Cuba reacts furiously to Washington's indictment of Raul Castro
發佈日期: 2026-05-21 20:36
TVB News
U.S. Federal prosecutors have announced criminal charges against former Cuban President Raul Castro in the 1996 downing of civilian planes flown by Miami-based exiles as the Trump administration escalates pressure on the island's socialist government.
The indictment accuses Castro of ordering the shootdown of two small planes in 1996 operated by the exile group of Brothers to the Rescue. Castro who turns 95 next month was Cuba's defence minister at the time.
Bryan Calvo, mayor of Hialeah in Florida, said: "It's long awaited but let it be just a symbolic moment. You know, I have in my hands directly that indictment that this Raul Castro, he has to be brought to justice. And what that means in reality, is it's removing him from power, removing people around him from the power, and bringing a true democratic election to Cuba. That's what we're going to need in order to have change in that island."
Lindsey Lazopoulos Friedman from Holtzman Vogel Law Firm said, "I think it's incredibly exciting. I think it's a confirmation of the Department of Justice commitment to victims, as well as commitment to accountability for bad actors, even when they are a head of state."
Cuban officials reacted angrily Wednesday to the US charge against Raul Castro.
Cristiana Mesquita from the Associated Press said: "Here in Cuba, officials are reacting angrily to the US Justice Department's announcement of an indictment against Cuban leader Raul Castro. The case goes back to 1996 when Cuban fighter jets shot down two planes operated by the Miami exile group Brothers to the Rescue, killing four people."
"Cuba says the planes violated Cuba's airspace and ignored repeated warnings before they were shot down. Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel accused the US of lying and said that the move was politically motivated and had no legal basis."
Cuba's recent history began in 1959 when Fidel Castro's rebels took power ousting dictator Filgencio Batista.
Relations between the new government and the US soon soured over the trials and executions of Batista loyalists.
In 1960, Cuba nationalised US businesses and the US declared an embargo on most exports to Cuba. In 1960, it broke diplomatic relations. Castro declared Cuba a socialist state and a day later the US sponsored a doomed operation to topple Castro at the Bay of Pigs.
In 1962, the world came close to nuclear war when the Soviet Union put nuclear missiles in Cuba and the US responded with a blockade: a standoff known as the Cuban Missile Crisis.
US President John F Kennedy agreed not to invade Cuba again.
