María Werlau, executive director of Archivo Cuba, described Raúl Castro as a "serial killer" during an interview on the occasion of his 95th birthday, and presented data from a report on the human cost of the regime that her organization published in March 2026.
"It has been more than seven decades that Raúl Castro has been responsible, and we consider him a serial killer," asserted Werlau. The researcher emphasized that she does not use that term lightly: "As I said, it is a serial killing; I do not say that superficially."
Archivo Cuba has documented over 8,000 deaths since 1959 and more than a thousand directly attributed to the period when Raúl Castro was the highest leader of the country, from 2006 to 2026.
Werlau warned that the documented figures are only a fraction of the reality. "Unfortunately, we know there are categories where the numbers should be much higher, such as deaths in custody, which is very difficult to document because there is no access to conduct field studies," he explained.
Among the most heinous categories, the researcher highlighted deaths at sea: "There are many deaths at sea that we consider to be very likely extrajudicial killings, where over the decades we know that the Armed Forces or the Cuban Coast Guard targets those trying to flee."
Werlau was categorical in comparing this practice to other dictatorships on the continent: "To my knowledge, no dictatorship in this hemisphere has done this, has murdered civilians, let alone minors, just for wanting to leave their country; that by itself is seen as the only crime, it's barbaric."
To illustrate Raúl Castro's pattern of behavior from the early days of the Revolution, Werlau recalled a revealing episode: "Raúl Castro was in charge of the Oriente province for a very brief period, just a few weeks, and he himself boasted by January 15, 1959, that he had already ordered the execution of more than 100 men."
Archivo Cuba has documented at least 140 individuals executed in that province, people who were denied due process and whose only crime was wearing the uniform of the Armed Forces or the National Police.
The interview also addressed the federal criminal charges filed on May 20 by the U.S. Department of Justice against Raúl Castro for the shooting down of two planes from 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.
Werlau highlighted the legal strength of the case: "The accusation against Raúl Castro from May 20 is very specific because there is very solid evidence that he was the one who gave the order, and furthermore, he is no longer the head of state, because heads of state, whether we like them or not, have certain immunities and cannot be prosecuted; this is not the case with Raúl Castro."
The researcher noted that the report was published in March, but they decided to relaunch it in the media because June 3 marked the 95th birthday of the former leader, who celebrates his birthday as a fugitive from U.S. justice, while in Havana, citizens responded with protests using pots and pans amidst power outages of up to 22 hours a day.
If a conviction is confirmed, Raúl Castro could face life imprisonment or even the death penalty, although the lack of an extradition treaty between Cuba and the United States currently limits the practical reach of the charges.
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