MOSCOW: Russia on Tuesday condemned an arrest warrant issued in Florida for former Cuban president Raul Castro over murder charges linked to the 1996 shooting down of two civilian aircraft, describing the accusations as “baseless and contrived”.
The 95-year-old former leader is wanted in connection with the February 24, 1996, incident involving two aircraft operated by Brothers to the Rescue, an organisation that assisted Cubans fleeing to Florida by sea.
Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier said Castro had ordered the killing of four Floridians and vowed that the state would continue pursuing accountability over the incident.
Castro, the younger brother of late Cuban revolutionary leader Fidel Castro, was also indicted on federal charges related to the incident in May, according to the report.
Russia, a longstanding ally of Cuba dating back to the Soviet era, said it “categorically rejected and strongly condemned” the Florida arrest warrant, reaffirming Moscow’s support for Havana.
The Russian Foreign Ministry described the accusations, brought more than three decades after the incident, as an act of vengeance by anti-Cuban groups in Miami.
The warrant comes amid increased economic, political and legal pressure from US President Donald Trump’s administration on Cuba’s communist government.
Trump has previously cited a US federal indictment to justify military action in January that led to the removal of Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro, a close ally of Havana.
Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel has also rejected the federal indictment against Castro, saying it had “no legal basis” and alleging that it was intended to justify possible US military aggression against Cuba.