US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday (May 20) that the United States is "freeing up Cuba" and he can't say what's next for the island nation, hours after his Department of Justice indicted former Cuban President Raul Castro.
He also said that there would be no escalation with Cuba. "No there won't be escalation. I don't think there needs to be," he said.
Former Cuban President Raul Castro has been indicted in the United States on murder charges, court records showed on Wednesday, in a major escalation in Washington's pressure campaign against the island's communist government.
The indictment against Castro, returned in federal court in Miami on April 23, charges him with one count of conspiracy to kill U.S. nationals, four counts of murder, and two counts of destruction of aircraft, court records show. Five other people are also named as defendants in the case.
The charges stemmed from a 1996 incident in which Cuban jets shot down planes operated by a group of Cuban exiles, U.S. acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said at an event in downtown Miami on Wednesday to honor victims of the incident.
