The Cuban Government rejected any link to a Russian criminal network, following unsubstantiated accusations from the United States regarding Havana's participation in an assassination plot on American soil, in which two Cuban nationals are allegedly involved.
"True to its habit of resorting to groundless slander, the U.S. State Department has launched yet another veiled accusation against Cuba, related to two Cuban-born citizens residing in other countries who are alleged to be connected to a crime," Cuban Deputy Foreign Minister Josefina Vidal stated on X.
The day before, the U.S. State Department once again singled out Cuba as a persistent threat for operating in that country "on behalf" of "adversaries," citing an FBI investigation that names two Cubans, one Venezuelan, and two Russians, formally charged for participating in a Kremlin-linked assassination plot.
"The Trump Administration is working to crush these networks once and for all," the State Department stated on X.
Vidal denied the accusation and indicated that Washington is attempting to link Cuba to crimes that have no connection whatsoever to the country.
"This is common practice from those who try to find a pretext to justify the crime of collective punishment against the Cuban people," she added.
The FBI investigation was made public last Monday and identifies a network of five individuals for recruiting Americans to carry out surveillance operations and assassinations of Russian dissidents in the United States.
According to the indictment filed by a federal grand jury in New York, the group also targeted military and civilian infrastructure in countries that supported Ukraine or were aligned with NATO.
The administration of President Donald Trump, particularly its Cuban-born Secretary of State Marco Rubio, has repeatedly denounced Cuba as a threat to U.S. national security.
Cuba has rejected these statements, arguing that the United States is building a fraudulent case to justify its economic war and a potential military aggression against the island.
Relations between Havana and Washington are experiencing their most tense moment in decades, set against a backdrop of a deep internal crisis on the island and a maximum pressure policy from the United States aimed at pushing the island toward sweeping economic and political changes.
Since January, Washington has imposed a petroleum blockade on the island, and secondary sanctions in May that deter foreign companies, further deepening the Caribbean nation's economic and energy crisis.
