The US Justice Department has announced that the US has indicted former Cuban President Raul Castro.
The indictment relates to the downing of two civilian U.S. airliners by Cuban Air Force fighter planes, killing four members of a Miami-based anti-Castro humanitarian group known as Brothers to the Rescue.
Raul Castro, brother of Cuba’s longtime president Fidel Castro, oversaw a historic rapprochement with the US in 2015 under Barack Obama, a move reversed by US President Donald Trump in 2017 during his first term in office.
The indictment, filed in a federal court in Miami, included one count of conspiracy to murder American citizens, four counts of murder and two counts of destroying an aircraft, according to court records.
Acting US Attorney General Todd Blanch said the indictment is proof that the US “will not and will not forget its citizens.”
“Nations and countries cannot be allowed to target Americans and face accountability.”
Rubio tells Cubans: A ‘new path’ is proposed for them
Earlier, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio addressed Cubans and told them that a “new path” was proposed for them.
In a Spanish-language video, Rubio accused Cuba’s Communist Party leadership of theft, corruption and oppression.
Rubio – whose parents came to the US from Cuba – said, “A new Cuba where you have a real opportunity to choose who is going to rule your country and vote to change them if they’re not doing a good job.”
Rubio continued to acknowledge that the Cuban people were going through “unimaginable hardships”, including having no electricity for most of the day due to the oil shortage.
Cuba’s military-backed group Gesa is guilty of enriching the country’s elite while ordinary citizens suffer, according to the US Secretary of State, who also called it “a state within a state”.
“And the only role played by the so-called ‘government’ is to demand that you continue to make ‘sacrifices’ and to continue to repress anyone who dares to complain.”
Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez responded to Rubio’s statement, calling it “superficial and ill-informed.”
Cuban leaders react sharply to Trump administration’s fuel blockade
The Trump administration has imposed a blockade on fuel coming to Cuba, causing an energy crisis on the island. The US also has a decades-old trade embargo with Cuba.
Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel has urged the Trump administration to lift its de facto oil blockade on the island and described the US sanctions as “immoral, illegal and criminal”.
Tension has also been rising between the US and Cuba recently due to the country’s alleged deal to purchase more than 300 drones from Russia and Iran.
Edited by: Wesley Dockery