In a combat uniform and in front of a gathering of military personnel, police, and state workers assembled outside the United States Embassy in Havana, President Miguel Díaz-Canel defended Raúl Castro on Friday, stating that the former dictator always sought paths towards prosperity and development for Cuba.
The statement, made with all the solemnity appropriate for a video shared on their official networks, deserves to be contrasted with the reality that the Cuban people have been living for decades, facing extreme suffering in 2026.
The event, dubbed the "Antiimperialist Tribune," was called by the Union of Young Communists and other regime organizations in response to the formal criminal charges filed by the U.S. Department of Justice against Raúl Castro on May 20.
Díaz-Canel described the accusation as "the belligerent, disrespectful, illegal attitude, marked by disdain and arrogance, with which the government of the United States has dared to criminalize and judicialize the leader of the Cuban revolution, Army General Raúl Castro."
It didn't stop there. It also labeled a statement from U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio addressed to the Cuban people as "hypocritical and deceitful," and proclaimed that "Raúl is the homeland, Raúl is Cuba," passionately listing the "legends" of the accused: guerrilla fighter, Minister of the Armed Forces, founder of the Communist Party, and "faithful disciple of Fidel."
The climax of the speech came when Díaz-Canel praised "Raúl's tireless efforts to always seek solutions that improve our people and contribute to the prosperity and development of our country." This description will undoubtedly come as a surprise to the millions of Cubans who have endured decades of economic crisis and, more recently, months without electricity, food, or medicine.
Because the "prosperity" that Díaz-Canel attributes to Raúl has a name: electricity deficits that have been breaking records day after day this May, exceeding 2,000 MW, which has caused blackouts of more than 20 hours in several provinces of the country, with up to 70 percent of the national territory affected simultaneously.
The economic "development" also does not look any better: CEPAL projected a growth of just 0.1% for Cuba's GDP in 2026, while independent analyses estimate a contraction of between -9.1% and -15% in severe scenarios. Cuba did not receive oil from December 2025 until the end of March 2026. The massive emigration, through which more than a million Cubans have left the island since 2021, continues unabated.
The charges presented by Acting U.S. Attorney Todd Blanche in Miami include conspiracy to murder U.S. citizens, destruction of aircraft, and four counts of homicide, all related to the downing of two civilian planes belonging to Brothers to the Rescue on February 24, 1996, when Cuban fighters shot them down over international waters of the Florida Strait, killing four Cuban Americans: Carlos Costa, Armando Alejandre Jr., Mario de la Peña, and Pablo Morales.
Díaz-Canel concluded his speech with a series of equivalences that encapsulate the regime's logic: "By defending Raúl, we are defending the homeland, we are defending the revolution, we are defending socialism, and we are defending our freedom." The Cuban Council of State and Parliament also issued statements of support for that freedom which, apparently, consists of living without electricity, without food, and applauding those who have kept you in this situation for decades.
The event was also presented as a tribute in advance of Raúl Castro's 95th birthday, which falls on June 3rd. The case against him has mainly symbolic and political significance, as Cuba and the United States do not have an extradition treaty, making it virtually impossible for the former dictator to face a tribunal. Unless a military extraction similar to that faced by the former dictator of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, on January 3rd occurs.
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