The torn flag flying at the Capitol seems to reflect Cuba’s wounds, aggravated by a diplomacy that has replaced arguments with bullying.
14ymedio, Yoani Sánchez, Havana, October 28, 2026 / A Cuban flag, in tatters, flies over Havana’s Capitol Building. The national emblem seems to have lost the battle against the wind and neglect. Its blue and white stripes are torn, and the red color of the triangle has lost strength. It is as broken as the country it represents, an island with diplomats who promote the same gag orders around the world that have been imposed on us here at home.
Yesterday, while this tattered banner flapped near the columns and dome of Havana’s imposing building, another scene unfolded in New York, revealing the decay of our public life. The official Cuban delegation, headed by Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez, staged an act of repudiation against the United States ambassador to the United Nations. Shouts, banging on the table, and even an attempt to mute Mike Waltz’s microphone made up the disgraceful spectacle.
The method is painfully familiar. Faced with an inconvenient opinion, the Cuban regime has systematically opted to raise its voice, raise its fist, and throw people into jail. When someone tries to argue their disagreement, a barrage of vile insults rain down on them. This attitude has also shaped a diplomacy of bullying, a school of international relations where offense is intended to replace reason and violence is taught as a legitimate response to disagreement.
What happened in New York was not an anomaly: it was a reflection of domestic behavior on an international stage
For years, the Castro regime has displayed its worst political practices abroad. The denigration of adversaries, the contempt for ideological diversity, and the need to turn every exchange into a show of force are all part of this nefarious legacy. What happened in New York was not an anomaly: it was a reflection of domestic behavior on an international stage.
While it is difficult not to feel embarrassed for these officials, it is worth remembering that those who stage these scenes don’t represent all Cubans. They don’t speak for those of us who endure endless blackouts, for the mothers who say goodbye to their children at airports, nor for the political prisoners who have been demanding their freedom for years. That loud, rude picket line is not the face of this country, no matter how often they repeat it.
Lamentably, in front ofthe cameras and international organizations, their actions end up being associated with our nationality. This constitutes yet another form of dispossession, after they have already appropriated our common symbols and used them in the name of a party, an ideology, and a family clan that considers itself the perpetual owner of this country.
The flag at the Capitol also belongs to the Cuban who protested in the streets on 11 July 2021, to the one who emigrated in search of civil and personal liberties, to the one who remains silent out of fear, and to the one who still believes a democratic opening is possible in this land. No diplomat has more right to it than a dissident who envisions an island without censorship. No functionary can claim a monopoly on that lone star while threatening those who disagree with their doctrine.
Perhaps in the coming days they will replace the tattered flag flying at the Capitol. A ladder and a few minutes will be enough to raise a new one on the flagpole. But repairing the nation will be far more difficult. Rebuilding our nation will require abandoning violence as a political language, accepting pluralism, and understanding that national dignity is not defended through a diplomacy of outrage. Until this process of accepting differences begins, we will remain a broken nation, shattered into pieces.
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