As the United States ramps up pressure on Cuba, bringing criminal charges against former leader Raul Castro, a member of the Castro family has warned President Donald Trump not to underestimate the communist government in Havana. Alina Fernandez, the exiled daughter of late Cuban leader Fidel Castro, said any U.S. military intervention in Cuba could have catastrophic consequences.
“This is not the first time that Cubans have been told that an invasion is coming,” Fernandez told CNN. “We’ve been in invasion, or in a state of invasion, for the last 67 years. I’m sure they’re prepared. I don’t know how they’re going to respond.”
Raul Castro faces serious charges
The comments came just before court records showed Raul Castro was indicted on murder charges in connection with the 1996 downing of a plane operated by the Miami-based exile group Brothers Rescue.
A U.S. Justice Department official previously told Reuters that the case is expected to focus on the shooting down of two civilian aircraft by Cuban military aircraft in international waters, killing all four people on board.
The International Civil Aviation Organization later concluded the planes were shot down outside Cuban airspace.
Castro, 94, was Cuba’s defense minister at the time. The Cuban government has long argued that the attack was in response to repeated violations of Cuban airspace.
Trump steps up pressure on Cuba
Trump has intensified his rhetoric against Cuba during his second term, openly discussing regime change while accusing Havana of supporting hostile foreign powers. “From the shores of Havana to the shores of the Panama Canal, we will drive back the forces of lawlessness, crime and foreign aggression,” Trump said at an event at the Coast Guard Academy in Connecticut.
Earlier this year, Trump reportedly warned that Cuba was “next” following U.S. action against Venezuela.
Meanwhile, Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel warned on Monday that any U.S. military attack on Cuba would result in a “bloodbath.”
Fernandez said she shares the same concerns. “We know these regimes put civilians on the front lines,” she said. “It’s very worrying, so to speak, when a situation arises that involves military or political violence. That’s how I feel – my joy is not going to be matched by the realization of a solution. It’s going to be very painful.”
Fidel Castro’s daughter becomes regime critic
Fernandez fled Cuba in 1993 after openly criticizing the communist government. Now living in Miami, she describes herself as both an exile and a victim of the political system her father built.
“I feel like other Cubans,” Fernandez said. “Like a woman, an exile, but also a victim.”
She said she did not officially learn that Fidel Castro was her father until she was ten years old, but she had doubts early on because he frequently visited their home in Havana.
“He was an enthusiastic visitor,” she recalled.
Fernandez said she eventually became disillusioned with the Cuban government in the 1980s. “Sometimes you notice things as a kid and sometimes you don’t,” she said. “But from an early age, I realized that the glory and the speeches didn’t match reality.”
She later fled Cuba to protect her daughter from political reprisals.
“I’ve always lived by my truth,” Fernandez said. “When I decided to leave Cuba to save my daughter, I realized, and it was pointed out to me, that I was subjecting my daughter to the same thing that I had done.”
“My mother was very revolutionary and I was very counter-revolutionary.”
Rubio offers aid to Cuba amid crisis
As tensions escalate, Marco Rubio offered Cuba a potential $100 million aid package while blaming the island’s communist leadership for exacerbating shortages of electricity, fuel and food.
Rubio, whose parents immigrated from Cuba, said Washington wanted to build a “new relationship” with the Cuban people.
Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez harshly criticized Rubio’s remarks.
Rodriguez wrote on
Rodriguez earlier described White House statements criticizing Cuba as “superficial and misleading.”
Fernandez says Raul Castro is different from Fidel
While criticizing the Cuban system, Fernandez also reflected on the differences between her father and her uncle, Raul Castro. “Raul Castro is almost 95 years old,” she said. “I don’t see much logic in what’s happening, other than that it’s part of the strategy.”
“In personal interactions, Raul Castro was nothing like his brother,” she added. “He’s a family man.”
