Federal prosecutors in Florida have launched an inquiry into officials tied to Cuba’s communist government, an effort that could lead to criminal charges against members of the regime.
According to the New York Post, the investigation is being organized by Jason Reding Quiñones, who has formed a “working group” that includes federal prosecutors and representatives from several agencies, including the Treasury Department, State Department, and the Drug Enforcement Administration.
Per reports, the group’s mission is to examine potential criminal activity linked to figures within the Cuban government. If cases are built, the effort could open the door to indictments against senior leaders on the island.
Officials have not identified which members of the government could be targeted.
A spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Justice emphasized the broader role federal prosecutors play in addressing international crime.
“Federal prosecutors from across the country work every day to pursue justice, which includes efforts to combat transnational crime,” the DOJ said in a statement, according to the Associated Press.
The probe comes as President Donald Trump has suggested Cuba’s communist government may be weakening.
“Cuba is gonna fall pretty soon, by the way, unrelated, but Cuba is gonna fall too,” Trump said during a phone interview with CNN host Dana Bash.
“They want to make a deal so badly. They want to make a deal, and so I’m going to put [Secretary of State] Marco [Rubio] over there and we’ll see how that works out,” Trump added.
Meanwhile, several Cuban-American lawmakers have urged the administration to pursue legal action against Raúl Castro.
Florida Reps. María Elvira Salazar, Mario Díaz-Balart, and Carlos Giménez joined Nicole Malliotakis in a letter last month urging the Justice Department to consider indicting Castro over the 1996 shootdown of two civilian aircraft belonging to the humanitarian group Brothers to the Rescue.
“We respectfully request the Department of Justice consider indicting Raul Castro who is responsible for the cold-blooded murders of three Americans and a U.S. permanent resident in the 1996 Brothers to the Rescue shootdown of two civilian aircraft by Cuban Mig fighter jets, and consider whether Interpol ‘red notices’ should be issued against him,” the lawmakers wrote.
Castro transferred the Cuban presidency to Miguel Díaz-Canel in 2021, though he is widely believed to still hold significant influence in the country.
