. (…) This isn’t an economic policy—it’s an invisible policy that splits Cubans in two: those with dollars who can access the world, and those with only CUP, left isolated in their own homes.”
Another student said:
“How can you think like a country if you didn’t include the country?”—referring to the government’s slogan “think as a country” and ETECSA’s excuse that the measure was “a national decision.”
Beyond individual student statements and assembly protests, a public letter from students at the Faculty of Audiovisual Media Arts at the Higher Institute of Art (ISA), published on June 15, announced their resignation from the “multidisciplinary group” unless the unilateral measures imposed on the Cuban people on May 30, 2025, were at least temporarily revoked.
Don’t Appease the Students While Ignoring the Rest of the People
They argued the meeting had been organized by ETECSA (the PCC) on its own premises and under its own terms—excluding students and professors not handpicked by the organizers.
ISA students stated plainly:
“We reiterate our rejection of the aggressive and indifferent attitude adopted by the Cuban Telecommunications Company (ETECSA) and the State Security bodies in the face of respectful dissent, and we call for university and civic unity in these demands, which concern all the people of Cuba.”
In other words: concessions shouldn’t be made only to university students while excluding the rest of the Cuban people.
And yet, that’s exactly what the dictatorship did. On June 19, ETECSA (read: GAESA) announced a “sectoral plan” offering university students six additional gigabytes for 360 pesos. This plan will take effect once the PCC creates an updated list of all university students in the country.
Another plan will allow anyone to purchase two gigabytes for 1,200 pesos—more than half a full minimum monthly salary. Yet nearly half of Cuban mobile users consume more than eight gigabytes per month, and the other half rarely use less than seven or eight.
“Give Me Support, and Keep Fighting”
Before this ETECSA “band-aid” plan was announced to quiet protests, university student Raymar Aguado was arrested by MININT. In a video, he said:
“Stay alert (…) we have every right to protest this rate hike (…) give me support and keep fighting.”
He refused to sign a police summons and, upon detention, declared he was being taken to “an illegal interrogation conducted by State Security.” He shouted that his arrest was
“an arbitrary, impoverishing measure that violates all kinds of rights—the right to communication, the right to freedom of expression.”
Does Raymar’s stance not recall student heroes like José Antonio Echeverría, Fructuoso Rodríguez, and other FEU patriots?
“We Can’t Go On Like This—Something Must Be Done to Save Cuba”
As defiant as the students have been—demanding not only an end to the rate hike but also defending free speech—the Cuban Catholic bishops have also taken a bold stand. Across every province, they recently called for “the structural, social, economic, and political changes that Cuba needs.”
Never before in Castroist history has the entire body of Cuban bishops demanded the dismantling of the communist system. Because that’s exactly what “structural changes” means. Structurally changing the economy implies ending socialism and restoring a market economy. In the Spanish language, the adjective structural allows no ambiguity.
The Cuban Conference of Catholic Bishops wrote, with dramatic emphasis:
“Things are not okay. We can’t go on like this. Something must be done to save Cuba (…) Let us not be afraid to pursue new paths!”
They stressed how “the prolonged lack of electricity disrupts rest and paralyzes study and work; families are increasingly fragmented by mass emigration, and disillusionment and apathy consume many, worn down by the repetition of promises that never materialize.”
It’s likely the bishops had long wanted to issue this call, but didn’t dare while Argentine Pope Francis flaunted his personal friendship with Raúl Castro, greatly admired Fidel Castro, and the “Cuban Revolution,” and would not have tolerated such pastoral confrontation with his friend Castro II.
Targeted Protests Over Shortages Are Political
Finally—and no less importantly—is the growing wave of localized protests and pot-banging demonstrations over hunger and misery across the island.
The key insight here is that, even if these local or neighborhood protests don’t seem political, they absolutely are. They carry enormous socio-political and psychological force. So much so that they could become the spark that ignites the beginning of the end for Castro-communism.
People are realizing that wherever protests break out, supply trucks soon follow—bringing food, gas, water tankers, or restoring electricity.
The public is beginning to understand that protesting works. And that, in itself, is a potentially massive political weapon—even if it doesn’t seem like it at first. It may reveal that despite repression, change is possible. Or, as Galileo might say again:
“It moves.”
But that’s a subject for another column.
Roberto Alvarez Quiñones
June 19, 2025