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The III International Antifascist Forum, organized by the Communist Party of the Russian Federation and held in Moscow from May 23 to 26, demanded that the United States lift its sanctions against Cuba and what it deemed as "arbitrary accusations" against Raúl Castro.
The text -which describes the U.S. embargo as a "state terrorism act against an entire people"- was disseminated by the Communist Party of Cuba through its official social media account, just days after Washington brought federal criminal charges against the former Cuban dictator.
The statement demands that the sanctions and the "arbitrary accusations from Washington against the leader of the Cuban Revolution, Raúl Castro Ruz, must end immediately," and describes U.S. policy as "the pathological desire to punish entire countries for their choice of development path," calling it "irresponsible and criminal."
The forum brought together representatives from over 170 parties and organizations from nearly 100 countries under the slogan "Imperialism Begets Fascism," and serves as a platform to establish an international network of communist parties and organizations aligned with Moscow.
The statement comes as a direct response to an unprecedented escalation of U.S. pressure on Cuba during May 2026.
On May 20, the Department of Justice filed federal charges against Raúl Castro for his alleged responsibility in the shooting down of two civilian planes of the organization Brothers to the Rescue on February 24, 1996, in which four Cuban Americans were killed: Armando Alejandre Jr., Carlos Costa, Mario de la Peña, and Pablo Morales.
The charges include conspiracy to murder U.S. citizens, destruction of aircraft, and four counts of homicide, and are based on audio recordings from 1996 in which Castro allegedly orders the shootdown, declassified FBI documents, and materials related to the so-called "Operation Venice."
This is the first time a former Cuban head of state faces criminal charges in the United States.
The deputy prosecutor Todd Blanche announced that an arrest warrant had been issued and expected Castro to appear "voluntarily or otherwise."
Judicial actions are part of a broader campaign: on May 1, President Donald Trump signed an executive order for "maximum pressure" against Havana; on May 7, the State Department sanctioned GAESA —the military-economic conglomerate that controls approximately 40% of the Cuban GDP— along with its leadership and the company Moa Nickel S.A.; and on May 18, the Treasury Department expanded sanctions against 11 individuals and three entities within the police, intelligence, and political apparatus, including the National Revolutionary Police, the Ministry of the Interior, and the Directorate of Intelligence (G2).
The Cuban regime described the criminal accusation as "illegitimate" and "morally infamous", accusing Washington of using it as a political pretext to justify the escalation, and the Cuban Parliament issued its own statement last Wednesday in response to U.S. actions.
Russia, a historical ally and one of the main diplomatic and economic supporters of Havana since the Soviet era, thus transformed its antifascist forum into a platform of explicit support for Castro at the time of the greatest judicial pressure the Cuban regime has faced in decades.
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