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Tens of thousands of Cubans rallied Friday in Havana to denounce the Trump administration’s indictment of former President Raúl Castro and threats to attack the island nation, whose socialist government has been preparing its citizens to defend their homeland and revolution against U.S. aggression.

“No disrespect is shown to the heroes of the homeland!” Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel said as people flooded the streets outside the U.S. Embassy in Havana. “History and traditions are not insulted without a response! That does not happen in Cuba!”

The massive rally followed Wednesday’s U.S. Department of Justice indictment of revolutionary hero Raúl Castro, who served as president for a decade after his older brother, Fidel Castro, stepped down in 2008. The DOJ indicted Castro for his alleged role in the 1996 shoot-down of planes operated by the counterrevolutionary group Brothers to the Rescue after repeated warnings that they had violated Cuban airspace.

🇨🇺 Tens of thousands of Cubans took to the streets of Havana to show support for the Cuban leader Raúl Castro. Cubans are rejecting the US accusations against former president, and US threats and hostilities against the Caribbean nation. pic.twitter.com/v9bHnClfDI— Peoples Dispatch (@peoplesdispatch) May 22, 2026

🇨🇺 Tens of thousands of Cubans took to the streets of Havana to show support for the Cuban leader Raúl Castro. Cubans are rejecting the US accusations against former president, and US threats and hostilities against the Caribbean nation. pic.twitter.com/v9bHnClfDI

Rallying under the slogan “Raúl is Raúl” — originally popularized during the transitional period of rule between the Castros to highlight the younger brother’s reforms — Cubans vowed to defend their revolution in the face of the latest U.S. threats.

“This new aggression has united us more and elevated the honor, dignity, and anti-imperialist spirit of a people already recognized around the world for their brave resistance to any form of subordination to the empire,” Díaz-Canel said.

Despite Trump’s Oil Blockade, Quiet Resistance of Daily Life Continues in Cuba

Cuban legislator Mariela Castro, Raúl’s granddaughter, told rallygoers that “we are prepared for combat.”

“No one is going to kidnap him. I can assure you of that,”........

© Truthout