As the Trump administration ramps up pressure on the Cuban government, the Justice Department and FBI announced a federal indictment Wednesday against the island nation’s former president, Raúl Castro, the brother of longtime Cuban leader Fidel Castro.
Raúl Castro, 94, faces charges of murder, conspiracy to kill U.S. nationals and destruction of aircraft, all in connection to the downing of two Miami-based civilian aircraft in 1996.
The indictment was not immediately made public. Five other people, apparently Cuban pilots involved in the operation, also were charged.
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche announced the charges in Miami, the center of the Cuban-American diaspora in the U.S.
“Nations and their leaders cannot be permitted to target Americans, kill them and not face accountability,” Blanche said.
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If convicted, Castro and other defendants could be sentenced to death or life in prison, the Justice Department said.
It was not immediately clear whether the U.S. government would seek to extradite Castro. Early this. year, President Donald Trump authorized a military action to arrest Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, who faced a drug-trafficking indictment in the U.S.
Without a similarly aggressive action to capture Castro, the charges are likely to be merely symbolic, as well as a potential bargaining chip as the U.S. seeks a regime change in Cuba.
Case stems from 1996 incident
U.S. officials are accusing Castro and other Cuban leaders of ordering the Cuban Air Force to shoot down civilian planes affiliated with Brothers to the Rescue, a nonprofit that monitored the waters between Cuba and Florida for makeshift watercraft carrying refugees trying to reach the U.S.
The group also flew over Cuban airspace, dropping leaflets urging a popular uprising against the government. The Clinton administration had assured the Cuban government that it would prevent the organization from breaching Cuba’s borders.
But on Feb. 24, 1996, Cuba’s military shot down the planes over international waters. Four Cuban-Americans from the Miami area were killed.
Cuba’s ambassador to the United Nations, Ernesto Soberón Guzmán, told The New York Times that aircraft affiliated with Brothers to the Rescue entered Cuban airspace 25 times before the planes were shot down.
“How many deliberate and serious violations of U.S. airspace would any U.S. government allow before taking action?” he asked.
Ongoing tensions with Cuba
The case surfaces as the U.S. continues to increase pressure on Cuba’s government in hopes of ousting Cuba’s communist regime.
The island has faced deep economic struggles, including fuel shortages, repeated blackouts and growing poverty.
Just last week, CIA director John Ratcliffe traveled to Cuba and met with officials from the country’s interior ministry, where he said the U.S. was prepared to engage on security and economic issues under certain conditions.
In January 2025, Trump signed an executive order declaring a national emergency with regards to Cuba, saying it presented “an unusual and extraordinary threat” to the U.S. because of its ties to Iran, Russia and China.
While it is not clear whether the U.S. has planned military operations against Cuba, Trump has said the country is “next in line” after the conflict with Iran.
Castro became Cuba’s president when his brother, who led the Cuban revolution of the 1950s, stepped down in 2008. Raúl Castro stayed in office until 2018 and served as the head of the Communist Party of Cuba until 2021.
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