MIAMI (AP) — The Justice Division is getting ready to hunt an indictment towards former Cuban President Raúl Castro, three folks conversant in the matter advised The Related Press on Friday, as President Donald Trump threatens attainable army motion towards the communist-run island.
One of many folks advised the AP that the potential indictment is related to Castro’s alleged function within the 1996 shootdown of 4 planes operated by the Miami-based exile group Brothers to the Rescue. Castro was protection minister on the time.
All three folks spoke on the situation of anonymity as a result of they weren’t licensed to debate an ongoing investigation.
The potential indictment — which might should be permitted by a grand jury — was reported earlier by CBS.
The AP reported in March that the U.S. Legal professional in Miami had created a special working group of prosecutors and federal regulation enforcement to construct circumstances towards high Cuban officers amid calls by a number of south Florida Republicans to reopen its investigation into Castro’s alleged function within the 1996 shootdown. Thus far, the U.S. has convicted solely a single particular person of conspiracy to commit homicide in reference to the shootdown.
As Trump seeks to wind down the conflict in Iran, hypothesis has been rising that he could quickly flip his consideration again to Cuba after pledging earlier this yr a “friendly takeover” of the country if its management didn’t open up its financial system to American funding and kick out U.S. adversaries.
CIA Director John Ratcliffe met with Cuban officers, together with Castro’s grandson, throughout a high-level go to to the island on Thursday.
Castro, 94, took over as president from his ailing brother, Fidel Castro, in 2011, after which handed energy to a handpicked loyalist, Miguel Díaz-Canel, in 2019.
Whereas he largely has averted the highlight since retiring in 2021 as head of the Cuban Communist Get together, he’s extensively believed to wield energy behind the scenes, a reality underscored by the prominence of his grandson, Raúl Guillermo Rodríguez Castro, who beforehand met secretly with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
Joshua Goodman, Alanna Durkin Richer And Eric Tucker, The Related Press
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