DOJ indicts Raul Castro over 1996 shootdown of US civilian planes
Raul Castro,the former Cuban president adn brother of Fidel Castro,was indicted in the United States as part of an intensified Trump administration effort targeting Cuba’s communist goverment. Before the indictment was formally unsealed, the Justice Department requested that the indictment against Castro and five others be made public, though the docket initially did not list the charges.
Prosecutors are expected to accuse Castro-then Cuba’s defense minister-of involvement in the Feb. 24,1996 downing of two civilian planes operated by the Miami-based exile group Brothers to the Rescue,an attack that killed all four men aboard,including three U.S. citizens. Cuba has previously defended the strike as a lawful response to alleged airspace violations, though the U.S. condemned it and later tightened sanctions.
The indictment is set against broader U.S. pressure on Cuba and signals of possible regime-change support. Trump has argued the U.S. won’t tolerate hostile operations so close to the country, while Secretary of State Marco Rubio offered Cubans a new relationship and up to $100 million in aid. Cuba’s foreign minister criticized Rubio but did not respond directly to the aid offer, and Cuban officials did not immediately comment on the indictment. The move is also likened to an earlier U.S. case involving former Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.
Former Cuban President Raul Castro was indicted in the United States on Wednesday in a dramatic escalation of the Trump administration’s pressure campaign against Cuba’s communist government.
Prior to the indictment’s formal unsealing, a request by the Justice Department emerged on the federal court docket asking for an indictment against Castro and five others to be unsealed. The docket did not include descriptions of the charges.
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The indictment, which was set to be formally addressed at a DOJ event in Miami honoring victims of the 1996 Brothers to the Rescue shootdown on Wednesday, marks one of the rare instances in modern U.S. history in which a former foreign head of state has faced criminal prosecution in a United States court.
Federal prosecutors are expected to accuse Castro, 94, of playing a role in the Feb. 24, 1996, downing of two civilian aircraft operated by the Miami-based Cuban exile group Brothers to the Rescue. Cuban MiG fighter jets fired missiles at the planes, killing all four men aboard, including three U.S. citizens.
Castro, the brother of the late Fidel Castro, who ran Cuba as a communist state for decades, was serving as Cuba’s defense minister at the time of the incident. The Cuban government has long defended the attack as a lawful response to alleged violations of Cuban airspace, although the United States condemned the strike and later tightened sanctions on Havana.
From 2008 to 2011, Castro ran Cuba as the leader of the country’s Communist Party. He stepped down from those positions more than a decade ago but maintains a role in Cuba’s national assembly.
The indictment comes as President Donald Trump has intensified efforts to isolate Cuba economically and politically while openly signaling support for regime change on the island.
Earlier Wednesday, Trump declared that “America will not tolerate a rogue state harboring hostile foreign military, intelligence and terror operations just ninety miles from the American homeland.”
🇺🇸🇨🇺 pic.twitter.com/nwEePVJ1lX
— Secretary Marco Rubio (@SecRubio) May 20, 2026
Secretary of State Marco Rubio also posted a video message on Wednesday, speaking in Spanish, addressing the people of Cuba with an offer to begin a new relationship, adding that the U.S. could provide up to $100 million in aid.
Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez responded to Rubio, calling him “the mouthpiece of corrupt and vengeful interests,” but did not address the aid offer.
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The move also recalls the Trump administration’s earlier indictment of former Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, which preceded a U.S. operation that brought Maduro to New York to face criminal charges.
Cuban officials did not immediately comment after the indictment Wednesday, although President Miguel Diaz-Canel warned earlier this week that any U.S. military action against Cuba would lead to a “bloodbath.”
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