Related videos:
Republican Congresswoman María Elvira Salazar stated this Tuesday from the Capitol in Washington D.C. that "Raúl, his son, and grandson need to understand that their time is up and that it is time to go," ahead of the anticipated federal indictment against Raúl Castro for his role in the downing of the Hermanos al Rescate planes in 1996.
The Department of Justice is set to file a formal charge tomorrow, Wednesday, May 20, issued by a federal grand jury at the Freedom Tower in Miami, on a symbolic date that coincides with the commemoration of the beginning of the Cuban republic in 1902.
Salazar, in statements to Martí Noticias, was straightforward: "Let’s hope that tomorrow Raúl realizes that he also has to leave on the same day."
The accusation refers to the downing of two Cessna planes from Brothers to the Rescue on February 24, 1996, over international waters of the Florida Strait, in which four Cuban Americans died: Armando Alejandre Jr., Carlos Costa, Mario de la Peña, and Pablo Morales.
The International Civil Aviation Organization concluded at the time that the shootdowns occurred outside of Cuban territorial airspace, in violation of international law.
An audio recording from 1996 in which Raúl Castro allegedly admitted giving the order to shoot down the planes would be one of the central elements of the accusation.
When asked why the legal action comes 30 years later, Salazar was emphatic: "Because Donald Trump is in the White House. Trump has determined that the Western Hemisphere is an important hemisphere and that Cuba has always been the epicenter of evil, the platform that all of America's enemies have used to attack."
The congresswoman broadened the scope of the accusation beyond the case of the small planes: "We're talking about them receiving training from Hezbollah, Hamas, and then there's Iran, Russia, China. Everything that is anti-American is welcomed by the Castros. The game is over."
Salazar also compared the situation to that of Venezuela and warned that the Castros are "smart" and must have seen Nicolás Maduro's fate as a warning.
"Raúl, at 95 years old, who is nearing the end of his life, is not going to want to spend his remaining years in a federal prison," the lawmaker stated.
When asked whether the discussions with the grandson —Raúl Guillermo Rodríguez Castro, known as "El Cangrejo"— and Raúl's son, Alejandro Castro Espín, would include a departure from power, Salazar replied straightforwardly: "I am sure everything is on the table, because there is nothing else left."
This context arises a day after Trump declared that he can "fix Cuba, whether or not the regime changes" and that he sees a diplomatic agreement with Havana as possible, and following Marco Rubio's announcement of a second wave of sanctions against 11 elites of the regime and three organizations, including the DGI/G2, the Ministry of the Interior, and the Revolutionary National Police.
On May 14, CIA Director John Ratcliffe visited Havana and met with "El Cangrejo", marking the highest-level direct contact between the two countries on Cuban soil since 2016.
Salazar envisioned a post-Castro scenario in which Cuba could become "Cancun or Hong Kong" with Cuban-American and American investment, although he acknowledged that the transition would not be easy: "We are still on day one, and day one is that the Castros, who have destroyed that island for 65 years, finally leave."
Filed under: