Washington's plan to sue Raul Castro sparks fear of force among Cubans

(Patria) - Plans by the United States to indict former Cuban leader Raul Castro over the downing of planes two decades ago have further heightened tensions on the island, as the country grapples with its worst crisis in decades amid a severe fuel shortage, Reuters reported.

The indictment of the ninety-four-year-old revolutionary icon would mark a major escalation of the pressure campaign against Cuba by the Donald Trump administration, which has described the island's communist government as corrupt and incompetent while advocating for change.

Cuba has not yet directly commented on the threat of indictment, but Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez expressed defiance on Friday.

"Despite the (US) embargo, sanctions, and threats of force, Cuba continues on the path of sovereignty towards its socialist development," Rodriguez said at a meeting of BRICS foreign ministers.

Reuters interviewed Cubans in Havana who said an indictment would only set back negotiations with the US, further deepening the diplomatic crisis between the two nations.

Sonia Torres, a fifty-nine-year-old teacher in Havana, believes that prosecuting Raul Castro, who oversaw the country's military for decades and then served as president from 2008 to 2018, is an insult to Cuban pride during a time of crisis.

"Cubans must always move forward," she said.

"If they try to prosecute Raul, we will defend Cuba with sticks and stones if necessary."

Tense relations between the neighboring countries date back to Fidel Castro's communist revolution in 1959. Castro forged an alliance with the Soviet Union and then seized businesses and property owned by US citizens, fueling decades of tension between the two nations.

The Trump administration has been besieging Cuba since January, imposing a de facto fuel blockade, threatening military action, and intensifying sanctions that have forced foreign companies to flee.

But an indictment against Castro would mark a turning point, said Peter Kornbluh, author of a history of secret negotiations between Cuba and the United States, who said the indictment would likely represent a "diplomatic endgame" to negotiations.

"This has been an ultimatum: It's time for death or death," Kornbluh said. "(The indictment) has created a fig leaf of legality for any military operations to arrest or assassinate Raul Castro."

The United States has previously used criminal proceedings against foreign political figures to justify military action, and Trump threatened that Cuba was "next" after his administration captured Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro in January.

His government called the military raid a "law enforcement operation" to bring Maduro to New York to face criminal charges.

The younger Castro is still considered the island's most influential living leader and a symbol of the Cuban revolution, even though he no longer holds a formal government role.

Downing of planes

The potential indictment against Castro, sources from the US Department of Justice said, is linked to the downing of two planes by Cuba in 1996, operated by the humanitarian group Brothers to the Rescue.

Cuba defended the attack at the time as legitimate defense of its airspace, but the US position was later supported by the International Civil Aviation Organization, which concluded that the downing occurred over international waters.

Fidel Castro said that the Cuban military acted on "constant orders" to shoot down planes entering Cuban airspace. He said his brother Raul, then Minister of Defense, did not give a specific order to shoot down the planes.

Havana resident Eliecer Diaz (45) said, then as now, that Cuba must defend itself against US aggression.

"It's an invasion... and you have to defend yourself," resident Diaz said. "If they are thinking of prosecuting (Raul Castro) now, I think it's wrong."