Former Cuban President Raúl Castro was indicted in the United States on Wednesday. This was stated by an anonymous official from the environment of President Donald Trump’s administration for the Reuters agency, writes TASR.
The reason for the indictment is probably an incident 30 years ago – the downing of two private planes of the exile group Brothers to the Rescue by the Cuban air force. CBS News reported about it last week, citing its sources.
According to Reuters, the indictment comes at a time when the head of the White House is exerting strong pressure to change the communist regime in Cuba. In the past, Trump also hinted at the possibility of a “friendly takeover” of Cuba. Cuba’s economic crisis worsened earlier this year when the US ousted Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and towards the island they declared an oil embargo. Venezuela supplied roughly half of Cuba’s needed supplies, and since then only one Russian tanker has arrived in Cuba. Another Russian tanker has been stuck in the Atlantic Ocean for several weeks.
Ninety-four-year-old Castro was president between 2008 and 2018, having previously served as defense minister in his brother Fidel’s government. He formally resigned as leader of the Communist Party in 2021but he is still considered one of the most powerful people in the country. According to Reuters, the indictment of Castro as the leader of an enemy country of the US is similar to the indictment of Maduro for drug trafficking, which served as a pretext for his capture in Caracas, Venezuela, on January 3.
