The Revolutionary Government condemns in the most energetic terms the outrageous accusation by the United States Department of Justice announced this May 20—and trumpeted for several weeks—against Army General Raúl Castro Ruz, leader of the Cuban Revolution.

The government of the United States lacks the legitimacy and jurisdiction to carry out this action. This is a despicable and infamous act of political provocation, resting on the dishonest manipulation of the incident that led to the downing over Cuban airspace, in February 1996, of two aircraft operated by the terrorist organization Hermanos al Rescate, based in Miami, whose repeated violations of Cuban airspace for hostile purposes were a matter of blatant public knowledge.

Furthermore, the U.S. government distorts other historical truths regarding the event it uses as a pretext. It omits, among other details, the multiple formal complaints presented by Cuba during that period to the State Department, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) of the United States, and the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). These pertained to more than 25 grave and deliberate violations of Cuban airspace executed by the aforementioned organization between 1994 and 1996, in open transgression of international laws and U.S. legislation itself.

It also ignores the public and official warnings issued by Cuban authorities regarding the inadmissibility of such violations of its airspace, as well as the warning messages conveyed directly to the President of the United States regarding the gravity and potential consequences of such transgressions.

Cuba's response to the violation of its airspace constituted an act of legitimate defense, protected by the United Nations Charter, the 1944 Chicago Convention on International Civil Aviation, and the principles of aerial sovereignty and proportionality.

The United States, which has itself been a victim of the use of civil aviation for terrorist purposes, does not permit and would not permit the hostile and provocative violation of foreign aircraft over its territory, and it would act—as it has demonstrated—with the use of force.

The U.S. government's inaction in the face of the alerts conveyed by Cuba at that time clearly evidenced its complicity with the planning and execution from its territory of violent, illegal, and terrorist actions against the Cuban government and people—a recurring and systematic practice from the triumph of the Revolution to this day.

It is highly cynical that this accusation is formulated by the very same government that has killed nearly 200 people and destroyed 57 vessels in international waters of the Caribbean and the Pacific, far from U.S. territory, through the disproportionate use of military force over alleged links to drug trafficking operations that were never proven. Under international law, these qualify as crimes of extrajudicial execution, and as murders under U.S. laws themselves.

This spurious accusation against the Leader of the Cuban Revolution adds to the desperate attempts by anti-Cuban elements to construct a fraudulent narrative in an effort to justify the collective and ruthless punishment against the noble Cuban people. This is done through the reinforcement of unilateral coercive measures, including the unjust and genocidal energy blockade and threats of armed aggression.

Cuba ratifies its commitment to peace and its firm determination to exercise the inalienable right to self-defense recognized by the United Nations Charter.

The Cuban people reaffirm their unshakable decision to defend the Homeland and its Socialist Revolution, and, with the greatest strength and firmness, extend their unrestricted and unalterable support to Army General Raúl Castro Ruz, Leader of the Cuban Revolution.

"Homeland or Death, We Shall Overcome."

Havana, May 20, 2026.

"Year of the Centenary of Commander-in-Chief Fidel Castro Ruz."