Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum protested the U.S. indictment of former Cuban President Raul Castro over the shootdown of an unarmed civilian aircraft, saying it happened too long ago.
Speaking at a press conference on Friday, Sheinbaum expressed her displeasure with the Wednesday indictment. Her main gripe appeared to be the timing of the indictment.
“What sense does it make that at this moment they accuse a person for something that happened 30 years ago?” she said. “This happened 30 years ago, imagine that.”
Sheinbaum argued the indictment was a part of a pattern of revived U.S. interference in the region.
“There has historically been an interventionist vision from the United States; it is not from now,” she said. “It is a vision that they can influence other countries. We don’t agree with that vision in the case of Cuba.”
Sheinbaum suggested the United States had ulterior motivations in its Castro indictment, and said she was for the “self-determination” of peoples.
Few leaders in Latin America have dared publicly push back against the Castro indictment, with Sheinbaum being the only one outside of Cuba so far. Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel gave a lengthy denunciation of the indictment soon after it was announced.
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“This is a political maneuver, devoid of any legal foundation, aimed solely at padding the fabricated dossier they use to justify the folly of a military aggression against #Cuba,” he said, defending the shootdown of the Brothers to the Rescue planes in 1996, which he labeled a “narco-terrorist organization.”
Sheinbaum has walked a thin line with President Donald Trump, balancing public and symbolic criticisms while cooperating on central issues such as border security and drug trafficking. She met with Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin on Thursday to discuss bilateral cooperation.