Former Cuban president Raúl Castro has been charged with murder and other crimes by the United States, for his alleged role in shooting down two civilian aircraft operated by Cuban exiles in February 1996, off the coast of the Caribbean island.
The allegations come as part of escalating pressure by the Trump administration on Cuba’s socialist government to open its economy to American investment.
Castro, now 94, was Cuba’s defence minister at the time the small planes were shot down.
What are the charges as contained in the indictment?
The planes were operated by Brothers to the Rescue, a group based in the US city of Miami which had been dropping leaflets over Cuba’s capital Havana, urging Cubans to rise up against their government.
Russian-made fighter jets downed the two unarmed civilian aircraft, killing all four men aboard the planes. A third plane escaped the attack.
Castro is accused of authorising the use of deadly force against Brothers to the Rescue, after the group also flew planes that dropped pro-democracy leaflets over Cuba the month before, in January 1996.
Then-Cuban president Fidel Castro and his brother Raul in 2003. (Picture: Adalberto Roque/AFP via Getty Images)Prosecutors said Castro and his older brother, then-Cuban president Fidel Castro, were the final decision makers on the kill orders. Fidel Castro died in November 2016.
Raul Castro and five other people, have been charged. Castro is accused of conspiracy to kill Americans and multiple counts of murder and destruction of aircraft.
The murder and conspiracy charges carry a maximum punishment of the death penalty or life in prison.
Acting US Attorney General Todd Blanche announcing criminal charges against former Cuban President Raul Castro. (Picture: Marco Bello/Reuters)Will Castro ever face charges in a US courtroom?
Acting US Attorney General Todd Blanche, who announced the charges on Wednesday in Miami, said he expected Castro to appear in the US for prosecution, either by “his own will or by another way.”
Blanche said the federal government often indicts people who are outside the United States and uses a variety of methods to bring them to justice.
Former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro was indicted on drug-related charges before he and his wife were seized by US Special Forces in the Venezuelan capital of Caracas in January.
An image posted by US President Donald Trump which he said showed Nicolas Maduro blindfolded on navy ship the USS Iwo Jima (Picture: Truth Social)What has been the reaction to the indictment?
Cuba’s current president, Miguel Díaz-Canel, condemned the indictment against Castro and accused US officials of lying about the 1996 shootdown of the planes.
He called it “a political action without any legal basis, that only seeks to bolster the case they are fabricating to justify the folly of a military aggression against Cuba.”
He wrote on X that the shootdown of the planes was “legitimate self-defence” after repeated and dangerous violations of Cuba’s airspace by “notorious terrorists.”
The Cuban government said in a statement that the Cuban people fully support Castro. “Homeland or Death, We Will Prevail,” the statement said.
Marlene Alejandre-Triana, whose father, Armando Alejandre Jr, was among those killed in the 1996 shootdown, called the charges “long overdue.” She said her father only wanted to bring freedom to his Cuban homeland.
Who is Raul Castro?
Castro served as minister of the Cuban military during his brother Fidel’s decades-long reign as president. He took over as president in 2006 while his brother was ailing and served until 2018, when he handed over power to Díaz-Canel, a trusted loyalist.
In 2008, Castro launched a series of reforms that expanded Cuba’s private sector and allowed citizens greater freedom to travel and access information.
In 2014, he led historic talks with former then-US president Barack Obama that resulted in the reopening of embassies and the re-establishment of diplomatic relations.
While he retired in 2021 as head of the Cuban Communist Party, he is widely believed to wield power behind the scenes.
With AP
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