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The Republican congresswoman from Florida, María Elvira Salazar, reacted this Friday to the event organized by the Cuban regime at the José Martí Anti-Imperialist Tribune in Havana, called in support of Raúl Castro following his formal criminal charges in the United States, and stated that "no propaganda can hide the reality."
The event was organized by the Union of Young Communists and other mass organizations of the regime, which mobilized military personnel, police, and state workers. Miguel Díaz-Canel appeared wearing olive green combat uniform and posted on X: "For Cuba and for Raúl, we are at the Anti-Imperialist Tribune. Raúl is Raúl."
«Dictatorships know how to manufacture crowds. They know how to pressure workers, force attendance, and turn propaganda into spectacle,» Salazar wrote on her account on X.
The congresswoman contrasted the official narrative with the reality faced by the Cuban people: "At a time when Cuba is facing blackouts, food shortages, a lack of fuel, and rising despair, the government continues to force people to take to the streets to pretend that everything is normal."
Salazar also quoted Secretary of State Marco Rubio: "As Secretary Rubio has stated, the rulers of Cuba have shown not only repression but also incompetence. After 67 years, they have left behind scarcity, collapse, and a people who are still denied the freedom and prosperity they deserve."
The event was also presented by the regime as an early tribute to Castro's 95th birthday, which is celebrated on June 3. However, Raúl Castro himself did not attend the event organized in his name, which sparked widespread mockery on social media.
Cubans reacted with irony to the absence of the honoree: "Wasn't the honoree at their own event?", "And Raúl in the cave!" and "There's more olive green than people, no one is with this," wrote Cuban internet users.
The event occurs two days after the United States Department of Justice unveiled a formal indictment against Raúl Castro and five former Cuban military personnel for conspiracy to assassinate American citizens, in addition to four murder charges related to the downing of two civilian aircraft from Hermanos al Rescate on February 24, 1996, which resulted in the deaths of Armando Alejandre Jr., Carlos Costa, Mario de la Peña, and Pablo Morales.
The Council of State and the Cuban Parliament came to Castro's defense and strongly condemned the accusation, while Díaz-Canel described it as a “political action, without any legal basis.”
Last Wednesday, after the indictment of Raúl Castro was announced, Salazar stated that "today marks the beginning of the end of the Castro family."
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