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Thousands of Cubans gathered outside the US embassy in Havana on Friday to protest the US decision to indict former President Raúl Castro over the shooting down of two civilian planes in 1996.
The pro-government demonstration began shortly after dawn on Havana’s waterfront. Castro, 94, was not present.
Cuban MP Gerardo Hernández, a national hero and former spy, thanked Cubans and international supporters for their solidarity. He quoted Castro as saying, “As long as I live, I will remain in the forefront of the Revolution, with one foot in the stirrup.”
Demonstrators waved flags and chanted “Viva Raúl!” and “Patria o Muerte” during the demonstration that lasted almost an hour.
President Miguel Díaz-Canel and Prime Minister Manuel Marrero attended, along with several members of Castro’s family, including daughter Mariela Castro, son Alejandro Castro and nephew Raúl Guillermo Rodríguez Castro.
Rodríguez Castro, known as “Raulito” or “El Cangrejo,” often serves as his grandfather’s bodyguard. Last week he met with CIA Director John Ratcliffe during a rare visit to Havana by a US spy chief.
Mariela Castro told state media after the protest that her father “was very well, very calm, like an old guerrilla fighter; he watches and smiles. He always said, ‘Nobody takes me alive; they’ll catch me fighting.'”
Cuba called the accusation announced Wednesday “false” and said it was intended as a pretext for an invasion as the Trump administration seeks to pressure the Cuban government.
The US charge relates to Cuba’s 1996 shooting down of two civilian planes operated by the Cuban exile group Brothers to the Rescue, which killed four people, including three Americans.
