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 (May 20, 2026) — fuelled speculation that President Donald Trump will try to topple the communist state.

“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 (May 21, 2026), when asked about the U.S. charges.

“China firmly supports Cuba in safeguarding its national sovereignty and national dignity and opposes external interference,” Mr. Guo said.

Castro is the younger brother of Fidel Castro, the late influential U.S. nemesis who led Cuba’s 1959 communist revolution.

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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.

Mr. Trump hailed the indictment on Wednesday (May 20, 2026) as a “very big moment” but played down prospects of moving on Cuba, whose economy has been in a deepening crisis for months driven by a U.S. oil blockade.

 The ‌United States plans to indict Cuba’s Raul ​Castro, a U.S. Department ⁠of Justice official said late on Thursday (May 14, 2026).

The timing of the potential indictment, which would ‌need to be approved by a grand jury, was not immediately ‌clear, but the official said it ‌sounds ⁠imminent.

The potential indictment of the ⁠94-year-old former President of Cuba and brother of Fidel Castro is expected to focus on ​the downing of ‌aircraft, the official said.

CBS previously reported that the conduct at issue in the case relates to Cuba’s deadly ‌1996 shootdown of planes operated by ​humanitarian group Brothers to the Rescue.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for ⁠the Southern District of Florida has been overseeing an effort to examine potential criminal ‌charges against senior Cuban government officials.

The Trump administration has called the current communist-run government corrupt and incompetent and is seeking to replace it, despite ongoing talks.

Negotiations appeared to have ‌stalled in recent weeks, though on Thursday the ​Cuban government confirmed it had met with CIA chief John Ratcliffe.

Ratcliffe ⁠told intelligence officials in Cuba that the ⁠U.S. was prepared to engage on economic security issues if ‌Cuba makes “fundamental changes,” a CIA official said.