The journalist from Cuban state television Bárbara Betancourt, who claims to have worked directly with Raúl Castro, expressed feeling "outraged" by the federal accusation presented by the U.S. Department of Justice, which she labeled as "perverse and infamous."
The spokesperson was interviewed this Thursday on Canal Caribe to defend the former dictator following the federal criminal charges announced last Wednesday, the date marking the anniversary of Cuba's formal independence in 1902.
The journalist stated that her reaction was not surprise but rather "indignation": "This was something that was to be expected, because they had been talking about it, but it has been on the horizon for many years."
He described the accusation as "a compendium of cynicism, hypocrisy, and falsehoods" and claimed that "it has nothing to do with justice, much less with the truth."
Betancourt stated that Washington "had shelved this show for a long time" and that it deliberately chose May 20th for its symbolic meaning for certain sectors of the Cuban exile community.
The journalist also drew a parallel between the situation of Raúl Castro and the arrest of Nicolás Maduro in Venezuela, warning that both cases would be part of the same strategy of external aggression, although she acknowledged that "these are different scenarios."
Regarding a potential military response, Betancourt was emphatic: "It's not going to be a walk in the park. It's not going to be a walk in the park, for millions of reasons that I believe everyone individually knows what they are."
When asked how Raúl Castro himself would react, she responded that the former dictator "might be preparing his response," recalling his own farewell words: "as long as I live, I will keep my foot in the stirrup."
The interview takes place within the framework of a coordinated response from the Cuban regime to the federal charges, which include conspiracy to murder U.S. nationals, destruction of aircraft, and four counts of homicide for the shooting down of two planes belonging to Hermanos al Rescate on February 24, 1996, which resulted in the deaths of Armando Alejandre Jr., Carlos Costa, Mario de la Peña, and Pablo Morales.
Miguel Díaz-Canel described the accusation as a "political act, with no legal foundation," while Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez labeled Marco Rubio as a "spokesperson for corrupt and vindictive interests."
This Friday, the Council of State and the Cuban Parliament formally condemned the accusation, joining the chorus of institutional support for the former dictator.
The accusation has limited practical reach: Raúl Castro is 94 years old, he is not under U.S. jurisdiction, and there is no extradition treaty between Cuba and the United States. The federal grand jury had returned the charges on April 23, 2026, and the case was under the jurisdiction of the Southern District of Florida.
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