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Senator Ashley Moody (Republican from Florida) issued a strong statement on Monday accusing previous administrations of the United States of having "consented to the Cuban communist regime," in contrast to the maximum pressure policy that, according to her, characterizes the government of Donald Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
In her message posted on the social network X, Moody listed three specific actions that she deemed condescending: attending baseball games with the regime, releasing the only person convicted for the downing of the Brothers to the Rescue planes in 1996, and, in general terms, "pampering" the communist dictatorship.
"The previous administrations consented to the Cuban communist regime, attended baseball games, and released the only person we condemned for the downing of Brothers to the Rescue in 1996," the senator wrote.
The reference to baseball directly points to the historic visit of President Barack Obama to Cuba in March 2016, when on the 22nd of that month he attended a game between a Cuban team and the Tampa Bay Rays at the Estadio Latinoamericano in Havana, as part of the diplomatic thaw that began in December 2014.
The mention of the release of the "only convicted" refers to Gerardo Hernández, a Cuban intelligence agent sentenced in 2001 to life imprisonment for conspiracy to commit murder in relation to the 1996 shootdown, and released by Obama in December 2014 as part of the prisoner exchange that marked the beginning of the diplomatic rapprochement.
The downing referred to by Moody occurred on February 24, 1996, when Cuban MiG fighters shot down two civilian aircraft belonging to the organization Brothers to the Rescue over international waters of the Florida Straits, killing four American citizens of Cuban descent: Armando Alejandre Jr., Carlos Costa, Mario de la Peña, and Pablo Morales, whose bodies were never recovered.
In contrast to those policies, Moody highlighted that under Trump and Rubio, Raúl Castro was formally charged, which he described as "the difference between appeasement and accountability."
The federal grand jury issued the indictment against Castro on April 23, 2026, publicly declassified on May 20 —Cuba's Independence Day— at the Freedom Tower in Miami.
The charges include conspiracy to assassinate American citizens, destruction of aircraft, and four counts of homicide.
Alongside Castro, five Cuban military officers were accused: Lorenzo Alberto Pérez-Pérez, Emilio José Palacio Blanco, José Fidel Gual Barzaga, Raúl Simanca Cárdenas, and Luis Raúl González-Pardo Rodríguez.
Analysts point out that the practical impact of the indictment is limited: Castro is 94 years old, has not set foot on U.S. soil, and there is no extradition treaty between Cuba and the United States.
Moody, who was the Attorney General of Florida before becoming a senator, has consistently taken a tough stance against the regime.
In November 2025, co-sponsored along with Senator Rick Scott the DEMOCRACY Act, aimed at blocking assets and denying entry to Cuban officials, and in July 2025 supported Trump's sanctions against Cuba, describing the island's government as a "murderous communist dictatorship."
The senator concluded her statement with a direct message to the Cuban-American community: "Cuba will be free."
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