The president of Cuba, Miguel Díaz-Canel, criticized this Wednesday the “severity” of the economic sanctions of the United States, which he pointed out as one of the main limitations on the development of the Caribbean country.
“As long as the United States maintains its brutal and genocidal blockade (embargo) and tries to trample on national dignity, we will have a Moncada to assault,” he said when leading the commemoration of the Day of National Rebellion in the eastern city of Santiago de Cuba (12 hours from Havana).
The date recalls the failed assaults on July 26, 1953 on the Moncada and Carlos Manuel de Céspedes barracks -both in the east- by a group of revolutionaries led by Fidel Castro and his brother Raúl.
Seven decades after the events, and from the same Moncada barracks (in Santiago de Cuba), Díaz-Canel charged against the “imperial aggressions” of the United States and the “obsession” with the Caribbean country.
The president mentioned at the ceremony, also witnessed by former president Raúl Castro, that “perverse” measures such as the inclusion of Cuba in the list of sponsors of terrorism slow down Cuba’s economic development.
This year’s commemoration was attended by nearly thousands of people who filled the Moncada headquarters in Santiago de Cuba.
The military actions of July 26, 1953 are considered the first armed action against the dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista (1952-1959) of a revolution that would triumph six years later. These were intended to cause a popular insurrection, but their failure ended in the imprisonment, torture, and death of many of their participants.
Others, like the Castros, were tried, convicted and imprisoned, but were granted amnesty two years later, which allowed them to leave the country and reorganize.
The action is remembered annually in Cuba with large events on the country’s main holiday, except in 2021, when it was held in a reduced format due to the pandemic.
In the last few days, and as usual, the main pro-government media dedicated spaces to highlight the events of the actions of July 26, 1953 and their historical significance for the future of the country in the following decades.
According to the criteria of The Trust Project