On 20 May, in a clear expression of revolutionary continuity and defiance, the Union of Young Communists announced a nationwide mobilisation to mark the 95th birthday of historic leader of the revolution and former President of the Republic Raúl Castro. The initiative called for cultural and political activity rooted in local communities as part of the ongoing defence of the Cuban Revolution. Hours later, the US announced a federal indictment against Raúl Castro and five other current or former Cuban military personnel in relation to the 1996 downing of two planes operated by the Miami-based counterrevolutionary Cuban exile group Brothers to the Rescue, following their repeated violation of Cuban airspace. DESTINIE SÁNCHEZ reports.
Announced by US Attorney General Todd Blanche, the indictment accuses Raúl Castro of ‘conspiracy to kill US nationals’ in connection with the incident. In reality, this is a discredited narrative recycled after 30 years for purely ideological purposes. The indictment is an attempt to criminalise the leadership of the Cuban Revolution, delegitimise the revolutionary state and intensify pressure on Cuba.
Castro’s indictment is part of a campaign by the US to prepare the ground for a military attack. It reflects a historical continuum of imperialist aggression directed against the Cuban revolution since 1959, including US-backed terrorism and covert operations, which have killed 3,478 Cubans and left a further 2,099 permanently disabled. Cuba’s socialist revolution took power and wealth from US imperialist interests and placed them in the hands of the Cuban masses. Cuba proves that another world is possible when the needs of humanity and the planet are put before profit.
The indictment follows the US kidnapping of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro in January and the unprovoked US-Israeli bombing of Iran in February, marking a shift from indirect pressure to open intervention to subdue sovereign states through force, blockade and regime change in order to consolidate US control over strategically vital regions. US President Donald Trump has repeatedly made threats to ‘take’ Cuba next.
Sanctions escalate
This recent escalation forms part of a broader offensive. US Executive Order 14404, issued on 1 May, tightened the blockade, adding new restrictions on individuals, institutions, and key sectors of the Cuban economy, including energy, finance and trade. The Order declares Cuba an ‘unusual and extraordinary threat’ to US national security. This is a grotesque distortion of reality. The only ‘threat’ Cuba poses is that of a good example: a socialist country that refuses to bend to imperialism, asserts its sovereignty and prioritises social need over profit.
The Order also broadens secondary sanctions against foreign companies and financial institutions that engage with Cuba, effectively seeking to extend US jurisdiction globally. Any entity deemed to be facilitating trade with Cuba can now face exclusion from US markets or freezing of assets. The justifications for these coercive measures echo the script of the US State Sponsors of Terrorism List, alleging Cuba’s ‘malign influence’ and links to hostile states, support for so-called terrorist organisations and hostile intelligence activity in the Caribbean. The effect is to further globalise the blockade as a system of extraterritorial economic warfare. British laws are designed to counteract the extraterritorial effects of the blockade, but the British government refuses to enforce them (see ‘An open secret: Britain’s financial blockade of Cuba’, FRFI 292).
Energy crisis
The most immediate impact of recent attacks is the deepening energy crisis in Cuba. Throughout 2026, severe shortages of diesel and fuel oil have produced prolonged nationwide blackouts, transport paralysis and mounting pressure on hospitals, schools and essential services. Repeated breakdowns at major thermoelectric plants are the material result of blockade restrictions on spare parts, maintenance and external financing. This crisis has been intensified by sanctions on the energy sector and the added infrastructural strain of Hurricane Melissa (see ‘Hurricane Melissa: Cuban socialism protects its people’, FRFI 309).
Since January, tightened US measures have further restricted fuel imports through financial pressure on suppliers and shipping networks, leaving the system operating without stable reserves. The result has been a deliberately engineered instability in energy supply, leaving the system without reliable reserves. Even temporary relief, such as the arrival of a Russian tanker carrying approximately 700,000 barrels of crude in late March, only briefly eased pressure before shortages rapidly reasserted themselves.
After the US kidnapped Maduro and First Combatant Cilia Flores on 3 January and extorted Venezuela’s oil exports, Cuba has faced an even sharper constriction of its external energy supply. Yet within this imposed crisis, Cuba has not remained passive. Photovoltaic parks have become increasingly vital sources of electricity and continue to expand across the island. In Santa Clara, a solar-powered charging station opened in April and is already providing free electricity for mobile phones and transport, while renewables have grown from 3.6% to around 10% of total generation within a year.
Isolating revolutionary leadership
Even before the indictment of Raúl Castro, the US had added senior Cuban officials across energy, finance and security sectors to its sanction lists, imposing asset freezes and travel bans under executive authorities framed as responses to ‘human rights abuses’ and ‘corruption’. Figures including President Miguel Díaz-Canel and Cuban government ministers have been subject to US designation regimes designed to isolate Cuba’s political leadership and delegitimise its state structures.
This is accompanied by an intensified ideological offensive. Marco Rubio, a key figure in the Miami counterrevolutionary lobby who now serves as US Secretary of State, has repeated baseless claims that Cuban state companies are ‘stealing’ resources from the population and that state revenues do not benefit ordinary Cubans. These narratives are amplified by pro-imperialist ‘independent’ outlets like Axios, which function as an echo chamber for State Department messaging. These interventions work to shift attention away from the material impact of the blockade and instead construct a narrative of internal Cuban failure.
International solidarity
Despite these ideological attacks, international solidarity has continued to break through the blockade’s logic of isolation. In May, a humanitarian vessel from Mexico and Uruguay arrived in Havana with 1,700 tons of food and essential supplies, while Spanish solidarity initiatives have delivered solar technology for a paediatric ICU. The Nuestra América solidarity flotilla, in which FRFI participated, also contributed an estimated $500,000 of aid, including bicycles and solar panels, highlighting the material impact of organised internationalist solidarity in sustaining life under blockade conditions (see ‘Breaking the blockade: Nuestra América convoy to Cuba’, FRFI 311).
Cuba’s response to US attacks remains rooted in collective organisation and political continuity under extreme constraint. But the intensification of aggression underscores the urgency of international solidarity: the blockade is starving the Cuban people and must be challenged in practice.
Viva Cuba socialista!
Abajo el bloqueo!
