(LifeSiteNews) — President Donald Trump issued a forceful statement to mark Cuban Independence Day on Wednesday, denouncing Cuba’s communist regime and declaring that “this is our hemisphere” and that threats to the United States will “face consequences.”
The strong statement came the same day that the U.S. government indicted former Cuban communist dictator Raúl Castro over a 1996 incident in which the Cuban Air Force shot down unarmed planes killing four men, including three American citizens.
“The Cuban people’s love of liberty, ingenuity, hard work, and great faith in God carried them through the first half of the 20th century—and to this day, these time-honored values continue to live on in their hearts,” Trump wrote.
“The regime in Havana today is the direct betrayal of the nation their founding patriots bled and died for. For nearly seven decades, the island’s communist government has violently dismantled political freedom, denied its people fair elections, viciously silenced dissent, and strangled the Cuban economy into a state of collapse,” he added.
The president underscored that the socialist regime’s military leaders have not cared for the Cuban people and that his administration has already taken decisive action against the corrupt Maduro regime in Venezuela. He then warned that “this is our hemisphere” and those who “destabilize it” or threaten the United States will “face consequences.”
READ: US captures Venezuela’s socialist dictator Maduro after ‘unprecedented’ military strike
“As President, I am taking decisive action on behalf of this long-suffering corner of our hemisphere, and to address threats to our national security emanating from the region,” the president said. “Under my leadership, our Nation is severing the financial lifelines that, for too long, have sustained brutal regimes across Central and South America and funded their trans-national criminal and terrorist operations that threaten the United States.”
“In January, our Nation’s incredible Armed Forces carried out one of the boldest, most impressive special operations in generations—the capture and extradition of the Venezuelan narcoterrorist, Nicolas Maduro,” he added. “The indictment and removal of Maduro sent a clear message to his socialist allies in Havana: this is our Hemisphere and those that destabilize it and threaten the United States will face consequences.”
Trump noted that since the Maduro raid, he has enacted “powerful” sanctions on Cuba’s military and those who support it and emphasized that the United States will not tolerate Cuba “harboring hostile foreign military” less than 100 miles from its shores.
“My commitment is ironclad: America will not tolerate a rogue state harboring hostile foreign military, intelligence and terror operations just ninety miles from the American homeland, and we will not rest until the people of Cuba once again have the freedom their forefathers fought so valiantly to establish over 100 years ago,” he said.
Trump continued:
On this Cuban Independence Day, our Republic stands in solidarity with the Cuban people and with the millions of Cuban-Americans who have so profoundly enriched the life of our Nation. Many of them came to these shores with nothing, built extraordinary lives, and embraced with their whole hearts the constitutional way of life that makes America the greatest country on earth. Today, we salute them and remember all those who have sacrificed for a free Cuba, and we look with confidence toward a new Golden Age for the island and its people.
As reported by LifeSiteNews’ Raymond Wolfe, the same day that Trump wrote this strong message, the U.S. government indicted Raúl Castro, the brother of the late Cuban dictator Fidel Castro, who ruled Cuba’s communist regime from 2008 to 2018. The charges include conspiracy to kill U.S. nationals, four counts of murder, and two counts of destruction of aircraft.
READ: US indicts Cuba’s communist former dictator Raúl Castro
The charges stem from a 1996 incident in which the Cuban Air Force shot down unarmed planes operated by Brothers to the Rescue, a Florida-based nonprofit formed by Cuban-American exiles. The group would search out and assist Cuban refugees fleeing by raft.
The attack on the civilian aircraft killed four men, including three American citizens and a permanent resident.
Castro, 94, was the head of Cuba’s military at the time and allegedly ordered the shootdown. Raúl Castro was also the top official of Cuba’s Communist Party from 2011 to 2021.
Five Cuban airmen allegedly involved in the attack were also indicted on Wednesday.
“If convicted, the defendants face a maximum penalty of death or life imprisonment on the murder and conspiracy to kill U.S. nationals counts,” the DOJ said in a statement.
“Cuban military fighter jets under the chain of command overseen by Raul Castro fired air‑to‑air missiles at two unarmed civilian Cessna aircraft – destroying them without warning while they were flying outside Cuban territory,” it added.