Raul Castro absent from Cuba's July 26 anniversary rally for first time in 30 years

Former Cuban president Raul Castro, 95, did not attend the annual rally commemorating the July 26, 1953 assault on the Moncada barracks, marking his first absence in at least three decades. No official explanation was given for his absence. President Miguel Diaz-Canel read a congratulatory message from Castro at the event in Pinar del Río. The assault, led by Fidel and Raul Castro against dictator Fulgencio Batista, failed but sparked the revolution that succeeded on January 1, 1959. Castro's last public appearances were in June at an Interior Ministry event and on May 1 for Labour Day. Though holding no formal positions, his symbolic presence remains strong; he was recently identified as a negotiator in talks with the US after a new energy embargo. Diaz-Canel also rejected a US State Department report accusing Cuba of running a leftist espionage network.