Díaz-Canel Emphasizes Need for Popular Involvement

Miguel Díaz-Canel, First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba and President of the Republic, emphasized today the need for popular participation on the occasion of the start of the Fifth National Exercise for the Prevention and Confrontation of Crime, Corruption, Drugs, Illegality, and Social Indiscipline.

Through his official account on the social network X, the president underscored that this exercise is not an isolated process; it directly contributes to strategic priorities such as national defense and the 2026 Economic and Social Program, in an environment of stability and rigor.

Díaz-Canel was emphatic about the need for popular participation: "It is essential that our people actively participate in the conception of ideas, provide criteria, and, fundamentally, exercise control over processes in their communities."

"We will continue to defend citizen tranquility, internal order, and the well-being of our families," he affirmed.

From the headquarters of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba and via videoconference with the highest authorities of the provinces and the special municipality of the Isle of Youth, the president had previously explained that this exercise, a continuation of previous editions, is taking place at a complex moment in which coercive measures against Cuba have increased, according to a note from the Presidency.

He highlighted the priorities set by the country's leadership, including defense preparedness, food production, stabilization of the National Electroenergetic System (SEN), generation of foreign currency income, and macroeconomic stabilization.

The president argued that popular participation is not automatic: "It is not that people simply follow the guidelines we give them. It is that people participate in the conception of ideas, offer criteria, can criticize, contribute, and, above all, control. And this is an exercise where control plays a fundamental role."

He considered that only then "will we be fulfilling the objectives of this important exercise, which takes into account all of the country's experience in this matter, follows up on what we have done previously, and which we are carrying out at a particularly important moment."

Julio César García Rodríguez, head of the Central Committee's Office for Attention to State Bodies and the Legal Sector, explained that the main tasks are aimed at controlling the security of solar farms, generator sets, transformers, and other SEN resources, verifying the use and protection of fuels, and controlling the production, storage, and commercialization of food.

Likewise, visits will be made to persons disengaged from study and work, controls will be applied to the contracting process of local development projects that do not contribute to the territories, and inspections and confrontation actions will be carried out against price violations and tax evasion.

In addition, approximately twenty exemplary trials will be held, with priority given to drug-related crimes and offenses against the country's electrical system, particularly the theft of dielectric oil, solar panels, and fuels.

Participating in the opening of this Fifth National Exercise, the previous edition of which took place in September 2025, were Prime Minister Manuel Marrero Cruz; Organization Secretary of the Central Committee Roberto Morales Ojeda; Minister of the Interior, Army Corps General Lázaro Alberto Álvarez Casas; and other national leaders.