Urgent Renovations at Milanés Theater for Political Event on July 26

The José Jacinto Milanés Theater in Pinar del Río, a prestigious venue and one of the oldest theaters in Latin America, has gone nearly a decade without substantial maintenance. Suddenly, there's a rush: the Cuban regime has deployed a hundred workers to refurbish it in a mere three weeks, just in time for the political gala on July 26.

This past Saturday, the state-run ACN agency reported that renovations began on June 30 and are slated to finish by July 20, ensuring the venue is ready by July 25 to host the commemoration of the 73rd anniversary of the assaults on the Moncada and Carlos Manuel de Céspedes barracks. The Communist Party's Political Bureau designated Pinar del Río as the location for the National Central Event on June 27, under the campaign "My Moncada is the homeland," marking the centenary of Fidel Castro's birth.

Years of Neglect and Sudden Urgency

The theater's neglect over nearly ten years has led to severe deterioration. María del Carmen Lazo Cala, head of the Provincial Council of Performing Arts, acknowledged to ACN that "the seating area was in terrible condition, and the seats were sinking." Additionally, humidity-damaged ceilings, deteriorated wooden panels across the theater's three levels, and a mirror bust destroyed by Hurricane Ian in 2022 still await repair.

Ariel Martínez, an artist from the ABCArt group involved in the restoration, highlighted the project's scale: "We are repairing the roof because once parts fall, the plaster moldings are lost too." He further noted that "restoring the mirror is one of the most challenging tasks." All of this must be completed in just twenty days.

A Familiar Pattern of Prioritization

This is not an isolated incident. In 2024, the regime renovated the Hotel Zaza in Sancti Spíritus just before July 26, and in 2025, they urgently refurbished three attractions at Lenin Park. What changes in 2026 is the stark contrast between the theater's condition and the surrounding reality.

Unmet Needs in Pinar del Río

While a hundred workers race against time to prepare Milanés Theater for the cameras, over 40,000 families in Pinar del Río remain homeless, some waiting for three decades. Hurricane Ian caused over 108,000 housing damages in the province in September 2022, and as of April 2026, only 63% of these issues had been addressed, with just a 5% improvement from the previous year.

The provincial PCC's first secretary, Yamilé Ramos Cordero, admitted in June that "there are families who have been without housing for 30 years, generation after generation." In several municipalities, bakeries had only five days' worth of flour, and the province endures power outages lasting 20 to 40 hours daily, in a country where the electrical system has collapsed at least seven times in the past 18 months.

Public Backlash on Social Media

The social media response was strong. After Díaz-Canel announced the July 26 venue, one user encapsulated many people's feelings: "Cuba is not celebrating; you're killing the country." Another, replying to a father who posted a photo of his daughter sleeping on tiled floors due to blackout-induced heat, wrote: "Do you know what homeland is? Homeland is your daughter, it's mine, it's everyone's. For this and for them, down with everything."

The Milanés Theater, with its history dating back to 1838 and having hosted icons like Bola de Nieve, Rita Montaner, and Rosita Fornés, certainly deserves restoration. What deserves no applause is the nine-year absence of political will, with funds and labor appearing only when the propaganda calendar demanded it.