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The South African Communist Party (SACP) has noted with grave concern the US government’s decision through its department of justice to indict Comrade Raul Castro on flimsy and baseless charges related to a plane incident that occurred 30 years ago. Besides the fact that the US government has no legal jurisdiction by any measure to institute legal proceedings against a citizen of another country, let alone a former head of state, the US government most importantly does not have the moral authority to act against Raul Castro.

This indictment was certainly predicted, given the earlier news reports indicating the intention of the US to pursue this course of action, however, that fact does not make this act any less repulsive. As we stated in our previous statement on the matter, this particular course of action by the US government has no basis in law; it is only an opportunistic weaponisation of the law and the very idea of law and justice to pursue an imperialist political agenda. In the context of this agenda, the US seeks to purchase for itself a status of a lawful actor and a moral cloak of law and justice to dress up its violent imperialist agenda to exterminate the Cuban state and the Cuban revolution as we know it, to subjugate the people of Cuba to its will.

Against the backdrop of a Trump regime determined to destroy the whole of South America to preserve the hegemonic interests of the US regime, the Cuban people and the Venezuelan people stand as the prime example of resistance and revolution against imperialism. The abduction of President Maduro and the indictment of Commander Raul Castro are indications of an imperialist plot to overthrow the Bolivarian Revolution and delegitimise the cause of socialism in the Americas and across the world. The US empire is evidently on an irreversible recession path and has thus resorted to violent and illegal measures to sustain itself in an era where its leaders have lost the moral authority to claim leadership in international relations.

The Trump administration’s repeated attempts to reassert the Monroe Doctrine reflect not the revival of US hegemony in its historic sphere of influence but rather the emergence of a resistance movement against it. The emergence of a multipolar world is as irreversible as the collapse of US hegemony. The desperation and violent path of US imperialism are indicators of change in the international balance of power. At this point, the progressive forces in the world objectively stand at the precipice of a radical advance against imperialism. The working-class solidarity movement is the driving force of change. Our solidarity with Cuba stands unshaken.

We condemn in no uncertain terms the indictment of Comrade Raul. We call for action against US imperialist intervention from all peace-loving people across the world.

Issued by South African Communist Party