A video released on Saturday transforms a leaked audio into an artistic performance, exposing the coercion behind Cuba's "My Signature for the Homeland" campaign. This has sparked a flurry of reactions among Cubans who, beyond mocking, are denouncing pressure and fabricated signatures.
The brief performance, slightly over a minute long, is titled "6,230,973 / In Case You See Me on Any List, I Didn't Sign," and was shared on Facebook by Eduardo Díaz Delgado.
The audio features a representative of the Revolutionary Armed Forces (FAR) openly threatening civilian workers at CIMEX, a military-run company, with repercussions if they fail to sign as part of the campaign.
"The signature mandated for the Homeland to support the country was mandatory for everyone. Those who disagree with this should resign and stop working," is heard in the viral audio.
The official goes even further, demanding her subordinates "rectify" and "call to account all their workers," making it clear that at this institution "everything that comes must be signed."
The piece, lasting a minute and ten seconds, uses this audio as the backbone of a performance where three young people dramatize the situation as part of a theatrical exercise. This combination gives new meaning to the material, which social media users responded to with a mix of dark humor and outrage.
"I had already heard that terrifying audio," wrote Ibia Vega, while Mabel Guevara requested, "Save that audio, so the forgetful ones can hear it."
Others took the opportunity to report their own experiences. Marlenys López was blunt: "They made up my signature." Silvia Quinta added: "I don't belong to the FAR, so there was no 'signature,'" while Daynerys Terry joked about "collecting signatures even in Alaska."
The audio corroborates what testimonies from Matanzas, Bayamo, and other provinces documented in April: state company executives were forced to secure at least 80% of signatures from their workers under the threat of dismissal.
The regime announced on May 1st that it had collected 6,230,973 signatures, a number Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla claimed represented 81% of the Cuban population.
The books were symbolically handed over to former President Raúl Castro and current leader Miguel Díaz-Canel during an event in front of the U.S. Embassy in Havana.
Historian Alina Bárbara López mathematically deconstructed this figure, pointing out that in 2002, the regime reported over eight million signatures with a larger population, making the 2026 figure impossible given the demographic collapse.
Additionally, she documented that the ID card of Vice President Salvador Valdés Mesa appears in the official book with only eight digits instead of the required 11. "If even the leaders didn't make an effort, imagine the rest of the people," she argued.
The "My Signature for the Homeland" campaign was launched on April 19th by the Communist Party of Cuba on the 65th anniversary of the Bay of Pigs battle, presented as a spontaneous rejection of the U.S. embargo and sanctions imposed by President Donald Trump's administration.
Comedian Ulises Toirac aptly summarized the paradox: "A government that prioritizes mobilizations and signatures," while Cuba endures power outages exceeding 20 hours a day and a projected GDP contraction of 7.2% by 2026.
Understanding the Coercive Tactics in Cuba's Signature Campaign
What is the "My Signature for the Homeland" campaign?
This campaign was launched by the Communist Party of Cuba on April 19th to mark the 65th anniversary of the Bay of Pigs battle. It was presented as a spontaneous rejection of the U.S. embargo and sanctions from the Trump administration.
How are workers being coerced to participate in the campaign?
Workers at military-run companies like CIMEX are being threatened with repercussions if they do not sign, with some being told they must resign if they disagree with the campaign's mandatory nature.
Why is the number of signatures claimed by the regime being questioned?
The regime claims to have collected signatures representing 81% of the Cuban population, a figure that historians and critics say is mathematically impossible given the country's demographic changes and previous signature campaigns.