"Although Raul 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. You can get a grand jury to indict a ham sandwich, said Pedro Freyre, a leading Cuban American lawyer in Miami. Reports of the possible indictment came the day after the CIA director, John Ratcliffe, flew into Havana for a meeting with the Cuban ex-president's grandson Raul Guillermo Rodriguez Castro and senior government figures."
"Ratcliffe's arrival in turn occurred after a night in which protests spread across the island's capital, as people struggled with 22-hour blackouts. Vicente de la O Levy, Cuba's energy minister, had earlier admitted the island was out of fuel oil. We have absolutely nothing, he told state television. Since the abduction of Maduro, and Washington's assuming control of Venezuela's oil industry, the US has been pushing for change in Havana: either the fall of the current regime or, at least, the opening up of the economy to US interests."
"I don't think we're going to be able to change the trajectory of Cuba as long as these people are in charge, the US's Cuban American secretary of state, Marco Rubio, said as he flew to China t"
Reports indicate Raul Castro may soon face an indictment similar to the one that led to the US abduction of Nicolas Maduro. Raul is officially retired but remains the most influential figure in Cuban politics after Fidel’s death in 2016. The reported indictment is linked to the 1996 downing of two small planes belonging to the Cuban exile group Brothers to the Rescue, which were searching for rafters fleeing toward Florida and had flown over Havana to drop leaflets before being intercepted. The reports follow a CIA director visit to Havana and coincide with widespread protests amid severe blackouts and fuel shortages. US pressure on Cuba is tied to demands for regime change or economic opening to US interests.
#us-cuba-relations #raul-castro #cia-and-havana #brothers-to-the-rescue #venezuela-oil-and-sanctions
Read at www.theguardian.com
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