Abel Prieto Criticizes U.S. Government as "Unpresentable Pedophiles" from Mexico

Abel Prieto, the head of Casa de las Américas and a cultural spokesperson for Cuba's regime, launched a scathing attack on the U.S. government, labeling them as “unpresentable pedophiles determined to crush the Cuban revolution at any cost.” His remarks were made this past Saturday in Mexico City.

Prieto went on to assert that the Cuban populace is “more anti-imperialist than ever” and fully understands the source of the “brutal daily aggression,” according to statements reported by La Jornada.

These comments were delivered during an event at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), where Prieto was presenting a new edition of the essay Calibán, originally penned by Roberto Fernández Retamar in 1971. The event was organized by the University Networks collective and supported by the Institute of Political Training of Mexico's Morena party.

The Crisis Facing Cuba

Prieto described the current situation in Cuba as “the most challenging moment for the Cuban revolution,” blaming the country's hardships solely on the U.S. embargo and Washington’s sanctions, which he referred to as “a project of suffocation.”

“We are living in turbulent times. The word blockade no longer suffices to explain what is being done to us,” Prieto declared to the university audience.

He presented alarming figures about Cuba's decline: infant mortality rates have allegedly risen from 4.4 to 9.9 per 1,000 live births; the survival rate for children with cancer has reportedly fallen from 85% to 65%; and around 7,000 containers with medical supplies are reportedly stalled in the Caribbean due to shipping companies' fears of U.S. reprisals.

Overlooking the Regime's Role

Prieto’s discourse conveniently overlooks the Cuban regime’s own responsibility for the island’s collapse. The energy crisis of 2026 has led to at least eight nationwide blackouts, with deficits reaching 2,380 MW and power outages lasting up to 20 hours a day in some areas, all stemming from decades of underinvestment and mismanagement of the electrical system.

The mass exodus of Cubans starkly contradicts his narrative of widespread anti-imperialism. According to official data from the National Office of Statistics and Information (ONEI), 245,264 Cubans emigrated in 2025 alone, and over a million have left the island since 2021.

Prieto is no stranger to making controversial statements abroad. In July 2026, he dismissed the July 11 protests as a “sham uprising” funded by “the Empire and the Miami mafia,” and in May, he disparaged Cubans advocating for U.S. intervention as “rabid annexationists” and “spiritually sick.”

International Engagements and Controversies

Anthropologist Héctor Díaz-Polanco also participated in the event, where a student declaration was read, demanding the lifting of the energy embargo and urging the Mexican government to reconsider its suspension of oil shipments to Cuba.

Back in March 2026, following protests in Morón, Prieto had publicly urged unity alongside Díaz-Canel, the Communist Party, and Cuba's government, a recurring theme in his role as the regime’s cultural envoy to international audiences.