Why has the US indicted former Cuban President Raúl Castro?

Tiziano Breda, Senior Analyst for  Latin America at ACLED said:

“The indictment of Raúl Castro is less about the likelihood of a 94-year-old former leader facing trial in Miami, and more about the political signal Washington is sending to Havana: if the leadership of the revolution is sidelined from power, a new chapter in US-Cuba relations can be opened.

“By reviving a decades-old case,  imposing rounds of sanctions to the country’s military-led business conglomerate and offering USD100 million in conditional humanitarian aid,  the Trump administration is stepping up pressure against the country’s leadership, hoping to break the regime’s cohesion and rally popular clamor against an unsustainable economic strain. 

“Cuba’s leadership has framed the indictment as proof of the US attempt to justify a military intervention and used it to rally nationalist sentiment. But it also lands at a moment when the government is struggling to contain anger over blackouts, shortages, and deteriorating living conditions. In March, demonstrations in Cuba reached their highest levels in over half a decade.

“The danger is that symbolic escalation from Washington and defensive repression from Havana feed into each other — making unrest more likely, while reducing the chances of any negotiated off-ramp.”
 

For an interview with Tiziano Breda, contact the ACLED press office at [email protected]. 

ACLED (Armed Conflict Location & Event Data) is a global monitor that collects, analyzes, and maps data on conflict and protest. ACLED provides detailed information to help identify, understand, and track patterns and trends in conflict and crisis situations around the world.