By Ayose Naranjo
HAVANA, Aug 13 (Reuters) - Cuba on Thursday marked the 100th anniversary of the birth of revolutionary leader Fidel Castro amid one of the most severe economic and political crises in its history, exacerbated by Washington's oil embargo and hardened sanctions.
More than 1,500 activists and representatives of solidarity organizations from over 60 countries across Latin America, Europe, Africa and Asia traveled to the Caribbean island this week to take part in commemorative events honoring Castro, according to the Cuban government.
"Fidel's legacy speaks to us today with greater force than ever," Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel said at Monday's opening of the international conference on Castro's legacy.
Diaz-Canel added that it was important to remember Castro not only as a historical figure, but also "as a guide for overcoming the challenges before us today, in the real Cuba of 2026."
The commemoration comes amid increasingly strained relations between Havana and Washington. In January, U.S. President Donald Trump's administration imposed an oil embargo against the island to pressure the Cuban government. Washington has also hardened sanctions in what the Cuban government describes as an unprecedented attempt to cripple its finances and operations.
The U.S. policy has had far-reaching impacts across the island. Power outages, which exceed 20 hours a day in most provinces, have crippled food production, transportation and tourism, pushing Cuba's national electricity system to the brink of technical collapse. The grid suffered three nationwide failures in July alone.
In response to the crisis, the Cuban government in June approved a package of 176 measures aimed at opening the island's socialist economy to private and foreign investment.
The measures, if fully implemented, would represent an unprecedented embrace of free-market capitalism and contrast sharply with the socialist model that defined Castro's rule for decades.
Some reforms are already underway. In the energy sector, for example, U.S. fuel exports to Cuba's private businesses have skyrocketed this year, fueling the growth of a chaotic black market and deepening social and economic inequality.
NOSTALGIA
For some residents in Havana, the economic crisis and political uncertainty have provoked deep nostalgia for Castro's leadership.
"At a moment of crisis like this, he might have had other solutions that today we simply do not have," said Benito Cisneros, 62.
Castro was born in the eastern province of Holguin on August 13, 1926. The leader of the 1959 Cuban revolution, he became one of the most influential figures of the international left.
A decade after his death, his legacy remains central to Cuba's national narrative.
But Fabio Fernandez, a history professor at the University of Havana, said many of those now responsible for running the country had not lived up to their predecessor's example.
"Invoking him is an attempt to sustain consensus," Fernandez said.
"But when you talk to people in the street, something very evident emerges: many believe that if Fidel were still leading the country's destiny, Cuba would be a different country."
(Reporting by Ayose Naranjo, Alien Fernandez and Anett Rios; Editing by Sanjeev Miglani)
