Trump, Rubio Renew Cuba Force Threats After 1996 Castro Indictment and 1 Elite Relative Arrest
Updated
Updated · The Guardian · May 22
Trump, Rubio Renew Cuba Force Threats After 1996 Castro Indictment and 1 Elite Relative Arrest
15 articles · Updated · The Guardian · May 22
Trump said he could be the U.S. president to "do" something militarily in Cuba, while Rubio said force remains an option even though Washington still prefers a negotiated settlement.
1996 shootdown charges against Raúl Castro sharpened the threat a day after prosecutors accused him of ordering the destruction of exile-flown civilian planes, with murder and aircraft-destruction counts filed in April.
Recent U.S.-Cuba contacts have failed to ease tensions: Rubio said talks with Cuban officials left Washington unimpressed, and the administration answered with new sanctions, including against military-run conglomerate Gaesa.
Rubio also said Gaesa's executive president's sister had her green card revoked and was arrested by ICE, extending pressure from Cuba's leadership to relatives of military-linked elites living in the United States.
The tougher line follows Trump's January seizure of Nicolás Maduro and an energy blockade that has deepened Cuba's blackouts and shortages, while Havana and Beijing cast the Castro case as pretext for aggression.
Raúl Castro is wanted for a 1996 crime, but can the U.S. capture him without triggering the 'bloodbath' Cuba has warned of?
As U.S. pressure deepens Cuba's crisis, will the island's powerful military elite fracture or unite even more strongly?
While threatening military action, why is the U.S. also holding secret negotiations with the very government it seeks to change?