The Justice Department unsealed a sweeping multi-count indictment against former Cuban President Raúl Castro on Thursday, officially closing off any remaining legal avenues for the 93-year-old to spend his twilight years playing golf in South Florida.
WASHINGTON — The Justice Department unsealed a sweeping multi-count indictment against former Cuban President Raúl Castro on Thursday, officially closing off any remaining legal avenues for the 93-year-old revolutionary to spend his twilight years in a South Florida retirement community.
The charges, filed in the Southern District of Florida, represent the Trump administration’s most aggressive posture yet against the Cuban government, ensuring that the nonagenarian will be immediately apprehended by federal authorities should he suddenly decide to book a commercial flight to Miami International Airport.
According to a 43-page charging document heavily cited by administration officials, the Justice Department has assembled a comprehensive timeline of human rights abuses and property seizures dating back to 1959. Prosecutors noted the airtight legal framework guarantees Castro will face the full weight of the American judicial system the moment he voluntarily leaves a nation with no U.S. extradition treaty and presents himself to customs officials.
We have built an unassailable case that will absolutely devastate Mr. Castro the next time he applies for a tourist visa to visit a Florida theme park.
The administration has made isolating the Cuban regime a cornerstone of its foreign policy, previously issuing severe banking sanctions that successfully prevented several deceased members of the original revolution from opening high-yield savings accounts at Chase. Political analysts described Thursday's indictment as a highly effective maneuver in Miami-Dade County, noting it polls exceptionally well among voters who appreciate seeing federal paperwork filed against men who will die comfortably in their own beds.
At a press briefing outlining the logistics of the impending arrest, the Justice Department confirmed that U.S. Marshals have been placed on high alert in the event Castro attempts to board a Carnival cruise ship.
The unsealed indictment has been formally entered into an international law enforcement database that the Cuban government does not have access to, while federal prosecutors have reportedly begun preparing opening statements for a trial scheduled to take place entirely within their own imaginations.