US moving to indict former Cuban leader Raúl Castro

Hinzugefügt: 2026-05-19

[00:00:01]Federal prosecutors in South Florida are reportedly examining whether Raul Castro, who was Cuba's defense minister at the time, bore command responsibility for authorizing or directing the attack in 1996.

[00:00:17]Were the indictment to materialize, it would raise concerns about a potential US military operation similar to the one that captured and deposed Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro in January this year.

[00:00:30]I don't want to comment on it, but I'll let the chairman comment on it. But, they need help, as you know.

[00:00:36]And you talk about it, the declining country. We are really in addition, we're a country in decline. So, we're going to see. We have a lot to talk about on Cuba, but not maybe for today.

[00:00:46]An Axios report on Sunday, citing classified US intelligence, pointed to Cuba having acquired more than 300 military drones, and that it recently began discussing plans to use them to attack the US military base at Guantanamo Bay, citing this as a potential pretext for military action.

[00:01:07]That led Republican Florida Congressman Mario Diaz-Balart to post this on X, that the US had seen the threat drones posed in the Middle East, and that given Cuba's proximity to the United States, it was clear that the Cuban regime was a national security threat.

[00:01:24]Arizona's Democratic Senator Ruben Gallego pushed back on X that no country in the current economic and military situation that Cuba was in would ever preemptively strike a superpower like the US, arguing that the drone narrative was just propaganda to build a case for an invasion of Cuba.

[00:01:44]Cuba's President Miguel Diaz-Canel also took to X, saying Cuba posed no threat, nor did it have aggressive plans or intentions against any country, and that it had none against the United States.

[00:01:55]But, he also stated that his country, which already endures a multi-dimensional aggression from the US, had the absolute and legitimate right to defend itself against a military onslaught. Cuba's Foreign Minister, Bruno Rodriguez, accused the US government of building a fraudulent case to justify a ruthless economic war against the Cuban people and eventually military aggression.

[00:02:19]Amid a decades-long US economic embargo exacerbated by a months-long oil blockade, Cuba's economy is on its knees.

[00:02:27]Cuba faces an increasingly complex situation with a humanitarian impact, and that is why we were there well beyond the traditional natural disaster response, which again we are familiar with. But, this cumulative impact of climate shocks, hurricane, drought, economic contraction, and prolonged energy shortages due to measures placed on the country is turning in slow burner mode what we once what were once short-term needs into a sustained multifaceted emergency undermining essential services. Nowhere is a strain more visible than on the health system.

[00:03:14]The acute fuel shortages is affecting and restricting the delivery of humanitarian assistance, where at the same time as needs are rapidly rising.

[00:03:26]Predictable, efficient, and principled access of humanitarian aid is urgent.

[00:03:31]That is our priority.

[00:03:34]President Trump has repeatedly suggested that his administration would turn its focus to Cuba after wrapping up the war in Iran.

[00:03:41]But, US reports that a resumption of US military action was possible amid a stalemate in peace talks and the continued blockade of the Strait of Hormuz.

[00:03:51]Sherwin SABC News, New York.