Trump administration move echoes indictment of Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro as fuel crisis racks Cuba
Tensions between Cuba and US seem set to rise further amid reports that
Raúl Castro, the country’s 94-year-old former president, may soon face the type of indictment that led to the US abduction of the Venezuelan leader, Nicolás Maduro, in January.
Although Raúl is officially retired, he remains the most potent figure in Cuban politics following the death of his brother Fidel in 2016, and by targeting him Washington appears to be heaping pressure on Cuba’s communist leadership at the end of an already extraordinarily intense week.
The indictment, which has not been officially confirmed and would require confirmation by a grand jury, appears to be linked to the 1996 downing of two small planes belonging to a Cuban exile group called Brothers to the Rescue. The aircraft, which had been searching for rafters fleeing across the Florida straits, had flown over Havana to drop leaflets when they were intercepted by a Cuban jet.
