Preparations to indict ageing former Cuban Leader, Raúl Castro

Durrant Pate/Contributor

Cuba has gone on the offensive, accusing America of building a “fraudulent case” for military intervention, following a report that it had acquired attack drones capable of targeting Florida.

Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez, who fired the salvo, stressed that Havana “neither threatens nor desires war” after US news site, Axios reported, citing classified intelligence, that Cuba now possessed 300 drones and was discussing striking nearby US targets. 

Cuba is suffering from a fuel crisis, exacerbated by an effective US oil blockade, which sees the country suffering through rolling blackouts that have affected hospitals and pumping stations, as well as disrupting public transport and rubbish collections.

Coupled with shortages of food and medicine, the situation has triggered rare shows of public dissent against the communist government, which has presided over deteriorating infrastructure. US President Donald Trump has threatened Cuba with a similar intervention to the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. 

Concocted story about Cuba

Cuba is thought to now be considering using the drones to hit Guantanamo Bay, the US military base on the Caribbean island, as well as naval vessels and possibly Key West in Florida, according to the Axios report published yesterday. It quoted a US official who said the intelligence – which it characterised as a potential pretext for US military intervention – also suggested Iranian military advisers were in Havana.

“Without any legitimate excuse whatsoever, the US government builds, day after day, a fraudulent case to justify the ruthless economic war against the Cuban people and the eventual military aggression,” Rodríguez wrote on social media. “Specific media outlets play along, promoting slander and leaking insinuations from the US government itself,” he said, emphasising that while Cuba did not wish for war, it is preparing itself for “external aggression” and self-defence.

Havana has been in talks with the US on finding solutions to the two countries’ differences for several months, with a single Russian shipment of oil that was allowed to reach the island running out earlier this month. It appears that Trump is now stepping up its pressure campaign.

US surveillance flights around Cuba have increased, and there is a planned build-up of US forces in the region, the New York Times reported on Friday. CIA Director John Ratcliffe had demanded that Cuba “no longer be a safe haven for adversaries in the western hemisphere” during a visit to Havana the day before.

His meeting with Cuban officials came as reports emerged that the US was planning to indict Raúl Castro, who led Cuba following the resignation of his brother, Fidel, who overthrew the US-backed government there in 1959.

Preparing to indict ageing Cuban leader, Raúl Castro

In the meantime, the US Justice Department is preparing to indict ageing Castro in the coming days over the shooting down of two aircraft three decades ago. The charges, which would need to be approved by a US grand jury, emerged as the director of the CIA travelled to Cuba to meet officials in Havana.

Castro, 94, stepped down as Cuban Communist Party leader in 2021, ending his family’s more than half a century in power. He led the country for 15 years, stepping in after his brother, Fidel, resigned. The potential indictment is the latest move in a US pressure campaign that has included an oil blockade and widespread sanctions.

The charges are said to centre on the 1996 downing of two planes operated by the US activist-humanitarian group Brothers to the Rescue. Unnamed US Department of Justice officials told US media the indictment could come as soon as next Wednesday.