Pinar del Río Cuba: “May Every Dawn Find Us Ready to Fight”

July 26, 2026 from Pinar del Rio, Cuba

With a message sent by Army General Raúl Castro Ruz, Leader of the Cuban Revolution, Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, First Secretary of the Party’s Central Committee and President of the Republic, began his speech at the National Central Ceremony for July 26,

“Dear people of Pinar del Río: On this July 26, please accept my affection and recognition for having earned—through your efforts, dedication to the revolutionary cause, and creative work—the great honor of hosting the main ceremony marking the 73rd anniversary of the assault on the Moncada and Carlos Manuel de Céspedes barracks, the Day of National Rebellion. A warm embrace to all, Raúl Castro Ruz.”

With this heartfelt message from the Leader at the helm of the Revolution, Army General Raúl Castro Ruz, Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, First Secretary of the Party’s Central Committee and President of the Republic, began his speech at the National Central Ceremony for July 26.

The Cuban president emphasized that “Cuba is waging a historic battle today—a new Moncada”—and recalled Fidel’s words when he described the Moncada as the small engine that later set in motion the great engine that is the Revolution.

Díaz-Canel insisted that today Cubans are fighting “fiercely and tenaciously for our sovereignty and our right to freely choose how we are governed, with the same passion with which José Martí set out to achieve complete justice.”

In his remarks, he recalled the example of Commander of the Revolution Ramiro Valdés Menéndez, who remained true to his ideals until the very last moment of his life.

Once again, the President referred to examples of everyday heroism, among which he highlighted the results of the Maternal and Child Health Program in Pinar del Río—with a maternal mortality rate of 4.8 per 1,000 live births and zero maternal deaths—“amid power outages and shortages of all kinds.” He also acknowledged other factors that were essential to the results the province is now achieving, such as food production, tobacco production, and the food industry’s supply chains.

He further highlighted efforts in science and innovation, cultural development, and heritage preservation. The province also has a work system that has fostered closer ties with local communities. “Congratulations to Pinar del Río for its heroism and achievements,” said the President. He also commended Matanzas and Villa Clara, provinces that stood out, and acknowledged the achievements of Guantánamo and Sancti Spíritus.

Díaz-Canel reflected that the Cuban nation’s historical adversaries “issue a threat against the Revolution every day, and every week they announce new punitive measures against Cuban companies and officials—including those, whether Cuban or foreign, who dare to send an oil tanker or invest in Cuba.” He specifically denounced as despicable the arguments used to justify sanctions targeting entities and officials within the Cuban public health system.

“They have declared a world war against the left and against Cuba, as the capital of communism in the 21st century,” said the President, noting that not only are they criminalizing protest, but they are also opportunistically seeking a new excuse to justify their genocidal policy against Cuba, which the world condemns. “Let Cuba live in peace,” he asserted, adding that “Cuba is no threat to the United States or to any other country on earth.”

He also spoke of our island’s achievements in the area of international solidarity, noting that, despite the difficulties, Cuban universities have graduated more than 30,000 professionals, over 300 of whom come from other countries, and highlighted the fact that, among them, 23 were Palestinian doctors and five were American. “Is this what they call terrorism? Is this what they call a threat?” he asked.

“The only threat to security in the region—the true and real threat to world peace and to human life—is the policy of aggression that causes famines, impoverishment, disorderly migration, chaos, instability, and tens of thousands of deaths around the world,” he stated.

The President firmly stated: “From this podium, I denounce that Cuba is the victim of a coldly calculated genocide. The U.S. government has consciously designed and implemented a policy of maximum economic suffocation against the Cuban people. It has intensified its six-decade-long blockade, imposing an energy and financial siege, causing a profound crisis in the power grid that results in blackouts lasting more than a day, the paralysis of industries, and the impact on tens of thousands of workers.”

He also cited statistics illustrating the suffering of Cuban families, such as deaths due to a lack of medications that were always free in the country; more than 100,000 surgeries that cannot be performed because hospitals cannot be protected from unexpected power outages during the already frequent failures of the National Electric System (SEN) and due to a lack of fuel for backup generators. More than 118,000 cancer patients, including 1,200 children, cannot receive first-line treatments and are forced to resort to second- and third-line alternative treatments, “and what is just as painful—or even more so—is that the infant mortality rate has risen to 9.3 per 1,000 live births, compared to the 4.5 recorded in previous years. “Behind those numbers are the faces of children who never saw life as a result of the blockade,” he said, asserting that it is illegal and criminal to subject a people to such suffering simply to force them to rebel against their government.

“The blockade is a weapon of war and causes deaths,” he stated, adding later that the blockade only works because of the complicity of those who fear Washington’s power more than the judgment of history. “This is a new appeal to the world’s conscience: do not become accomplices to another genocide.”

“First it was Gaza, Lebanon, Iran; today it is Cuba. Tomorrow it could be any other nation,” he said, recalling that international solidarity came too late for thousands of Gazans, including more than 21,000 children, and noting that for this reason, solidarity with Cuba is not something that can wait, and he therefore thanked those who risk everything to bring their solidarity to the island, as well as the governments that voted at the UN in favor of the Cuban resolution against the blockade despite the pressure.

Díaz-Canel said that the year 2026 holds special significance not only for Cubans; “the centennial of the birth of Commander-in-Chief Fidel Castro Ruz has universal resonance,” he affirmed, noting that Cubans honor his memory not only with words, but also through deeds, through work, through unity, through dignity, and “with sufficient clarity and determination to implement, as quickly as possible, the transformations that the moment and the nation demand of us.”

He told young Cubans that they are the present and the future: “You are the youth of Fidel’s centennial; you are called upon to lead this moment from every neighborhood and every corner of this island,” he reflected.

Toward the end of his remarks, the President said that “the call now is to action—not to wait, not to lament, not to settle for less, to think as a nation, to seek alternatives with boldness and creativity, to care for every resource as if it were the last, to produce, to substitute imports, to develop our potential, and to trust in our own strength,” he urged every Cuban to take a leading role in the moment we are living through and said that “today’s call is for hope.”

“May every dawn find us standing ready to fight,” he concluded.

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“IN THE FACE OF THE EMBARGO, WE WILL RESPOND WITH MORE WORK AND GREATER UNITY”

On July 26, 1953, a group of young people carried out coordinated attacks on the Moncada and Carlos Manuel de Céspedes barracks in the eastern cities of Santiago de Cuba and Bayamo, with the aim of launching the struggle and ridding Cuba of Batista’s tyranny.

The morning of Saint Anne’s Day arrived amid the clamor of rebellion, accompanied by hundreds of gunshots that heralded the dawn of the Revolution.

Today, the people of Cuba commemorate the 73rd anniversary of that heroic feat in the province of Pinar del Río, which serves as the venue for the main ceremony marking National Rebellion Day.

Fifty years after first being chosen as the venue in 1976, the Plaza de la Revolución in Pinar del Río is hosting approximately 5,000 residents of Pinar del Río representing all Cubans.

In her remarks, the province’s First Secretary of the Party, Yamilé Ramos Cordero, reaffirmed that the designation of Pinar del Río as the national venue for National Rebellion Day—especially during the centennial year of Fidel Castro’s birth—reinforced the people’s response to the intensification of the U.S. blockade. “In the face of these grave and challenging circumstances,” she noted, “our response is and always will be resolute: to defend the revolution and its achievements.”

Ramos Cordero recalled that more than 40 residents of Pinar del Río participated in the Moncada raid, of whom three fell in combat and 13 were murdered by the Batista dictatorship.

Regarding the current situation, the Party’s First Secretary in the province acknowledged that there were many challenges following Hurricane Ian in 2022, including the construction of housing for those affected, the establishment of new tobacco-growing areas, and the building of 27 children’s centers in the most remote areas of Pinar del Río, as well as the maintenance of educational and health facilities.

The First Secretary in Vueltabajo also affirmed that these difficulties forged a loyal and steadfast people who have always managed to move forward by thinking as a country and as a Revolution.

Ramos Cordero highlighted the province’s progress in the energy transition with the installation of four photovoltaic parks totaling 87 MW, in addition to the implementation of renewable energy systems in hospitals and facilities with high social demand.

In public health, the province maintains an infant mortality rate of 4.8 per 1,000 live births, with several municipalities recording zero infant deaths over extended periods. Life expectancy at birth is 78.1 years, and more than 1,000 healthcare professionals are providing medical assistance in 38 countries.

In the face of current challenges, the people of Pinar del Río continue to farm, maintaining the province’s status as the country’s largest rice producer.

The official explained that “Pinar del Río produces 70% of the nation’s tobacco, with an increasing number of young people and women joining the workforce.” She acknowledged that not all food demand is currently met, but assured that “this is the path to achieving it—by producing more and making the most of all our potential.”

In sports, she highlighted Leyanis Pérez’s gold medal at the World Athletics Championships and Mijaín López’s fifth Olympic gold medal, which uphold the pride of “this land of champions.”

Ramos Cordero called on people not to sit idly by, expressing her loyalty and commitment to the people of Pinar del Río: “In the face of imperialist threats, we will respond with more Revolution. In the face of the blockade, we will respond with more work, more unity. In the face of lies, we will respond with the truth of our history and the justice of our cause.”

In his speech, he recalled Fidel’s words from 1976: “This province provided one of the finest contingents for the start of the revolutionary armed struggle. Young people of Artemisa, Guanajay, and the city of Pinar del Río. That is why we remember the contribution of this region of Cuba to the revolutionary struggle before July 26, after July 26, before January 1, yesterday, today, and tomorrow.”

The people of Pinar del Río, representing all of Cuba, will celebrate today the 73rd anniversary of the assault on the Moncada and Carlos Manuel de Céspedes barracks, an event that definitively set the course of the Revolution.

This is the fourth time that Cuba’s westernmost province has hosted the celebrations for National Rebellion Day, and it is, without a doubt, one of the territories—like every inch of this island—where revolutionary transformations forever changed the people’s grim reality.

Amid a blockade intensified to its utmost by the empire, the people of Cuba demonstrate that they remain faithful to their history and that our heroes are neither forgotten nor dead.

Source: Cubadebate, translation Resumen Latinoamericano – English