Miguel Díaz-Canel appeared this Friday at the José Martí Anti-Imperialist Tribune in Havana wearing an olive green combat uniform, but did not deliver any speech before the attendees at the mass political event called in support of Raúl Castro.
The event was organized following the criminal charges filed by the U.S. Department of Justice against the former dictator.
The only political leader who spoke was Gerardo Hernández, national coordinator of the Committees for the Defense of the Revolution, who conveyed a brief message from Raúl Castro to the crowd gathered in front of the Havana Malecón.
Díaz-Canel's silence is striking because it breaks an established pattern: in all recent political events held in that same setting, the leader has indeed spoken.
In January 2026, when the regime called for an urgent gathering following the arrest of Nicolás Maduro, Díaz-Canel delivered a passionate speech at that same podium, describing the operation as "state terrorism, cowardly, criminal, and treacherous."
On May 1, 2026, he also spoke from that stage, where he said, "If Cuba is attacked, there will be a fight." However, this Friday, at an event specifically called to defend the person he himself refers to as his "mentor," he remained silent.
Díaz-Canel did announce his presence on the social media platform X with the message: "For Cuba and for Raúl, we are at the Anti-Imperialist Tribune. Raúl is Raúl."
The day before, he had raised his tone on that same platform, stating: "The Army General is Cuba, and Cuba deserves respect" and "The heroes of the homeland are not disrespected; history and traditions are not offended without a response. Not in Cuba."
The choice of the olive green uniform also carries a deliberate symbolic weight, associated with revolutionary power since 1959, and that Díaz-Canel had used during previous moments of crisis, such as during Hurricane Melissa in October 2025.
The event was marked by another notable absence: that of the honoree himself.
Raúl Castro did not attend the event organized in his honor, which sparked a wave of mockery on social media. "Was the honoree not present at his own event?" a Cuban user joked. "And Raúl is hiding!" wrote another internet user. "There are more olive greens than people; no one is on board with this," pointed out a third.
The regime mobilized military personnel, police, and workers to boost the attendance at the event called by the Young Communist Union and other mass organizations.
The accusation that prompted the act was presented on May 20 —Cuba's Independence Day— at the Freedom Tower in Miami, and includes charges of conspiracy to assassinate American citizens along with four individual charges of homicide for the downing of two aircraft belonging to Brothers to the Rescue over international waters on February 24, 1996, resulting in the deaths of Armando Alejandre Jr., Carlos Costa, Mario Manuel de la Peña, and Pablo Morales.
The health status of Raúl Castro, who will turn 95 years old on June 3, is a constantly underlying factor. Díaz-Canel himself described him in April as "fragile due to his advanced age," and in March 2026, he also did not attend the 9th Congress of the Communist Party.
His last public appearance was on May 1 at that same Tribune, visibly deteriorated, three weeks before the regime called a mass event in his name to which he could not —or did not want to— attend.
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