On a farm in southeast Cuba in October 1868, an event known as "The Cry of Yara" sparked the island's quest for independence.
But it wouldn't arrive until May 20, 1902.
First came the "Great War," which lasted nearly 10 years, followed by the "Little War," which lasted more than a year. Then there was the Cuban War of Independence, followed by the Spanish-American War.
Cuba eventually became independent.
The White House issued a presidential statement to commemorate the anniversary.
"On this Cuban Independence Day, our Republic stands in solidarity with the Cuban people and with the millions of Cuban-Americans who have so profoundly enriched the life of our Nation," the statement said.
However, the Cuban government doesn't celebrate the date, and neither do its supporters on the island.
Why doesn't Cuba celebrate Independence Day?
Cuba's independence in 1902 was tied to the Platt Amendment, introduced by a US senator from Connecticut. It gave the US the right to intervene in Cuban affairs "for the preservation of Cuban independence" (among other things) and allowed the US government to lease or buy lands to establish naval bases on the island.
While the agreement was repealed under former US President Franklin D. Roosevelt, it left a bitter taste in the mouths of many Cubans.
"There is only one thing to be grateful for on that day," Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel wrote on Wednesday on X.
"It instilled in Cubans of that time an anti-imperialist sentiment that each subsequent generation has felt deepen with new and constant threats to the independence and sovereignty of the nation."
He added that May 20 represents "intervention, interference, dispossession, frustration."
Politically charged date
The White House statement claimed that the Cuban government "is the direct betrayal of the nation their founding patriots bled and died for."
Response from the Cuban government was swift.
Cuban Foreign Affairs Minister Bruno Rodriguez called the statement "superficial and ill-informed" in a post on X, adding that it was an "insult" to the people of Cuba.
Cuban officials also decried that US Secretary of State Marco Rubio chose to release a video message in Spanish on May 20, hours before Castro's indictment was announced.
Rubio accused the Cuban government of plundering billions of dollars and leaving people on the island without electricity, fuel or food. He denied that a US energy blockade was to blame.
The Cuban government celebrates January 1, 1959, as its true Independence Day, marking the moment revolutionaries triumphed and forced Fulgencio Batista to flee.
Rodriguez asserted that "the Revolution put an end to almost six decades of economic and political control by the United States, with three military interventions and the political and military support of two bloody dictatorships."
Cuba also celebrates July 26, known as National Rebellion Day. It commemorates a failed 1953 attack that led up to the revolution.
