Trump continues to pressure Cuba with indictment announcement today
News and commentary of interest to Floridians, Americans and the entire Caribbean basin
By J.C. Bruce
Freedom Tower in downtown Miami will be the site of an important announcement today—the anticipated criminal charges against Raúl Castro, the 94-year-old brother of longtime Cuban dictator Fidel Castro.
The location of this announcement is significant. The ionic landmark is widely celebrated as the “Ellis Island of the South” or the “Statue of Liberty of the South.” It served as the headquarters during the 1960s and ‘70s for the federal Cuban Refugee Assistance Program, providing medical care, food and assistance to the thousands of refugees fleeing Cuba.
The expected charges against Raúl Castro are related to the shootdown of two aircraft near the Cuban coast 30 years ago operated by an organization known as Brothers to the Rescue, an outfit that conducted search-and-rescue flights to help Cuban refugees on makeshift rafts escaping the island. The four American volunteers aboard the aircraft died.
Raúl Castro is believed to have personally ordered Russian-made MiG-29 fighter jets to attack the two Cessna airplanes even though they were outside Cuban territorial waters.
It was a watershed event that led to Congress’ codification of the U.S. trade embargo of Cuba, and has made efforts at normalizing relations between the two countries an even greater challenge for a succession of U.S. presidents.
The charges that are expected to be announced today are, of course, part of an overall pressure campaign the Trump administration has been waging. Trump, himself, said earlier this year that we would be “taking over" Cuba.
And a few days ago, administration officials leaked to the press that Cuba has acquired hundreds of drones that have the capability of striking the U.S. base at Guantanamo Bay or, perhaps, even as far north as Key West.
It’s all part of a package designed to rationalize a potential military intervention in Cuba, ala our kidnapping of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.
Now, there’s no question that the attack on the Brothers to the Rescue flight was a violation of international law.
Not to put too fine a point on it, but the Trump administration has expert knowledge on this subject, having itself been responsible for the deaths of nearly 200 people in more than 50 illegal airstrikes and naval attacks on boats in international waters off our southern coastline.
And isn’t it special that today’s announcement will not just be at Freedom Tower, but adjacent to the site where Gov. Ron DeSantis and his minions have given away millions of dollars’ worth of Miami real estate to Trump‘s foundation to erect a towering eyesore memorializing his presidency.
The biggest concern here, of course, isn’t the hypocrisy, but the potential that all this lays the groundwork for a hostile takeover of Cuba, something many of those refugees and their descendants—like Secretary of State Marco Rubio—would be likely to applaud.
Ironically, today is Cuban Independence Day, marking the establishment of the Republic of Cuba in 1902, ending centuries of Spanish colonial rule and American military occupation.
Thanks for your support
It’s easy to feel overwhelmed if you are a rational person living in the Free State of Florida, but there are plenty of smart, reasonable people just like you here. The purpose of this newsletter and the Tropic Press website is to provide a source of news and commentary that shines a light through this irrational fog.
Thank you for your support as a subscriber. It is invaluable. This is especially so for those of you who have chosen to upgrade to paid subscriptions. Your contributions are making this possible.
J.C. Bruce
Share Tropic Press!
As this newsletter was written, Tropic Press was reaching more than 700,000 subscribers in Florida and elsewhere. But there are literally millions of Florida Democrats and independents we are not reaching yet.
That’s a problem you can help solve.
With mid-term elections on the horizon, the more people we reach, the more effective we can be in helping turn our state and this country around. You can play a vital role in that effort by sharing this newsletter with friends.
If you are reading this as an email, simply forward it. Or you can use the link below. Thanks.
It's a bold strategy—ignoring constitutional checks and balances to start an unauthorized war in the Middle East, and then threatening another regime change just 90 miles off our coast. Between the endless Defense Department spending and Senate Republicans finally pushing back with War Powers Resolutions, we're watching taxpayer money get incinerated before sunrise. A masterclass in destroying a country. Maybe that is actually Trump’s intent.
CORRECTION: An earlier version of this post misstated the date for Cuban Independence Day. It is May 20. The story originally referred to it as "yesterday" when it should have said "today." Unless you are reading the earlier version tomorrow, in which case it will be correct. My apologies.