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Speaker 1: Hi, Welcome to a bonus episode of Bleep with Anon Navarro.

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Speaker 1: Today we are going to break down what just happened.

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Speaker 1: The US government just unsealed an indictment against Raoul Castro,

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Speaker 1: the Cuban dictator. So let's break this down by going

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Speaker 1: through the who, the what, the where, the when, and

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Speaker 1: the why. Let's start with the who. Raoul Castro is

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Speaker 1: the younger brother of Fedel Castro. They came to power

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Speaker 1: in Cuba in nineteen fifty nine. They have been in

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Speaker 1: power now for sixty seven years. And I say they

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Speaker 1: even though Fidel Castro is dead, he died in twenty sixteen,

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Speaker 1: but they are very much still in power. This is

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Speaker 1: the Castro dictatorship and their heirs. So Raoul Castro is

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Speaker 1: now ninety four years old. He has been the Defense

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Speaker 1: Minister in Cuba. He has been in charge of all

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Speaker 1: of the Cuban government businesses in Cuba. All the Indus

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Speaker 1: trees run through and are owned by the Cuban government.

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Speaker 1: So why is he being indicted and why is he

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Speaker 1: being indicted now? He is being indicted for the shootdown

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Speaker 1: of four pilots, three of them US citizens. One was

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Speaker 1: a legal permanent resident that occurred thirty years ago in

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Speaker 1: nineteen ninety six. Let me explain. Ninety four ninety five,

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Speaker 1: ninety six, there was this huge Cuban rafter crisis affecting

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Speaker 1: the United States. Basically, Fedel Castro, whose government was under

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Speaker 1: great pressure and the economy was under great pressure at

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Speaker 1: the time, opened up the floodgates and said any Cuban

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Speaker 1: who wants to leave can do so. And Cubans fled

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Speaker 1: the island on anything that could float, makeshift rafts, inner tubes,

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Speaker 1: anything that could float. They took to the seas and

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Speaker 1: tried to cross the Florida Strait and get to the

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Speaker 1: United States. Tens of thousands of Cubans emigrated that way.

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Speaker 1: Many risked their lives, some lost their lives. We don't

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Speaker 1: know how many lives ended up being lost at sea.

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Speaker 1: And so there was an organization founded out of Miami

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Speaker 1: called Brothers to the Rescue Ermano Alricate, and it was

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Speaker 1: Cuban American pilots who were piloting small planes, usually small

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Speaker 1: cessnas with two or four people on board, and they

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Speaker 1: would monitor the Florida Straits. When they would see a raft,

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Speaker 1: they would let the coast guard know. They would drop

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Speaker 1: things like water like food to the rafters, and they

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Speaker 1: would try to spot the rafters and save them from

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Speaker 1: risking their lives or death. On a few times, the

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Speaker 1: Brothers to the Rescue planes went into Cuban airspace and

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Speaker 1: dropped leaflets on top of Havanah saying things like you know,

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Speaker 1: rise up, anti communist leaflets. The Cuban government was furious

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Speaker 1: about this, issued several threats and then on one on

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Speaker 1: a day thirty years ago February twenty fourth, nineteen ninety six,

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Speaker 1: to be accept the Cuban government ordered the downing of

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Speaker 1: the brother to the Rescue planes. Three planes left Miami.

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Speaker 1: Three small cessnas left Miami piloted by Cuban American planes.

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Speaker 1: Two of them were shot out of the sky over

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Speaker 1: international waters by Cuban meg jets. Why does this relate

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Speaker 1: to Raoul Castro? Raoul Castro was the defense minister in

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Speaker 1: charge of all of the Cuban military and military assets

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Speaker 1: at the time. The order came directly from Raoul Castro.

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Speaker 1: There were recordings intercepted at the time of the communication

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Speaker 1: between the meg pilots and the headquarters, the military headquarters

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Speaker 1: in Cuba. There were investigations that were conducted posteriously through

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Speaker 1: international organizations that proved that these small planes were over

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Speaker 1: international water, not over Cuban airspace at the time that

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Speaker 1: they were shot down, and these pilots were three of

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Speaker 1: them US citizens won a legal permanent resident frankly Raoul Castro,

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Speaker 1: and that government should have been indicted for the murder

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Speaker 1: of these US citizens A long time ago. They thought

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Speaker 1: about it. Other administrations have considered it and thought about it.

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Speaker 1: At the time, this was nineteen ninety six, there was

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Speaker 1: a law that had been passed in Congress that Bill

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Speaker 1: Clinton did not want to sign, the Helms Burton Bill,

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Speaker 1: which strengthened and codified the embargo against Cuba. Bill Clinton,

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Speaker 1: as a result of this shootdown, ended up signing that bill,

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Speaker 1: that law, which is still in effect today. So where

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Speaker 1: did this happen? This happened today. Today is May twentieth,

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Speaker 1: Cuban Independence Day, and it happened in Miami at the

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Speaker 1: Tower of Freedom. The Tower of Freedom is a symbolic

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Speaker 1: building in Miami. It is where Cuban refugees were processed.

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Speaker 1: It's kind of like the Ellis Island, the Liberty Island

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Speaker 1: of Miami. So many Cuban refugees went through in the

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Speaker 1: nineteen sixties when it happened today, May twentieth, maint Demayo

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Speaker 1: Cuban Independence Day, but much more than that. So that's

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Speaker 1: that's the huge symbolism of it. But more than that,

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Speaker 1: it is happening at a time when tensions and friction

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Speaker 1: between the US and Cuba are at our record high.

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Speaker 1: For months now since Venezuela, since the Venezuela operation extricating Maduro,

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Speaker 1: the US government, the Trump administration, has been tightening the

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Speaker 1: screws on Cuba. They have a naval blockade where oil

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Speaker 1: is not allowed in the island right now is in shambles.

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Speaker 1: There's no fuel, there's no food, there's no electricity. They

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Speaker 1: are living through great periods. Most of the day they

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Speaker 1: spend without electricity, so it is a really difficult time.

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Speaker 1: This is what the US government is doing, similar to

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Speaker 1: what they did in Venezuela. This is taking a page

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Speaker 1: out of the Maduro place book, the Venezuela playbook that

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Speaker 1: Donald Trump thinks worked so well there, and they are

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Speaker 1: trying to pressure the Cuban government into regime change. They

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Speaker 1: are trying to pressure the Cuban dictators and their cronies

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Speaker 1: into leaving Cuba going into exile and there being a

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Speaker 1: complete change of government in Cuba. This has been going

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Speaker 1: on now for months and months and months. So far,

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Speaker 1: the Cuban government has resisted despite the fact that there

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Speaker 1: have been high level meetings and negotiations between the CIA

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Speaker 1: director and Raoul Castro's grandchildren who run the place. So

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Speaker 1: Raoul Castro is now indicted by the by the American government,

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Speaker 1: what does that mean? The answer is, I don't know.

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Speaker 1: I don't know if it's going to turn into a

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Speaker 1: Maduro situation where the US Army, the US Armed Forces

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Speaker 1: are going to drop into Cuba and extricate this decrepit

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Speaker 1: ninety four year old criminal. I don't know if it's

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Speaker 1: a symbolic pressure point, one more to add to the

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Speaker 1: toolkit that the US is applying to get rid of

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Speaker 1: this regime. I do know that this is going to

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Speaker 1: cause great jubilation and celebration in Miami amongst the Cuban

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Speaker 1: American community. The Cuban American community has been amongst the

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Speaker 1: most stalwart supporters of Donald Trump. Donald Trump won Florida

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Speaker 1: one Miami Day for the first time in decade for

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Speaker 1: a Republican thanks to the strong support unwavering support he

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Speaker 1: has received from the Cuban American community and the Cuban

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Speaker 1: American community since the Venezuela operation in January. Since the

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Speaker 1: Iran war, they have been waiting their turn and wondering

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Speaker 1: when it's going to be Cuba's turn to be free,

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Speaker 1: to be liberated. So that is where we are. We

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Speaker 1: don't know if this is going to lead to more action,

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Speaker 1: know what the response by the Cuban government, if any,

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Speaker 1: is going to be. So far they have resisted. We

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Speaker 1: do know that Donald Trump is emboldened by what happened

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Speaker 1: in Venezuela and Cuba. There is no vice president. There

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Speaker 1: is no number two with whom they can make deals

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Speaker 1: and who can turn into a Trump tody. That just

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Speaker 1: doesn't exist in Cuba. We are waiting to see. I

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Speaker 1: will tell you this much. You know, I disagree on

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Speaker 1: a whole lot of things with Donald Trump. I agree

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Speaker 1: with this indictment. Do I agree in a military operation, No,

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Speaker 1: I'm not there, but I agree with this indictment. There

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Speaker 1: is no doubt that Raoul Castro is a criminal. There

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Speaker 1: is no doubt that he ordered the murder of American citizens.

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Speaker 1: He's also done far more than that, Cuba has destabilized

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Speaker 1: the entire region in Latin America, helping governments like Venezuela,

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Speaker 1: helping leftisc government, and so we are going to yet

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Speaker 1: see what's going to happen as a result of this indictment.

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Speaker 1: But today, a criminal who has oppressed his country, who

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Speaker 1: has violated the human rights of Cubans for almost seventy years,

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Speaker 1: has been indicted by the US government, and the symbolism

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Speaker 1: of that will not be lost on the Cuban American community.

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Speaker 1: And let's see where this goes. But I hope that

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Speaker 1: you now understand all of the machinations and what happened,

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Speaker 1: how what's led to this, and why we are here today.

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Speaker 1: Thank you for joining Bleep with Anna Navarro. We have

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Speaker 1: a new episode coming out on Monday. Thank you. Bleep

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Speaker 1: with Anna Navarro is a high Finite media group production

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