It charges the Revolutionary leader with ‘conspiracy to commit first-degree murder.’

On Monday, Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel called the Florida Court’s arrest warrant for Army General Raul Castro a “reprehensible action” and a “pathetic Miami circus”.

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“The reprehensible action taken against the Army General this morning—a pathetic circus in Miami with an electoral agenda—lacks, and will forever lack, any legal basis, let alone any practical merit. Raul is Raul, and every affront to his person will always be met with the determination of a people to defend the Revolution,” he said.

“This maneuver, dressed up in legal terms by anti-Cuban politicians against Raul and against Cuba, deserves our firm condemnation. It is part of an aggressive agenda and reflects the difficulties they face in trying to justify the blockade and the collective punishment of our people,” Diaz-Canel stressed.

Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez also condemned what he called a “sterile maneuver” driven by anti-Cuban politicians in South Florida. The minister maintained that the accusations were unfounded and linked them to a strategy of political pressure and hostility.

The attack occurred on February 24, 1996, in international waters, where three U.S. citizens and one legal permanent resident of the United States died. Miami-based “Brothers to the Rescue” carried out missions to locate and assist Cubans attempting to leave the island by sea for the United States.

Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier announced that the warrant charges the former Cuban leader with “conspiracy to commit first-degree murder” for the events that occurred nearly three decades ago.

The warrant, signed by a Miami judge, is based on an investigation into Castro’s alleged role as Minister of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Cuba. According to U.S. authorities, Cuban agents gathered information about flights belonging to the Brothers to the Rescue organization and transmitted it to Havana.

The U.S. investigation maintains that this information “facilitated” the interception of the aircraft by Cuban military fighter jets during an operation that resulted in the downing of both planes.

teleSUR: JP

Source: France 24

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