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Moncada anniversary in Cuba
Cuba marked the 73rd anniversary of the assault on the Moncada Barracks and Carlos Manuel de Céspedes with the National Central Ceremony in Pinar del Río, under the motto My Moncada is the Fatherland, on July 26, 2026.
“The morning of July 26, 2026, the Plaza of the Revolution in Pinar del Río hosted the National Central Ceremony”
The event was presided over by Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez and attended by 5,000 residents of Pinar del Río representing the entire country, with José Ramón Machado Ventura and members of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Party also present.
Díaz-Canel opened his remarks transmitting a message from Raúl Castro Ruz, and Raúl told residents of Pinar del Río to receive on July 26 “the affection and my recognition for having earned, through your effort, dedication to the cause, and creative work, the great honor of hosting the central ceremony.”
In parallel, El Mundo said the anniversary was observed 73 years after Fidel Castro and young people failed to take the military garrison in Santiago, and it described power outages and citizen protests during the days leading up to the celebration.
Protests, rhetoric, and dissent
El Mundo reported that the anniversary celebration came as “citizens, who have increased their protests in the streets during the last days amid power outages,” and it said the discontent and protests were worsening.
It also quoted a line from Díaz-Canel’s message, where he repeated that “Cuba is waging a historic battle, a new assault on Moncada,” while describing Washington’s stance as a “global war against the left and Cuba, as the capital of communism in the twenty-first century.”
Yaxis Cires, of the Cuban Observatory for Human Rights (OCDH), was cited by El Mundo saying “the country is not in a mood for celebrations,” and it linked the street response to blackouts that “exceed even 35 hours in the Caribbean summer.”
Separately, CiberCuba said poet and researcher Juan Carlos García Guridia published the décima “PREGUNTO” on Facebook four days before July 26, framing it as a question of “the loss of dignity, the absence of freedom, and the deterioration of daily life in Cuba.”
Humanitarian crisis and stakes
CiberCuba tied the July 26 commemorations to what it called one of Cuba’s worst humanitarian crises, citing the Cuban Observatory for Human Rights estimate that 89% of the population lives in extreme poverty and the Food Monitor Program report that 96.91% do not have access to adequate food.
“the Food Monitor Program reports that 96.91% do not have access to adequate food”
It also said power outages reach between 25 and 32 hours per day in several areas, with extreme cases of more than 72 hours in provinces such as Matanzas, and it reported the informal dollar exchange rate has risen to 670 pesos since June 2026 compared with 435 pesos in December 2025.
In the same period, Prensa Latina described an event in Italy that began with a rally at 9:30 local time in Santa Prisca Square and ended in front of the Cuban Embassy in Italy, where Jorge Luis Cepero thanked the solidarity gesture on July 26.
Cepero said the spirit of the attackers “must accompany us at every moment, as an indispensable factor to continue on the path of dignity,” and he added that “the Cubans will fight at the cost of their lives to preserve independence and national sovereignty.”