The indictment of Raúl Castro by the US Department of Justice has landed like a grenade in Miami's Little Havana. Cuban-Americans, long a fractured community, are now split down the middle. Sources confirm that federal prosecutors unsealed charges yesterday against the former Cuban president, alleging money laundering and corruption tied to Venezuela's PDVSA scandal.
The indictment, filed in the Southern District of Florida, claims Castro funnelled millions through shell companies to purchase luxury properties in Panama and Switzerland. But here's the twist: not all exiles are cheering. Documents obtained by this newsroom show that a faction of Cuban-American business leaders, who have quietly engaged with Havana over the past year, are now scrambling to distance themselves.
'This is a political stunt,' a source close to the Miami-Dade Cuban American Chamber of Commerce told me. 'It's an election year distraction.' Meanwhile, hardliners are organising protests, waving flags and calling for Castro's extradition.
The US has no extradition treaty with Cuba, but the indictment freezes $12 million in assets held in Florida banks. The State Department declined to comment, but internal emails suggest the move was timed to pressure the Maduro regime. The question now is whether this fractures the fragile détente between Washington and Havana.
One thing's certain: the money trail never lies, and it leads straight to the top.
