In a statement, the Group expressed that the indictment brought by the U.S. Department of Justice against the Cuban leader for the downing of the Brothers to the Rescue planes, which repeatedly violated Cuban airspace in 1996, cannot be understood solely as an isolated legal process.

This is an offensive driven by powerful groups in Washington, the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump, the Republican Party, conservative sectors of the exile community in Miami, and corporations interested in dismantling the Cuban socialist model.

The accusation seeks to fabricate a “story” to legitimize more than sixty years of imperialist hostility against the people and government of Cuba, an attempt to shift a political and ideological conflict to the realm of crime and national security, the document emphasizes.

The text also reflects on the repercussions of this policy for Latin America and the Caribbean, whose consequences are profound: they strengthen interventionist practices in the region, increase geopolitical tensions, and pose a direct threat to governments and social movements that defend sovereign projects.

Faced with this escalation, the July 26 Group, made up of veterans of the civil war in El Salvador, urgently calls on the nations of Latin America and the Caribbean to strengthen international solidarity with Cuba.

It emphasizes the need to defend respect for sovereignty and absolutely reject the policy of blockade and foreign hostility. Peace, dialogue, and mutual cooperation must prevail over sanctions and threats.

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