The five-time Olympic champion Mijaín López was the center of a unique moment during the tribute event for the 95th birthday of Raúl Castro, and the 65th anniversary of the MININT, held this Friday at the Karl Marx Theater in Havana: the wrestler dedicated his athletic and heroic legacy to the former dictator, which, according to the broadcast by Canal Caribe, visibly moved him.
"The moment when the five-time Olympic champion Mijaín López symbolically dedicated his athletic and heroic legacy to Raúl was particularly special, an act that moved the Army General," described the official television, which characterized the day as "marked by affection, respect, and admiration for the Ministry of the Interior and Raúl."
The participation of López is not by chance. The Pinar del Río wrestler is the only athlete in Olympic history to win five consecutive gold medals in the same individual event: Beijing 2008, London 2012, Rio 2016, Tokyo 2020, and Paris 2024. In December 2024, Raúl Castro awarded him the title of Hero of the Republic of Cuba for that illustrious career and his commitment to revolutionary values.
His father Bartolo then declared: "For me, Mijaín's most important medal is his heart, his nobility, and the commitment he has to this Revolution, without which he would have been nothing, as the son of poor farmers and having black skin." His mother Leonor was more direct: "Mijaín is more of a patriot than a champion."
The regime frequently uses López as a propaganda tool, although in September 2025 the athlete himself acknowledged that Cuban sports are going through “a very delicate moment” and advocated for professionalization, a statement that contrasts with the loyal figure the government assigns to him at events such as the one at Karl Marx.
The event took place in a context of high tension between Havana and Washington. On May 20, the U.S. Department of Justice filed formal charges against Raúl Castro with seven counts related to the shooting down of two planes from Brothers to the Rescue on February 24, 1996, which resulted in the deaths of four Cuban-Americans. On June 4, Washington also announced new sanctions against Díaz-Canel and Castro's relatives.
The president Miguel Díaz-Canel took the opportunity in his speech to defend the nonagenarian with statements of a distinctly propagandistic tone: “Raúl is Raúl, the people say on all platforms,” he proclaimed, adding that “neither enemy campaigns nor false accusations diminish his long record of service to the homeland.”
The Minister of the Interior, Lázaro Alberto Álvarez Casas, read a message from Raúl Castro to the fighters of MININT in which he congratulated them "with deep pride" and called them "an indispensable bulwark in the defense of the sovereignty and tranquility of the Cuban nation."
This is one of Raúl Castro's most notable appearances in 2026, a year in which he had already resurfaced in January at the tribute to 32 Cuban soldiers who died in Venezuela and on May 1st at the Anti-Imperialist Tribune, where he was described as visibly deteriorated. The accusation presented in the Federal Court for the Southern District of Florida primarily holds symbolic significance due to the absence of an extradition treaty, but it represents the most severe legal action taken by Washington against the former dictator, who could face life imprisonment if ever tried.
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