Cubans back 'My signature for the Homeland' campaign as tensions with US
intensify
[April 30, 2026]
By DÁNICA COTO
HAVANA (AP) — Cubans hunched over tables this month to sign up for the
socialist government’s campaign to support national sovereignty and defy
the U.S. as tensions between the countries escalate.
They are endorsing “My signature for the Homeland” movement, which
President Miguel Díaz-Canel launched earlier this month.
The initiative is mocked by some who question why people stood in line
to sign when hunger and poverty are growing across the island, while
supporters say it serves as a warning to the U.S. that civilians want
peace but will not back down despite recent threats of invasion.
“Anything for the revolution,” said Rodolfo Ruiz, 64, who sells
sunglasses and other items out of his home in Havana. He said he signed
last week because of President Donald Trump’s ongoing comments over
Cuba, “so that he may hear and know that we are willing to defend our
sovereignty.”
“Watch out, Trump. Think before you invade Cuba, think carefully. The
people are prepared,” Ruiz said.
In January, Trump signed an executive order asserting that the
“policies, practices, and actions of the Government of Cuba constitute
an unusual and extraordinary threat,” something Cuban officials have
repeatedly scoffed at.
Trump has referred to the island as a “failing nation” and suggested a
“friendly takeover.”
“We may stop by Cuba after we’re finished with this,” he said in
mid-April, referring to the war in Iran.
Meanwhile, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio — the son of Cuban
immigrants who fled before the revolution — has called for “new people
in charge” of Cuba.
“It is absurd for the State Department to claim that Cuba — a relatively
small, developing country subjected to a brutal economic war — could
pose a threat to the world’s greatest military, technological, and
economic power,” Cuban Foreign Affairs Minister Bruno Rodríguez wrote in
a post on X on Wednesday.
Díaz-Canel has said he does not want military aggression, but noted that
Cuba has a duty to prepare to avoid it, and if necessary, defeat it.
Havana resident Delfina Hernández said she would stand
shoulder-to-shoulder with Cubans to fight a U.S. energy blockade, a
sharpening of longtime U.S. sanctions and what many refer to as the
“imperialist threat.”
For three days last week, the community center she runs in Havana with
her husband received sheets of paper and opened its doors so people over
age 16 could sign them. Hernández was the first to do so.
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People ride in a shared taxi in front of a sign opposing the U.S.
blockade on Cuba, in Havana, Tuesday, April 28, 2026. (AP
Photo/Ramon Espinosa)
“Cuba is something very sacred to us,” she said. “We are well-armed,
and the people of Cuba will fight to the very end. We are going to
hit them — and with everything we’ve got.”
Criticism was swift on social media, though, with opponents of the
campaign asserting that the “homeland” has not provided them with
anything. Some said the government should allow people to sign in
favor of things like the ability to choose their president.
The homeland initiative began on April 19 and comes as Cuba
celebrates the 65th anniversary of its April 1961 Bay of Pigs
victory over some 1,500 Cuban exiles backed by the CIA who failed in
their attempt to overthrow Fidel Castro’s newly formed Communist
government.
Alberto Olivera, a visual artist and Hernández’s husband, questioned
how Cuba poses a threat to the U.S.
“If it’s a failed revolution, then leave us alone,” he said. “What
do they care?” Hernández added.
Olivera recognized that Cubans have unmet needs, adding that he has
been hungry at times, but asserted that the “pressure cooker” tactic
by the U.S. would not work.
“If I’m a failed state, why are you seeking me out?” he asked.
The Trump administration has demanded that Cuba release political
prisoners, implement major economic reforms and change its way of
governance — all things Cuba has rejected, saying it’s open to
dialogue and cooperation in certain areas as it pushes for the end
of a U.S. energy blockade that has deepened the island’s crises.
Both countries have confirmed recent talks, although details remain
secret.
As tensions persist, Cuba’s government is gathering signatures at
workplaces and neighborhoos across the island of nearly 10 million
people, remaining mum on how many it has collected.
It said in a statement that the signatures are meant to condemn “the
U.S. blockade and economic war against Cuba,” which it called a
“genocidal act,” and to repudiate threats of military aggression
while upholding “the inalienable right of Cubans to live in peace.”
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