Cuba outraged after US indicts Castro, says no legal basis for charges

HAVANA: Cubans expressed their shock and indignation after the US indicted ex-president Raul Castro on murder charges, a stunning new step in President Trump’s pressure on the communist state.

The charges against Castro — who at 94 remains influential in Cuban politics — have fuelled speculation that Trump will try to topple the regime in the crisis-hit island, culminating a US pressure campaign which has imposed months of crippling oil blockades. Authorities in Cuba and abroad slammed the indictment. The charges against Raul — younger brother of Fidel Castro, the late iconic US nemesis who led Cuba’s communist revolution that culminated in 1959 — stem from the downing of two civilian planes manned by antiCastro pilots in 1996.





Cuban authorities called on citizens to protest the “despicable” indictment, with the official newspaper Granma urging Cubans to gather outside the US embassy in Havana on Friday.

In addition to murder, Castro has been charged with conspiracy to kill Americans and destruction of aircraft. The Cuban govt said in a statement that the 1996 shootdown was “legitimate self-defence” against an airspace violation.

Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel said the charges carry no legal basis and “add to the file they are fabricating to justify the folly of a military aggression against Cuba.”

China led international reaction to the charges, saying it “firmly supports” Cuba and urging the US to de-escalate tensions with the country. Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun told a press briefing Thursday that Washington “should stop brandishing the sanctions stick and the judicial stick against Cuba and stop threatening force at every turn.”

Beijing’s comments came after the USS Nimitz aircraft carrier and its escort warships entered the Caribbean Sea, the military’s Southern Command said on Wednesday. Russia said that it would provide active support to Cuba despite attempts by the US to intimidate and tighten the “sanctions noose” around the country.