Former Cuban President Castro indicted in US
The indictment marks a dramatic escalation in Washington’s pressure campaign against Havana
Former Cuban President Raul Castro has been indicted by the US Justice Department, officials told Reuters on Wednesday. The indictment came months after US President Donald Trump warned that Cuba would be “next” after Venezuela was targeted for regime change.
The widely-expected indictment was handed down on Wednesday, officials said. It reportedly accuses Castro of ordering the shootdown of two American planes operated by anti-communist Cuban exiles off the island’s coast in 1996. Cuba said at the time that the planes were connected to the US Air Force, and were warned to divert before they were fired upon.
The indictment was handed down shortly before a ceremony in Miami commemorating the incident.
In a statement earlier on Wednesday, Trump said “America will not tolerate a rogue state harboring hostile foreign military, intelligence and terror operations just ninety miles from the American homeland.”
Earlier this week, US spies told Axios that they believe Cuba has acquired more than 300 military drones in preparation for an attack on the US military base at Guantanamo Bay and targets as far afield as Key West in Florida. Havana ridiculed the claims, accusing the US of fabricating a “fraudulent case” for military intervention.
Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio have repeatedly threatened Cuba with military action this year. After abducting Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in January, Trump imposed a near-total energy blockade on Cuba, before declaring that “Cuba is next” on his list of regime-change targets.
The Justice Department also indicted Maduro immediately before US special forces kidnapped him in a raid on his residence in Caracas.
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