The Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla responded harshly this Monday to the state arrest warrant issued in Florida against Raúl Castro, labeling the Cuban-American politicians from the southern part of the state as "parasites" and dismissing the action as a "sterile maneuver."
In a message posted on X, the Foreign Minister of the Cuban regime stated: "They are a reflection of the political rot and moral collapse with which a group of parasites deceives and scams their followers so that they continue to contribute to collections and financing. This is how the aggressive machinery, which so many have lived off for decades, is sustained by taking advantage of the corruption of the American political system."
Rodríguez Parrilla's reaction came hours after Florida's Attorney General, James Uthmeier, publicly announced the order at a press conference held at Florida International University (FIU) in Miami, with Governor Ron DeSantis in attendance.
The order was signed on October 16 by Judge Ariana Fajardo Orshan, president of the Eleventh Judicial Circuit of Florida, without the possibility of bail, on a state charge of conspiracy to commit first-degree murder.
The case originates from the shooting down of two civilian aircraft belonging to the organization Hermanos al Rescate on February 24, 1996, over international waters of the Florida Strait, resulting in the deaths of four men: Armando Alejandre Jr., Carlos Costa, Mario de la Peña, and Pablo Morales. Their bodies were never recovered.
The regime's response was coordinated. Miguel Díaz-Canel described the action as “a pathetic Miami circus with an electoral undertone” that “makes no sense legally, and never will, let alone practically,” while the Deputy Foreign Minister Carlos Fernández de Cossío referred to it as “a maneuver dressed in legal disguise.”
One of the most significant aspects of the state accusation is its protection against potential presidential pardons. Uthmeier emphasized this unequivocally: "If a communist sympathizer were to return to the White House, they cannot pardon, they cannot commute, they cannot immunize these dictators from our state proceedings."
The prosecutor also warned that Castro would not be able to travel to any country with extradition agreements with the United States without the risk of being detained, "not even to receive medical treatment."
This state action is independent of the federal indictment filed on May 20, 2026 by the Department of Justice, which charged Castro and five former Cuban military officials with seven federal offenses, including conspiracy to kill American citizens and individual murder.
The regime's response pattern to this new action mirrors that used last May, when Prime Minister Manuel Marrero Cruz called the federal charges a "farce," the State Council issued formal condemnations, and a mobilization was called in front of the United States Embassy in Havana.
The Florida Prosecutor's Office has left open the possibility of new legal consequences: “the case remains active and additional charges could be brought”, according to the official statement issued this Monday.
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