• Beijing tells Washington to ‘stop brandishing the judicial stick’
• Moscow calls charges ‘unacceptable’, pledges ‘active support’
• Rubio says likelihood of peaceful settlement ‘not high’

MOSCOW: China and Russia on Thursday sharply condemned the United States for indicting former Cuban President Raul Castro on murder charges, with Beijing telling Washington to “stop brandishing the judicial stick” and Moscow vowing “active support” for the island.

The forceful reactions from the US rivals came a day after Washington announced the indictment, a major escalation of its pressure campaign against Cuba.

The charges against Castro, 94, whose family has led the nation since the 1959 revolution, stem from the1996 downing of two civilian planes flown by anti-Castro pilots.

In addition to murder, Castro was charged with conspiracy to kill Americans and destruction of aircraft.

China firmly opposed what it called the US “abusing judicial means” to pressure Cuba.

“The US side should stop brandishing the sanctions stick and the judicial stick against Cuba and stop threatening force at every turn,” Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun said at a press briefing.

“The United States should cease using sanctions and judicial apparatus as tools of oppression against Cuba.”

Russia declared the indictment unacceptable and pledged solidarity with Havana.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that “under no circumstances should such methods — which border on violence —be used against either former or current heads of state.”

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Moscow would provide “the most active support to the fraternal Cuban people” and condemned “any attempts at gross interference in the internal affairs of a sovereign state.”

She did not specify what the support would entail.

As international criticism mounted, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the likelihood of a peaceful, negotiated settlement with Cuba is not high. While stating that diplomacy remains the US preference, he was candid about the prospects.

“I’m just being honest with you, you know, the likelihood of that happening, given who we’re dealing with right now, is not high,” Rubio told reporters. “But if they have a change of heart, you know, we’re here.” He defended the pressure campaign as being “directly related to the national security of the United States.”

In Havana, the indictment was met with shock and indignation. The Cuban government called the charges “despicable,” arguing the 1996 shootdown was “legitimate self-defence” against a violation of its airspace.

The official state newspaper, Granma, urged citizens to gather outside the US embassy on Friday to protest.

Ordinary Cubans, already suffering under a crippling US oil blockade, expressed a mix of frustration and fear.

“This isn’t really an accusation, something from more than 30 years ago, but rather a public attack on a public figure,” Fabian Fernandez, a 30-year-old accountant, told AFP in Havana.

The four-month US blockade has pushed Cuba’s economy to the brink, with citizens enduring power outages lasting up to 20 hours a day and taps running dry.

Published in Dawn, May 22nd, 2026