Havana, Cuba —
The US is ramping up pressure on Cuba’s government, preparing an indictment against former President Raúl Castro, according to sources, as Washington demands reforms from the Cuban government in exchange for humanitarian relief from an energy crisis it orchestrated.
News of the potential indictment comes after CIA Director John Ratcliffe led a US delegation to Havana to meet with Cuban government officials on Thursday, the latest US visit to the island grappling with a collapse of its energy sector amid spiraling relations with the US.
Tensions between the Cold War-era foes, already at their highest point in decades, appeared to increase following the CIA chief’s visit, with the news federal prosecutors have been examining possible charges against the 94-year-old former president, including some related to the Cuban military’s 1996 downing of two planes belonging to the Cuban-American exile organization Brothers to the Rescue.
Four Cuban-American lawmakers had called on the US Department of Justice (DOJ) in February to consider indicting Castro over the shootdown, which killed four people, three of them American citizens.
