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The State Council of Cuba, acting on behalf of the National Assembly of People's Power, issued a formal statement this Thursday in which it "strongly" condemns the criminal charges filed by the United States Department of Justice against Army General Raúl Castro Ruz.
The federal indictment, declassified last Wednesday, was issued by a grand jury in Miami on April 23 and publicly presented by Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche at the Freedom Tower in that city.
The charges against Castro include conspiracy to assassinate U.S. citizens, destruction of aircraft, and four counts of homicide for the deaths of Armando Alejandre Jr., Carlos Costa, Mario de la Peña, and Pablo Morales, the four Cuban-Americans who died when Cuban military jets shot down two planes from the organization Brothers to the Rescue on February 24, 1996, over the Florida Strait.
The Council of State described the accusation as "infamous" and as an "illegitimate and despicable act," asserting that it is a result of a "marked dishonest and political manipulation" that distorts the facts surrounding the shootdown.
"The members of this body denounce that the government of the United States uses legal institutions to orchestrate its genocidal policy against the Cuban Revolution."
"In doing so, it disregards the principles of International Law and undermines the sovereignty and dignity of our nation," states the document signed in Havana.
The text also categorically rejects the executive orders of President Donald Trump, labeling them as "false and immoral accusations against high-ranking officials of the Cuban State and Government."
The institutional reaction of the regime adds to the previous statements made by other officials.
The president Miguel Díaz-Canel labeled the accusation as "a political action, with no legal basis" and went on to state: "For me, Raúl Castro has been a mentor." Prime Minister Manuel Marrero also stepped forward to defend the former leader and accused Washington of orchestrating a "sham."
The regime converted workplaces into acts of repudiation against the accusation and organized an anti-imperialist forum, while China also came to Raúl Castro's defense following the announcement from the Department of Justice.
The accusation is based, among other evidence, on an audio recording from June 1996 attributed to Raúl Castro himself, in which he allegedly describes the order to shoot down the small planes.
The International Civil Aviation Organization concluded in July of that year that the downing occurred in international airspace, between nine and ten nautical miles off the Cuban coast, contradicting the official version from Havana.
In addition to Castro, the federal accusation includes five former Cuban military officers: Lorenzo Alberto Pérez-Pérez, Emilio José Palacio Blanco, José Fidel Gual Barzaga, Raúl Simanca Cárdenas, and Luis Raúl González-Pardo Rodríguez.
The practical scope of the positions is primarily symbolic: Raúl Castro, at 95 years, has never been under U.S. jurisdiction, and there is no extradition treaty between Cuba and the United States.
However, he could be sentenced to life in prison if he were ever tried, according to the charges brought by the federal prosecutor's office for the Southern District of Florida.
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