https://www.euronews.com/2026/05/21/who-is-raul-castro-the-man-who-inherited-the-revolution-and-still-shapes-cuba-under-pressu
Fidel Castro’s brother and a central pillar of Cuban power for decades, the former leader is back in the spotlight after a US indictment, amid mounting pressure on the regime.
The indictment announced this week by the United States against former Cuban president Raúl Castro is the latest episode in the pressure campaign that the Trump administration has waged for months against the island's communist government.
Castro was charged over his alleged role in the 1996 downing of two light aircraft operated by the Miami-based group Brothers to the Rescue. At the time, Castro was defence minister, while his brother, Fidel Castro, leader of the Cuban Revolution and the dominant figure in the island's politics for more than half a century, was running the country as president.
Raúl Castro's presidency and the thaw with the US
When Fidel's health began to deteriorate in 2006, Raúl provisionally took over the presidency and two years later was formally appointed head of state.
One of the most significant moments of his presidency came in 2014, when, together with then US president Barack Obama, he led the historic diplomatic thaw between Washington and Havana. The rapprochement allowed embassies to reopen and restored diplomatic relations after more than half a century of hostility. Barely two years later, the two leaders would symbolically cement this thaw with a historic meeting in Havana.
However, Donald Trump's arrival in the White House reversed much of that progress. Trump tightened economic sanctions and once again put Cuba at the heart of regional ideological confrontation.
The next Venezuela?
Washington's current offensive increasingly resembles the strategy recently deployed against Nicolás Maduro in Venezuela: legal pressure, economic sanctions, diplomatic isolation and a growing threat of international prosecution against the ruling elites.
The indictment of Raúl Castro, over events that took place almost three decades ago, marks an unprecedented escalation in the historically tense relations between the United States and Cuba, and reflects the Trump administration's attempt to weaken the historic core of Castroism.
The US strategy now combines economic pressure on a Cuba mired in a severe energy crisis and shortages with legal action targeting symbolic figures of the regime. From Washington, several officials have hinted that the goal goes beyond demanding accountability for the downing of the aircraft in 1996 and is aimed directly at speeding up a political transition on the island.
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@Mott-The-Hoople saidWhy do you?
Why do you support killers?
Aren't you the people with Venezuelan blood on your hands for using drones to take out 50 foot motorboats because that also destroyed any supposed evidence? We never saw any proof there were drugs on those boats. Never. Hegseth did it because he wanted blood. And you supported him.
@Suzianne saidfishermen dont use boats with 1000 HP engines hun
Why do you?
Aren't you the people with Venezuelan blood on your hands for using drones to take out 50 foot motorboats because that also destroyed any supposed evidence? We never saw any proof there were drugs on those boats. Never. Hegseth did it because he wanted blood. And you supported him.
@Mott-The-Hoople saidShow your work, son, and how this isn't just lies put out by Hegseth and Trump.
fishermen dont use boats with 1000 HP engines hun
You cannot prove this about these boats, can you? Because the boats were blown to hell, along with the people on board, as well as the supposed 'drugs'.