Raúl Castro, the former Cuban president, has been indicted on murder charges in the United States, court records unsealed on May 20 show. The move marks intensifying U.S. pressure on the communist regime as the island grapples with severe economic turmoil.
The charges stem from his alleged role in Cuba’s 1996 shooting down of two planes belonging to a humanitarian group called Brothers to the Rescue, in which three U.S. citizens and one lawful resident were killed.
The indictment against Castro, filed in federal court in Miami, charges him with one count of conspiracy to kill U.S. nationals, four counts of murder, and two counts of destruction of aircraft. Five other people are also named as defendants in the case.
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche and South Florida U.S. Attorney Jason Quiñones are expected to detail the indictment at a press conference in Miami, home to many Cuban exiles.
Castro, 94, is the younger brother of longtime dictator Fidel Castro. Alongside Fidel Castro and Marxist revolutionary figure Che Guevara, he helped lead the guerrilla warfare that overthrew dictator Fulgencio Batista in 1959.
In 2006, Raúl Castro assumed leadership of Cuba after his brother’s health began to deteriorate, and he officially became president in 2008.
He led the country until his retirement in April 2021, when he transferred power to the current president, Miguel Díaz-Canel.
Raúl Castro was indicted for his role in the 1996 attack on two Brothers to the Rescue civilian aircraft by Cuban MiG fighter jets.
He was the Cuban defense minister at the time.
The attack resulted in the deaths of three American citizens—Armando Alejandre, Jr., Carlos Costa, and Mario de la Pena—as well as a legal U.S. resident, Pablo Morales.
The incident led to a significant diplomatic crisis between the United States and Cuba during U.S. President Bill Clinton’s administration.
Soon after, Congress passed the Helms-Burton Act, which reinforced and codified the longstanding U.S. economic embargo against the island.
A group of U.S. lawmakers, led by Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart (R-Fla.), a Cuban American, sent a letter to President Donald Trump dated Feb. 13 calling for Castro’s indictment.
“It is our understanding, based on public information, that on Feb. 24, 1996, Raul Castro ordered a Cuban Mig fighter jet to engage and obliterate two Brothers to the Rescue civilian aircraft over international waters,” the letter stated.
“Those four brave men were flying small civilian aircraft over the Straits of Florida to identify and help rescue Cuban rafters making the perilous escape from totalitarian Cuba.”
The indictment of Raúl Castro coincided with Cuban Independence Day, which marks the official birth of the Republic of Cuba on May 20, 1902, following centuries of Spanish rule.
Trump issued a statement marking Independence Day and promised “a new Golden Age for the island and its people.”
“America will not tolerate a rogue state harboring hostile foreign military, intelligence and terror operations just 90 miles from the American homeland, and we will not rest until the people of Cuba once again have the freedom their forefathers fought so valiantly to establish over 100 years ago,” Trump said.