94-year-old Raul Castro and the new generation celebrate the attack that opened the way for the Cuba

Описание: (26 Jul 2025)
FOR CLEAN VERSION SEE STORY NUMBER: 4592833

ASSOCIATED PRESS
Ciego de Avila, Cuba - 26 July 2024
1. Revolutionary leader Raúl Castro with Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel arriving at the celebration of the assault on the Moncada Barrack
2. Participants applauding
3. Prime minister Manuel Marrero, Díaz-Canel, Castro, Ramiro Valdés, and José Ramón Machado in the front row from right to left
4. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Manuel Marrero, Prime Minister of Cuba:
++PARTIALLY COVERED BY SHOTS 1, 2, 3 AND 5++
“We are here to tell the world that the Cuban revolution continues to fight. And without giving up on building a sovereign, independent, socialist, democratic, prosperous, and sustainable society with its head held high and its dignity intact.”
5. Fidel Castro on the screen
6. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Laura Cobas, teacher:
++PARTIALLY COVERED BY SHOT 7++
“Despite all the problems we have and such, we must always unite as a country and move forward because in unity there is strength.”
7. Dances and music in celebration
8. Castro and Díaz-Canel

STORYLINE:
Revolutionary leader Raúl Castro, 94, accompanied by Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel, arrived at Ciego de Avila's Plaza Saturday to kick off the 72nd anniversary celebrations of the Moncada Barracks assault with thousands of people.

The anniversary coincides with a period of economic stress, one of the worst in decades, marked by food shortages, power outages, dollarization, and high inflation, which are fueling a wave of emigration.

Last week, Cuba reported a 25% decline in tourism for the first half of the year and acknowledged that the island's gross domestic product fell by 1% in 2024, resulting in an accumulated decline of 11% over the past five years.

"We are here to tell the world that the Cuban revolution continues to fight," the Cuban Prime Minister, Manuel Marrero, stated during the celebration.

While a young university professor said, "There is strength in unity," during the celebration of the old revolutionary fighters with the new generation of Cubans.

Castro, dressed in his usual olive green, is one of the few remaining revolutionaries who attacked the barracks in 1953.

Despite the failure of the attack and the arrest of the revolutionaries, the Moncada attack is regarded as the beginning of the Cuban Revolution.

Apart from Castro, three other participants of the attack were also present at Friday's ceremony: Ramiro Valdés and José Ramón Machado Ventura, both over 90 years old.

The 26th of July is a significant date in the island's history. On this day, Fidel and Raúl Castro, along with a group of young people, attempted to overthrow the government of Fulgencio Batista, but the attempt was unsuccessful.

In 1959, the rebels came into power and began to clash with the United States.

As a result, the US imposed sanctions on Cuba, pressuring for a change in the political system.

These sanctions include actions against companies from other countries that want to do business with Cuba, limitations on travel, targeting of fuel ships, and Cuba being listed as a sponsor of terrorism.

These restrictions have a significant impact on Cuba's financial activities.

AP Video shot by: Ariel Fernández and Milexsy Durán

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