Tensions are soaring as Cuba braces for a potential U.S. military intervention following the criminal indictment of former President Raul Castro.
U.S. prosecutors unsealed charges against the 94-year-old leader for murder and conspiracy, stemming from a 1996 incident where the Cuban military shot down two civilian planes operated by a Miami-based exile group, killing four people.
The move has sparked intense fear on the island that Washington may use force to capture Castro, mirroring the U.S. military operation that seized Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in January.
Acting U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche explicitly warned, “We expect that he will show up here, by his own will or by another way.”
Meanwhile, the U.S. Navy confirmed that an aircraft carrier fleet has entered the southern Caribbean.
Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel fiercely rejected the charges, calling them a political stunt “aimed solely at expanding the fabricated file they use to justify the folly of a military aggression against Cuba.”
Observers note the situation is highly volatile, as a strict U.S. energy embargo has already left the island paralyzed by severe fuel shortages and massive blackouts.
