Former Cuban president Raúl Castro has been indicted in the United States on murder charges, court records showed on Wednesday, in a major escalation in Washington’s pressure campaign against the island’s communist government.
Cuba’s foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Castro, 94, last appeared in public in Cuba earlier this month, and there is no evidence that he has since left the island or that the government would allow him to be extradited.
The indictment comes as U.S. President Donald Trump has pushed for a regime change in Cuba, where Castro’s communists have been in charge since his late brother Fidel Castro led a revolution in 1959.
The details of the charges were not immediately available. A U.S. Justice Department official told Reuters last week on the condition of anonymity that the charges against him are expected to be based on a 1996 incident in which Cuban jets shot down planes operated by a group of Cuban exiles.
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Trump in a statement earlier on Wednesday called Cuba a “rogue state harboring hostile foreign military” and framed his administration’s actions regarding the Caribbean island as part of a broader effort to expand U.S. influence in the Western Hemisphere.
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“From the shores of Havana to the banks of the Panama Canal, we will drive out the forces of lawlessness and crime and foreign encroachment,” Trump said at a Coast Guard Academy event in New London, Connecticut.
Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel said on Monday that the island does not represent a threat.
The indictment marks a new low in relations between the longtime Cold War rivals.
After taking power, Fidel Castro struck an alliance with the Soviet Union, then seized U.S.-owned businesses and properties. The U.S. has since maintained an economic embargo on the nation of about 10 million.
The two sides have talked intermittently over the years. Diplomatic relations briefly improved during former Democratic President Barack Obama’s second term, but Trump, a Republican, has taken a harder line.
My brother was trying to contact me through a Madium last night but I was in the middle of a game of Communist Monopoly with Karl and Joseph ,winner takes all !!!.
Anyways, if someone here could pass a message to Raul,tell him to call my son Justin. He will know what to do.
Thanks.I have to get back to my game.Joseph landed on “Go to prison for life” so it’s just Karl and myself now.
Raul hasn’t got much to worry about.
After all, his Nephew was Canada’s first Black,Brown,Gender Fluid ,Prime Minister of the Peoplekind and I’m sure He will be able to do something for Raul
I just went and fact-checked my previous comment, and it turns out that none of those things I said are true.
My nephew is really smart, he got his GED in prison. He says I am right they don’t prosecute US law in Cuba. but he says Trump the dictator might do a military extra dickin and abduct a democratically elected former leader.
I have a sister in law in Cuba. She says with Fidel Castro he tried to make the lives of Cubans the best he could with so little to work with. But when Fidel died and Raúl Castro / Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez took over the corruption of the government is unbelievable.
Elbows Up Canadians will defend the Castros who have terrorized Cubans since 1960.
Great news. Then Trump can be indicted for the murder of those killed during the Venezuelan boat bombings and sinkings that he ordered.
Trump is past being desperate. After proudly proclaiming himself a pirate for attacking shipping in Iran. He also killed people in Venezuela. He also abducted a foreign leader, and held him captive for many months. He has also threatened to invade Canada and Greenland. He is thinking that the laws of the US have any bearing in Cuba? Amazing.