Overview
- The centenary on August 13, 2026 was marked by official events — exhibitions, concerts and a high-profile conference led by President Miguel Díaz-Canel — as the government sought to reassert Castro’s legacy.
- Cuba is simultaneously enduring severe shortages of food and water and chronic power cuts that have driven protests and daily survival struggles in many neighborhoods.
- Public memory is divided: older Cubans often defend Castro’s social gains while younger people, many focused on emigration or basic needs, show indifference or blame his legacy for current failures.
- A law passed after Castro’s death bars new monuments or public namings in his honor, and visible images of him have decayed, eroding his public symbolism even as the state spotlights his record.
- Debate inside the Communist Party is growing over market-oriented openings promoted by Díaz-Canel and whether privatization and foreign capital can rescue the Revolution without political liberalization, a split that could shape policy and migration trends ahead.