At that moment, decades of pretending to be good-natured towards the international community and denying any repressive act towards citizens were broken.
14ymedio, Yoani Sánchez, Generation Y, 11 July 2025 — Like any date that leaves a profound mark, every Cuban knows what they were doing when they learned of the protests of July 11, 2021 (11J). Those who followed the demonstrations on their mobile phones thousands of miles from the island and those who joined the sea of people who filled the streets shouting “Freedom!” There are also those who, in their military units, enlisted to go out and beat and suppress the crowd. Each one has their own story from that day, many of these anecdotes remain silenced out of fear.
Along with the more than 2,000 Cubans criminally prosecuted for 11J, of whom 421 remain in prison, one of the results of that historic day was the evolution of the regime to a new stage. If before that moment, Havana’s Plaza de la Revolución had worked diligently to create an image of a system “of the humble and for the humble,” that Sunday four years ago, that mask fractured. Before the eyes of the world, desperate people demanded change, and riot police responded with clubs and, in some neighborhoods, even gunfire.
The country’s own leader, Miguel Díaz-Canel, shook off any veneer of composure and uttered before national television a fateful phrase that will go down in history: “The combat order is given.” In that instant, decades of pretense of goodwill toward the international community and emphatic denials of any repressive acts toward citizens were shattered. It was a turning point for many who, despite frequent denunciations by activists and independent journalists, continued to believe that the Cuban system was incapable of forcefully punishing a popular and largely peaceful demonstration.
Coercion is public, it is not hidden and it is so widespread that even those who claim not to get involved in politics feel it.
Also, many who swallowed the narrative of a country where ideological uniformity had been consensually established and where the Communist Party enjoyed unanimous support understood that, beneath the slogans and masks, social unrest had been growing for more than half a century. That day, something cracked in the narrative created and polished by Castro’s skillful ideologues since January 1959. The images made it clear that they neither enjoyed overwhelming support from the people nor did they hesitate to take up arms against the dissidents.
Since then, Cubans have lived in an era of repressive audacity. The coercion is public, unseen, and so widespread that even those who claim not to interfere in politics feel it. President Díaz-Canel no longer pretends to govern for everyone, nor are official spokespersons ashamed to openly threaten dissidents with imprisonment or exile. The shamelessness has reached such levels that some figures in the regime are issuing thinly veiled threats on social media against internet users who denounce everything from the dollarization of part of the retail sector to problems with garbage collection. They no longer hesitate to bare their teeth, unbuckle their belts, and threaten them with iron bars.
11 June left us a legacy of rebellion and a lamentable number of political prisoners, but it also enshrined the shamelessness of a system that will not hesitate to crush its own people again.
Editor’s Note: This article was originally published on DW and is republished with the author’s license.
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