Raul Castro misses Cuba revolution rally as US tensions and crisis mount

Cuba marked the July 26 revolution anniversary without Raul Castro at the traditional rally. His absence and Miguel Diaz-Canel's sharp attack on Washington underscored the island's deepening strain.

In Short

• Diaz-Canel dismissed Washington's espionage claims and denounced fresh punitive measures
• The island is enduring daily blackouts, medicine shortages and workday cuts
• An oil embargo and sanctions have worsened inflation and industrial paralysis

Cuba on Sunday marked one of the most important anniversaries of its revolution, but former president Raul Castro was notably absent from the traditional rally for the first time in at least three decades. No reason was given for the 95-year-old leader's absence, though President Miguel Diaz-Canel read out a congratulatory message from Castro to Cubans gathered at the event in Pinar del Rio.

The rally came at a time of sharply strained ties between Cuba and the United States. In his speech, Diaz-Canel rejected a recent US State Department report accusing Cuba of running a leftist espionage and influence network for decades, and accused Washington of stepping up pressure on the island as it faces a deep economic crisis.

The annual event marks the July 26, 1953, assault led by brothers Fidel and Raul Castro on the Moncada and Carlos Manuel de Cespedes barracks in Cuba's eastern region. The attack against former dictator Fulgencio Batista failed, but it became the starting point of the revolutionary struggle that ended on January 1, 1959.

Raul Castro was last seen in public in June at an event to establish the Ministry of the Interior, and earlier on May 1 during Labour Day celebrations. He no longer holds any formal post, but remains a powerful symbolic figure and was recently named as one of the negotiators in talks with the United States after the imposition of a US energy embargo.

Addressing hundreds of people waving Cuban flags, Diaz-Canel hit back at Washington's latest accusations. "Every day they issue a threat against the revolution, and every week they announce a new punishment for Cuban companies and officials," the president said.

In May, Castro was charged in a US indictment with murder and other offences over his alleged role in the 1996 downing of two civilian aircraft operated by Miami-based exiles off the coast of Cuba. The Cuban government firmly rejected the accusations.

Cuba is now going through one of the worst phases in its long and tense relationship with the United States. US President Donald Trump has said he hopes to "take over" the island after his January attack on Venezuela, a key Cuban ally for decades, and imposed an oil embargo that has nearly paralysed the country in an effort to force changes to its economic and political model.

"Cuba is the victim of a coldly calculated genocide," Diaz-Canel said, accusing the Trump administration of pursuing a policy of "maximum pressure" and intensified "economic strangulation". He spoke as Cuba faces daily blackouts lasting more than 20 hours, shorter workdays, halted industrial production, and shortages of water and medicines, on top of a severe crisis worsened over the past five years by earlier US sanctions and a domestic financial reform that drove inflation.

As the crisis deepens, hotel chains such as Spain's Melia, payment processors including Visa and Mastercard, and airlines such as Air Canada and Air France have left the island. Sunday's rally, meant to honour the anniversary of the revolution's defining early attack, also underlined Cuba's current political and economic strain and the continuing role of Raul Castro's legacy.

With PTI Inputs

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