SPAIN PERSPECTIVE

Madrid, May 20, 2026. For Madrid's press, Raúl Castro's indictment by the US Department of Justice is not an isolated event: it's a faithful reproduction of a well-oiled mechanism. El País puts it bluntly — in March 2020, the US had indicted Nicolás Maduro for drug trafficking. This accusation had become, three years later, the legal basis invoked by Washington to intervene in Venezuela and arrest the Chavist president. Now, the same mechanism is triggered in Havana.

The facts alleged against the 94-year-old Cuban leader date back to February 1996: the order by Castro, then Defense Minister, to fire on two civilian planes belonging to the anti-Castro organization Brothers to the Rescue. The four crew members — Armando Alejandre (45), Carlos Costa (29), Mario de la Peña (24), and Pablo Morales (29) — had perished. Independent investigations by the UN and the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights had concluded without ambiguity that the incident occurred in international waters, dismissing the Cuban claim of airspace violation.

The indictment will be handled by Jason Reding Quiñones, prosecutor of the southern district of Florida, described by El País as ideologically aligned with Trumpism. The same prosecutor had created in March a task force dedicated to opening criminal investigations against officials from the Havana regime — an initiative already seen at the time as announcing measures similar to those that led Maduro to appear before a New York court.

The economic angle is also present in the Spanish reading. Washington has tightened sanctions against the island under the Trump administration, effectively imposing an energy embargo after canceling oil shipments from Venezuela, on which Cuba depends. An executive order signed on January 29 opens the way for tariffs and secondary sanctions against countries continuing to supply Cuba with fuel. In the face of this asphyxiation, the US offers $100 million in aid in exchange for political and economic reforms.

The diplomatic dimension is not absent. From the White House, Trump has referred to Cuba as a 'failed nation' while leaving open the possibility of a deal. Last week, CIA Director John Ratcliffe made a discreet visit to Havana to meet with Raúl Rodríguez Castro, nicknamed 'El Cangrejo,' a possible successor that Washington would be willing to recognize in the event of a transition — similar to what the Venezuelan formula produced with Delcy Rodríguez's rise to the forefront.