(WASHINGTON, DC) Congresswoman Nicole Malliotakis released the following statement regarding the U.S. Department of Justice’s announcement of the indictment of longtime Cuban dictator Raúl Castro:

“For decades, Cuba has harbored our fugitives, provided safe haven for terrorists and our adversaries to operate, and oppressed and even murdered its own people in addition to American citizens. Today’s multiple-count indictment, which includes murder, sends a clear message that this brutal communist regime’s crimes will no longer be ignored and that those responsible for decades of repression, violence, and corruption must and will be brought to justice.

President Donald Trump, Secretary Marco Rubio, and the U.S. Department of Justice are right to hold this regime accountable for the cold-blooded murder of American citizens conducting a humanitarian mission in 1996. This administration is doing what the Clinton Administration and every other since has refused to do delivering justice for the families of Carlos Costa, Armando Alejandre, Jr., Mario de la Peña, and Pablo Morales. It is my sincere hope, as the daughter of a Cuban refugee who fled the communist regime of Castro in 1959, that this begins the process of regime change. For decades, the Cuban people have suffered under this brutal communist dictatorship. They deserve freedom, justice, and a future free from oppression and tyranny, and the United States will continue to stand with them.”