Women work inside a paper bag factory beside images of late Cuban President Fidel Castro and former President Raul Castro, who has been indicted in the United States in a move that marks an escalation in Washington's pressure campaign against the Caribbean island's communist government, Havana, Cuba, May 20, 2026. (Credit: Norlys Perez/Reuters)
China said it supported Cuba and urged the United States to "stop brandishing the judicial stick" against the country, after Washington indicted the Caribbean island's former leader Raul Castro on murder charges.
The U.S. charges against the 94-year-old former president — announced Wednesday — further fueled speculation that President Donald Trump will attempt regime change in Cuba, after a decades-long blockade.
'Stop brandishing the sanctions stick and the judicial stick'
"The U.S. 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 told a press briefing Thursday, when asked about the U.S. charges.
"China firmly supports Cuba in safeguarding its national sovereignty and national dignity and opposes external interference," Guo said.
Castro is the younger brother of Fidel Castro who led Cuba's 1959 communist revolution.
The charges against him stem from the downing of two civilian planes manned by anti-Castro pilots in 1996, which resulted in four deaths.
Raul Castro was also charged with conspiracy to kill Americans and destruction of aircraft.
Trump hailed the indictment on Wednesday as a "very big moment" but played down prospects of moving on Cuba, whose economy has been in a deepening crisis for months, largely driven by a U.S. oil blockade.
'Sanctions noose'
Russia on Thursday also announced that it would provide active support to Cuba despite attempts by the United States to intimidate and tighten the "sanctions noose" around the Communist-run island republic.
"We will continue to provide the most active support to the fraternal Cuban people during this extremely difficult period," Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told reporters.
"We reaffirm our full solidarity with Cuba and strongly condemn any attempts at gross interference in the internal affairs of a sovereign state, intimidation, and the use of illegal unilateral restrictive measures, threats, and blackmail."
Zakharova gave no details of the support that Russia would provide but said the United States was showing its "intolerance towards any form of dissent and a cynical embodiment of the revived Monroe Doctrine."
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