MIAMI — U.S. Rep. Carlos Giménez said on Monday that he had learned the Cuban military had drones that were “dangerous” to South Florida.
Giménez also reported on X on Sunday that it was possible that these were Iranian Shahed-136 “suicide” drones.
“I know that some of these drones have ranges of 200 kilometers with payloads of 22 pounds, which means just about everyone in the state of Florida is inside the range of these drones,” Giménez said on Monday.
Giménez also said he expects the U.S. Justice Department’s plan to soon result in the indictment of Raúl Castro for the fatal shoot down of Brothers to The Rescue planes on Feb. 24,1996.
“He is on tape and actually admitted that he gave the order for the shoot down,” Giménez said.
Some expect the announcement will happen at the Freedom Tower in Downtown Miami.
Also on Monday, Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel accused the United States of threatening “military aggression,” following a report that the Cuban military had acquired the attack drones.
In a statement published Monday on X, Díaz-Canel wrote in Spanish, “Cuba poses no threat, nor does it have aggressive plans or intentions against any country,” after Axios reported, sourcing “classified intelligence,” that the Cuban military had 300 drones.
“The threats of military aggression against Cuba from the world’s greatest power are well-known. The threat itself already constitutes an international crime,” Díaz-Canel wrote.
He added that, “If it were to materialize, it would trigger a bloodbath with incalculable consequences, plus the destructive impact on regional peace and stability.”
U.S. intelligence cited the Cuban drones could strike the U.S. military in Guantanamo Bay or Key West, and the possibility that Iranian military advisers were in Havana to assist the Cubans with such attacks, according to the Axios report published on Sunday.
“Cuba, which already endures a multidimensional aggression from the U.S., does have the absolute and legitimate right to defend itself against a military onslaught. Yet that cannot be wielded, either logically or honestly, as an excuse for imposing war on the noble Cuban people,” Díaz-Canel wrote.
The New York Times recently reported that the U.S. had increased surveillance flights over the island. Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez also accused the U.S. of fabricating “a fraudulent case” for U.S. military intervention.
The Associated Press reported on Friday that the U.S. Justice Department was working on a plan to indict Raúl Castro for the 1996 fatal attacks on two Brothers to the Rescue planes at sea.
Also on Thursday, during a visit to Havana, CIA Director John Ratcliffe demanded that Cuba “no longer be a safe haven for adversaries.”
Cubans are dealing with a fuel shortage that has prompted power outages and a detrimental domino effect affecting healthcare, unemployment, education, and food supply after the U.S. military’s capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.
Amid the crisis, Díaz-Canel recently agreed to accept $100 million in direct humanitarian aid to Cubans from the U.S.
Trump has put both Venezuela and Cuba under pressure to make deals with the U.S., as he re-branded the “Monroe Doctrine” as the “Donroe Doctrine.”
Related stories
- A humanitarian aid ship from Mexico docks in Havana as US-Cuba tensions escalate
- Díaz-Canel after report of drones: Cuba has ‘absolute and legitimate right to defend itself’
- Monroe County Sheriff Rick Ramsay on Cuban drones report: ‘I am monitoring the situation’
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