Special Troops vehicles carrying soldiers in bulletproof vests were traveling last night along the Vía Blanca.
14ymedio, Havana, March 1, 2026 —The scene seemed straight out of a war movie, the kind shown on weekends, but it took place on the streets of Havana, on one of its busiest arteries. “Special Troops vehicles, with soldiers standing up, wearing their bulletproof vests,” a Havana resident who witnessed the convoy while driving along the Vía Blanca told this newspaper, shortly before 10 p.m. on Saturday.
“Pickup trucks and vans full of military personnel, patrol cars, and state vehicles were escorting a convoy of tractor-trailers with their contents covered,” he added. The column later turned onto the Carretera Central. “What caught my attention was the hour and that, despite being large, they were moving quietly, as if trying to go unnoticed.” In his view, they could have been transporting heavy weaponry to other provinces, although he cannot confirm it. Opacity is part of the landscape.
It was not the only sign. Shortly after dawn on Sunday, detonations were heard from the Playa area. “We’ve already felt some today,” said a resident of El Vedado. In a city that has gradually lost the noise of the classic American cars and where blackouts silence even the hum of fans, the sharp blast of a military exercise bursts in as a reminder that the country lives in a permanent state of alert.
Each statement is amplified by the Cuban propaganda apparatus as proof of an imminent threat.
Recent months have been a calendar of upheavals. The capture in Caracas of Nicolás Maduro during a U.S. operation that left at least 32 Cubans dead, as acknowledged by the Government itself, shook the official narrative. Havana portrayed the deceased as heroes and forcefully reactivated the doctrine of the “war of all the people.” Since then, military exercises have occurred with greater frequency and visibility.
On February 18, another event heightened internal tension: a riot at Canaletas prison in Ciego de Ávila left several dead and numerous injured, according to relatives of the inmates. The regime confirmed “the incident” but avoided specifying the number of victims. Official silence once again opened the door to rumors.
On February 25, a new episode strained relations with the United States. A speedboat coming from Florida was intercepted near Cayo Falcones, in Villa Clara. The official version maintains that the occupants fired first and that the border guards’ response left four dead and six wounded among the expedition members. The authorities spoke of weapons, explosives, and infiltration plans. From Washington came partial confirmations and nuances, but the fact remains that four compatriots died in national waters at the hands of other Cubans, an event that reopens historical wounds.
In this context, Donald Trump’s rhetoric has added pressure to the scenario. The U.S. president has hardened his tone toward Havana and has even spoken of a possible “friendly takeover” of the Island. Each statement is amplified by the Cuban propaganda apparatus as proof of an imminent threat.
Will we be killed by enemy bombs or will we continue to be battered by shortages, disease, building collapses, and the lack of medicines?
On Friday, February 27, the country marked National Defense Day. In several municipalities, combat-readiness exercises were carried out, along with militia mobilizations and drills by the Production and Defense Brigades. President Miguel Díaz-Canel supervised maneuvers in the western part of the country, surrounded by olive-green uniforms and civilians training in shooting practice. The rhetoric insisted on the need to be ready to “confront and defeat” any aggression.
Images showed men and women learning to assemble and disassemble weapons, reviewing plans for a hypothetical external enemy. But outside the cameras, in bread lines and at bus stops, the conversation was different: are we really on the brink of an invasion, or are we witnessing a new chapter in the pedagogy of fear? Will enemy bombs kill us, or will we continue to be struck by shortages, disease, collapsing buildings, and the lack of medicines?
Thousands of miles away, the bombings in Iran, the death of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and the escalation in the Middle East complete the landscape of global uncertainty. Each external conflict is presented in Cuba as yet another piece on the chessboard threatening the Island. The tractor-trailers moving at night with their covered cargo become a metaphor for a country where what is essential remains hidden. The detonations echoing from the west are a reminder that the State is always ready for war, even though the most urgent battle continues to be against scarcity and disillusionment.
Translated by Regina Anavy
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