The Cuban Christian influencer Iván Daniel Calás Navarro published a video on Facebook reacting to Raúl Castro's indictment by the U.S. justice system, in which he argues that the former dictator is not only a criminal in the U.S. courts but also "for many more reasons" in regard to Cuba and history.
The video, published this Friday, has accumulated over 13,000 views and nearly 1,800 reactions, and it comes days after the U.S. Department of Justice declassified the expanded formal charge against Raúl Castro and five former Cuban military officials for the shooting down of two civilian aircraft from Hermanos al Rescate on February 24, 1996.
Calás Navarro opens his message without preamble: "I am a Christian and I am glad that Raúl Castro is being held accountable by the U.S. justice system."
But the content creator goes beyond the specific judicial case and expands the argument to the historical responsibility of the ex-dictator: "Raúl Castro is a criminal under U.S. law for the Brothers to the Rescue incident. But in terms of reality, in relation to Cuba, in light of historical facts, he is a criminal for many more reasons."
The influencer, who runs the YouTube channel Voz de Verdad and currently lives in exile, describes Castro as the primary architect of a repressive apparatus sustained for decades: "In a military dictatorship, he is precisely the general of the armies. Families, we are talking about decades of oppression, of divided families, of systematic suffering."
One of the most direct points made in the video addresses mandatory military service, under which young Cubans have died over the years: "We're talking about the fact that the 'little angel' is the head of the army where young people have died and continue to die under mandatory military service."
Calás also addresses those who might question her joy from a religious perspective: "Sometimes, Christian love is confused with passivity, with tolerating injustice. And no, it is not correct to perform theological juggling to justify the unjustifiable."
The influencer argues that celebrating an act of justice is, in itself, an expression of love for others: "Remember this, rejoicing in justice is also loving the neighbor who has been and is oppressed."
Calás Navarro knows firsthand the cost of speaking freely in Cuba. In September 2023, the regime summoned him for a police interrogation in Havana due to his religious posts and warned him that he could be imprisoned if he continued to speak out against the authorities.
The accusation that prompted the video was presented by a federal grand jury convened in Miami on April 23, 2026 and declassified on May 20. The charges against Raúl Castro, aged 94, include conspiracy to murder U.S. nationals, destruction of aircraft, and four individual counts of murder for the deaths of Carlos Costa, Armando Alejandre Jr., Mario de la Peña, and Pablo Morales.
The central evidence is an audio recording from June 1996 in which Castro, then Minister of the Revolutionary Armed Forces, ordered: "Shoot them down over the sea when they appear; and do not consult those who have the authority."
The only co-defendant already in U.S. custody is Luis Raúl González-Pardo Rodríguez, arrested in November 2025 for immigration fraud for concealing his military past. If Raúl Castro were to be found guilty, he could face the death penalty or life imprisonment, although the charges, for now, are primarily symbolic: Castro has not set foot on American soil and there is no extradition treaty between Cuba and the U.S.
Calás Navarro concludes his message with a plea that encapsulates the sentiments of many Cubans both on the island and abroad: "For Cuba, I not only ask God and those whom God uses for freedom, but also for justice."
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