{"id":2625,"date":"2026-06-06T19:34:49","date_gmt":"2026-06-06T19:34:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/?p=2625"},"modified":"2026-06-06T19:34:49","modified_gmt":"2026-06-06T19:34:49","slug":"cuba-ex-president-raul-castro-makes-first-appearance-since-us-charges-to-celebrate-birthday","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/?p=2625","title":{"rendered":"Cuba ex-President Ra\u00fal Castro makes first appearance since US charges to celebrate birthday"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<p>HAVANA (AP) \u2014 Ra\u00fal Castro, Cuba\u2019s low-profile former president and revolutionary guerilla, appeared in public for the first time since being indicted by the United States for his alleged role in the 1996 downing of two civilian aircraft, official video released Saturday showed.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/?p=2623\">Judge tosses Kennedy Center suit against musician who canceled Christmas Eve show<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Castro\u2019s celebration of his 95th birthday with top officials and military leaders at the Ministry of Interior in Havana on late Friday offered Cuba\u2019s socialist government an opportunity to close ranks and project defiance as the Trump administration escalates its pressure campaign on the fuel-starved island. <\/p>\n<p>State TV broadcast footage of Castro, clad in his olive-green military uniform, entering a packed theater to a standing ovation, followed by his grandson and bodyguard, Ra\u00fal Guillermo Rodr\u00edguez, and Cuban President Miguel Di\u00e1z-Canel. <\/p>\n<p>Di\u00e1z-Canel delivered an effusive tribute to the \u201cheroism and dignity\u201d displayed by Castro and his late brother, the central figure of the Cuban revolution, Fidel Castro. He praised Ra\u00fal Castro, who served as defense minister of Cuba for nearly 50 years, for his \u201ccourage and loyalty (that) made him a target from a very early age for the intelligence services of our enemies.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>In a more direct response to provocations by the Trump administration, Diaz-Canel warned that \u201cthere will be a decisive and resolute battle\u201d if the U.S. acts on its threats to invade the island. <\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/?p=2621\">30 firefighters battle Rosebud Lane house fire, Raleigh Fire Department says<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u201cRa\u00fal is Ra\u00fal,\u201d he said, echoing the slogan that has appeared in billboards across Havana and in a flood of social media posts since the May 20 U.S. indictment of Ra\u00fal Castro on murder charges \u2014 an apparent attempt to mobilize national unity to counter the government\u2019s image of isolation. \u201cRa\u00fal is Cuba, and Cuba is untouchable.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Friday\u2019s late-night celebration, two days after Castro turned 95, marked a rare public appearance for the low-profile but influential Cuban army general. Although he formally retired from politics in April 2021, Castro is believed to wield considerable political power.<\/p>\n<p>The Justice Department\u2019s indictment unsealed last month accuses Castro of ordering the 1996 shootdown of civilian planes flown by Miami-based exiles. It was the steepest in a series of escalations since the Trump administration all but cut off Cuba\u2019s oil supplies in January, exacerbating the island\u2019s long-running problems like blackouts and a public health crisis. <\/p>\n<p>The Trump administration demands that Cuba\u2019s socialist government release political prisoners, implement major economic reforms and change its way of governance to avoid becoming a national security threat. Cuba has said it poses no threat to the U.S.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/?p=2619\">Richard Childress compares pain of losing Kyle Busch to Dale Earnhardt\u2019s death<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>HAVANA (AP) \u2014 Ra\u00fal Castro, Cuba\u2019s low-profile former president and revolutionary guerilla, appeared in public&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2624,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2625","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Cuba ex-President Ra\u00fal Castro makes first appearance since US charges to celebrate birthday - Raleigh Moving News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/?p=2625\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Cuba ex-President Ra\u00fal Castro makes first appearance since US charges to celebrate birthday - 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