{"id":775,"date":"2026-05-20T21:01:41","date_gmt":"2026-05-20T21:01:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/floridamovingchronicle.com\/?p=775"},"modified":"2026-05-20T21:01:41","modified_gmt":"2026-05-20T21:01:41","slug":"cuba-reacts-indictment-of-raul-castro-is-pretext-for-u-s-attack-on-the-island","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/floridamovingchronicle.com\/?p=775","title":{"rendered":"Cuba reacts: Indictment of Raul Castro is pretext for U.S. attack on the island"},"content":{"rendered":"<article><!-- --><!-- --><!-- WPS-5038 -- removed the script from WPS and added the placeholder for trinity player --><!-- --><!-- --><!-- --><!-- --><!-- --><!-- --><!-- --><!-- CONTENT --><!--[--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>The Cuban government, reacting to the indictment in Miami on Wednesday of Ra\u00fal Castro in the shoot-down of two unarmed planes over the Florida Straits in 1996, ramped up the accusatory rhetoric against the United States and called the federal charges a pretext for a military attack against the island.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/floridamovingchronicle.com\/?p=773\">Roseanne goes on wild rant on why she may move to Florida<\/a><\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis is a political action, with no legal basis, that only seeks to beef up the case they\u2019re manufacturing to justify the folly of a military aggression against Cuba,\u201d said Cuban leader Miguel D\u00edaz-Canel.<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>At the same time, D\u00edaz-Canel seized the moment to once again blame U.S. sanctions for the severe crisis facing the island, calling them \u201ca collective punishment\u201d of the Cuban people.<\/p>\n<p><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>\u201cNow they cynically say there is no oil blockade against Cuba, that everything our people suffer is the fault of the Cuban government,\u201d he said. \u201cThe blame lies with those who ordered all access to material and financial resources to be closed&#8230; Remove the blockade and we\u2019ll see how we fare.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>The U.S. Justice Department announced the indictments of Ra\u00fal Castro and five others on Wednesday at an event in MIami\u2019s Freedom Tower. The charges rest in part on an audio recording of Castro ordering the Cessna planes to be shot down; those aircraft carried U.S. citizens Armando Alejandre, Carlos Costa, Mario de la Pe\u00f1a, and U.S. resident Pablo Morales. They all died in the attack.<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>In a further sign of the Cuban government\u2019s refusal to acknowledge its own failures, D\u00edaz-Canel and Foreign Minister Bruno Rodr\u00edguez also launched fierce attacks against U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio. In a video posted on X Wednesday morning addressin the Cuban people, Rubio, himself the child of a Miami Cuban family, pointed to the control exerted by the GAESA., the military conglomerate that runs much of Cuba\u2019s economy, as responsible for the severe crisis Cuba is undergoing.<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>Rubio singled out GAESA as \u201ca state within a state, which controls all the country\u2019s profits.\u201d He also said that \u201cthe only role of the Cuban government is to demand sacrifice [from the people] and to repress them.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>Rubio said in an earlier message that the United States is prepared to offer a way out of the humanitarian crisis on the island and reiterated an offer of $100 million in aid that would be distributed by the Catholic Church and other charitable institutions not linked to the Cuban government.<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>Rodr\u00edguez responded by calling Rubio \u201ca mouthpiece for corrupt and revanchist interests\u201d of some Cubans in South Florida.<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe keeps talking about $100 million in aid that Cuba has not rejected, but whose cynicism is obvious to anyone given the devastating effect of the economic blockade and the energy siege,\u201d Rodr\u00edguez said.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/floridamovingchronicle.com\/?p=771\">DNA ties man accused in other cases to girl\u2019s assault in Miami Beach: cops<\/a><\/p>\n<p><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>It was not possible to gauge Wednesday the response of everyday Cubans on the island to the announcement of Raul Castro\u2019s indictment, because the Cuban regime prevented the free movement of dissidents and independent media.<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe have a police operation in the building\u2019s ground floor to prevent us from leaving the house this May 20,\u201d journalist Yoani S\u00e1nchez, who works for the independent news site 14ymedio, said on X before the formal charge against Castro was announced.<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>D\u00edaz-Canel spoke of intervention and interference, and the foreign ministry released a quote from Ra\u00fal Castro warning that Cuba would become \u201ca huge hornet\u2019s nest\u201d in the event of a U.S. military aggression.<\/p>\n<p><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>The Cuban Embassy in the United States echoed D\u00edaz-Canel\u2019s words.<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe accusation against General Ra\u00fal Castro only reveals the arrogance and frustration of the representatives of the empire toward the Cuban revolution,\u201d the embassy\u2019s post on X said.<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>In all the reaction from the Cuban government there were no words of remorse for the killing of the four men aboard the unarmed Brothers to the Rescue planes, nor any acknowledgment of the Cubans in and outside the island who demand change.<\/p>\n<p><!--]--><!--[--><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>The Cuban embassy in the United States has called for a nationwide celebration titled \u201cRa\u00fal\u2019s 95th\u201d to mark the Castro\u2019s 95th birthday on June 3. The embassy\u2019s statement emphasizes that Cuban youth are taking on the historic commitment to defend the revolution inspired by Fidel and Raul Castro\u2019s legacy under the slogan: \u201cYes, we could, yes, we can, and yes, we will.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>Meantime, protests by citizens expressing their frustration over power outages that last more than 20 hours and the difficulty of obtaining food and medicine are growing.<\/p>\n<p><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>Thogh official media, the Cuban government has created a state of siege among the public about a possible U.S. military aggression.<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019re living as if at the start of a war, and it\u2019s not imagination,\u201d said one Cuban on the island who asked not to be identified. \u201cPreparatins for a war are being made, protests are increasing.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/floridamovingchronicle.com\/?p=770\">Cuba\u2019s \u2018Operation Scorpion\u2019: A look at the federal indictment of Ra\u00fal Castro<\/a><\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--]--><!-- --><!-- --><!-- --><!-- --><\/article>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Cuban leader Miguel D\u00edaz-Canel calls U.S. sanctions a &#39;collective punishment&#39; after Raul Castro&#39;s Miami indictment, as protests and power outages grow on the island.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":774,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-775","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cuba"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.5 - 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