Raul Castro absent as Cuba marks revolutionary attack, Diaz-Canel denounces US

Former President Raul Castro was conspicuously absent on Sunday from Cuba's annual rally commemorating the 1953 Moncada barracks assault, the first time in at least 30 years he skipped the event. President Miguel Diaz-Canel read a congratulatory message from Castro and used the occasion to sharply criticize the United States Source: SCMPSource: AP.

Absence of Raul Castro

• The 95-year-old revolutionary, who no longer holds formal office, did not attend the rally in Pinar del Río, and no official explanation was given Source: AP.
• His last public appearances were in June at a Ministry of Interior event and on May 1 for Labor Day Source: SCMP.
• Despite his absence, Castro remains symbolically influential and was recently identified as a negotiator in US talks Source: SCMP.

Escalating US-Cuba tensions

• Diaz-Canel rejected a US State Department report accusing Cuba of running an espionage network, calling it a threat Source: AP.
• He accused the US of "coldly calculated genocide" and "economic strangulation," referencing a January oil embargo that has caused severe blackouts and shortages Source: Al Jazeera.
• The US indicted Raul Castro in May for murder over a 1996 shootdown of civilian planes, a move Cuba's government rejected Source: AP.

Economic crisis

• Daily blackouts exceed 20 hours, workdays reduced, industrial production halted, and shortages of water and medicine are widespread Source: APSource: Al Jazeera.
• International companies like Meliá, Visa, Mastercard, Air Canada, and Air France have left the island amidst the deepening crisis Source: Al Jazeera.