About 50 Cuban exiles gathered outside Versailles on Calle Ocho in Miami with signs and Cuban flags to mark Cuban independence and to celebrate an indictment of Raul Castro. U.S. federal prosecutors announced charges against the 94-year-old Castro and five military officers for the 1996 shooting down of two aircraft belonging to Brothers to the Rescue, which killed four people. The move came amid increased U.S. pressure on Havana under the Trump administration and revived comparisons to Washington’s approach toward Nicolas Maduro in Venezuela. Participants said the legal action provides hope and a justification for intervention, echoing remarks from Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel. The rally coincided with a Florida Republican Party event in the restaurant parking lot.
"About 50 people, some holding signs and Cuban flags, gathered Wednesday outside the iconic Versailles restaurant on Calle Ocho in Miami, a regular meeting point for the Cuban exile community. The atmosphere was celebratory. And besides commemorating the island's independence, the occasion was the indictment of Raul Castro. U.S. federal prosecutors announced in the morning at a high-profile event at Miami's Freedom Tower that they had filed charges against 94-year-old Castro and five other military officers over the 1996 shooting down of two aircraft belonging to the exile organization Brothers to the Rescue, an incident that killed four people."
"The charges against Castro, amid an escalation of pressure by the Trump administration on Havana, revived parallels with the strategy Washington used against Nicolas Maduro in Venezuela. That line was taken by Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel in his reaction to the news, and also by several people attending the celebration outside Versailles. I think it's something the people have been waiting for and I also think it's a U.S. strategy to have a legal reason to intervene in Cuba, says Maribel Ramirez, 31, born in Havana and living in Miami for 15 years, who was wearing a red cap bearing the words Make Cuba Great Again."
"At least we have hope again, which was something that had been lost. Donald Trump has made the people regain hope. Another participant in the demonstration who says she has more hope than ever is Maria Rodriguez, 62, who left Cuba aged five in 1968 and was processed with her family at the Freedom Tower. She says it was high time charges were brought against Raul Castro. I think it's perfect. And the only thing I hope is that they really go and remove him, as they did with Maduro. We have a lot of hope that that will happen, she says."
#cuban-exile-community #raul-castro-indictment #brothers-to-the-rescue #us-cuba-relations #miami-politics
Read at english.elpais.com
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