China Condemns U.S. Arrest Warrant for Raúl Castro

The Chinese Foreign Ministry belatedly condemned on Wednesday the issuing of an arrest warrant by Florida authorities for Raúl Castro, the 95-year-old communist dictator of Cuba, referring to the widely hated repressor as a “venerated revolutionary leader.”

Law enforcement authorities in Florida confirmed on Monday that a judge in the state had found probable cause to issue an arrest warrant for Castro, the younger brother of mass murderer Fidel Castro, in the case of the 1996 Brothers to the Rescue murders. The Cuban military, at the time directly under Raúl Castro’s command, shot down civilian planes in international airspace carrying four Americans – Carlos Costa, Armando Alejandre, Mario de la Peña, and Pablo Morales – who perished in the assault. The men were flying missions for Brothers to the Rescue, a humanitarian organization dedicated to finding and saving the lives of Cuban refugees who had taken to the sea to escape communism.

Castro is unlikely to attempt to travel to the United States or position himself in a manner that would allow for American police to arrest him. The Cuban exile community nonetheless welcomed the news as a sign of justice moving forward and a recognition of the pain of the victims’ families, as well as the nearly century-long suffering of the Cuban people under Castro family communism. The Castro regime, meanwhile, issued scathing commentary describing the warrant as a “circus” act; Raúl Castro has not personally responded at press time, leaving the responses to underlings.

Asked about the warrant on Wednesday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning accused the United States, rather than the Castro regime, of violating the rights of the Cuban people.

“Comrade Raul Castro is a venerated Cuban revolutionary leader held in high international esteem,” Mao told reporters. “We note the response of Cuban president and foreign minister who condemned the move a ‘pathetic circus.’”

“China opposes abuse of judicial measures to pressure Cuba, and firmly supports Cuba in safeguarding its national sovereignty and opposing external interference,” she continued. “We urge the U.S. to immediately stop its blockade and any other form of coercion and pressure against Cuba, and stop infringing on Cuban people’s right to survive and thrive.”

The “blockade” comment appeared to be a reference to the Cuban embargo, a policy that limits American business investment in Cuba that was put in place after Fidel and Raúl Castro stole billions of dollars of American assets in the aftermath of their 1959 coup d’etat. The Cuban Communist Party regularly refers to the embargo as a full “blockade” of pivotal food and medical aid from the Cuban people, despite the longstanding exceptions for such shipments to Cuba in U.S. law and indicators that the Cuban people are reliant on American remittances and goods such as chicken for their survival. The “blockade” also does not impact the ability of any of the other nearly 200 countries on earth from doing business with Cuba.

Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier held a press conference on Monday to announce the Castro arrest warrant, which follows the news in May that Raúl Castro would face criminal charges in the United States.

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“Raúl Castro ordered the murder of four Floridians in cold blood, and Florida will never stop pursuing accountability for that communist conspiracy,” Uthmeier said Monday. “The Castro regime’s spies operated in our communities, fed intelligence to Havana, and helped put civilian pilots in the crosshairs of Cuban MiGs. Thirty years later, we are still fighting for justice for Carlos Costa, Pablo Morales, Mario de la Peña, and Armando Alejandre Jr.”

The Castro regime deployed Miguel Díaz-Canel, a deputy who serves as figurehead “president,” to respond to the arrest warrant, publishing a rant on social media.

“The repudiable action against the general of the military this morning in a pathetic Miami circus, with an electoral background, does not, nor will it ever, make the slightest judicial and much less practical sense,” Díaz-Canel wrote. “Raúl is Raúl, and before every affront against his figure they will always find the determination of a people to defend the Revolution.”

The Chinese government has been a longstanding ideological ally to Cuba, though it has offered little material support to the country since its critical economic and infrastructure state collapsed even further following the arrest of former Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro in January. Maduro for years supplied Cuba with free or highly discounted oil, which supplied the generators used for luxury tourist areas and elite homes while the Cuban power grid deteriorated beyond repair. With the oil gone, Cuba’s tourism industry has tanked and the island has lost power entirely on several occasions.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry has repeatedly issued supportive statements, but offered no direct help, despite Cuba being a member of China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), a global infrastructure scam in which Beijing offers predatory loans to poor countries. In February, Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez visited Beijing, receiving the message that China “supports Cuba in opposing foreign interference and blockage,” but no concrete aid.

Xi Jinping more recently sent a message to Cuba in August on what would have been Fidel Castro’s 100th birthday celebration.

“Xi Jinping highlighted that relations between Cuba and China have become a reference point in the cooperation between socialist countries and nations of the Global South, and manifested opposition to any foreign intervention,” according to the Cuban Communist Party newspaper Granma.

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