The US administration plans to unveil criminal charges against former Cuban president Raul Castro next week, an unprecedented move that could spark a new flare-up of tensions between Washington and Havana.
According to a U.S. Justice Department official quoted by Reuters, federal prosecutors are expected to publicly announce indictments against Raul Castro on Wednesday in Miami. The case reportedly concerns an incident in 1996 when the Cuban military shot down aircraft belonging to a group of Cuban exiles opposed to the communist regime.
The announcement would come at a ceremony organized by the Miami federal prosecutor's office to honor the victims of the event. According to available information, the indictment still needs to be approved by a grand jury before it can be officially filed.
This procedure would mark a major escalation in the Trump administration's pressure campaign against the Cuban government. Raul Castro, 94, remains one of the central figures of the regime established by his brother Fidel Castro after the Cuban Revolution.
Fidel Castro's successor as leader of Cuba, Raul Castro led the country until 2018 before relinquishing the presidency, and then the leadership of the Communist Party in 2021. Despite his official withdrawal from power, he remains a symbol of the Cuban communist regime and decades of tensions with the United States.
The affair could have significant diplomatic consequences. Relations between Washington and Havana remain very strained since the return of a tougher US policy toward Cuba, with new economic sanctions and repeated accusations against the Cuban government regarding human rights abuses and alleged support for certain US adversaries.
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