US prosecutors charge Raúl Castro over 1996 exile aircraft shootdown

MIAMI (AP): Federal authorities yesterday unveiled criminal charges against former Cuban leader Raúl Castro over the 1996 destruction of civilian aircraft flown by Cuban exiles based in Miami, marking another move by the Trump administration to increase pressure on Cuba’s socialist leadership.

The case centres on claims that Castro was involved in the shooting down of two light aircraft used by Brothers to the Rescue, an exile organisation. Castro, who is now 94, was serving as Cuba’s defence minister when the incident took place. Prosecutors listed murder and destruction of an aircraft among the charges.

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, joined by senior Justice Department officials, disclosed the indictment in Miami during an event remembering the people who died in the attack.

“For nearly 30 years, the families of four murdered Americans have waited for justice,” Blanche said. “They were unarmed civilians and were flying humanitarian missions for the rescue and protection of people fleeing oppression across the Florida straits.”

Pressed on how far US officials would go to have Castro appear before an American court, Blanche said: “There was a warrant issued for his arrest. So we expect that he will show up here, by his own will or by another way.”

Blanche added that US prosecutors often bring cases against people who are outside the country and rely on different means to get them before the courts.

Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel denounced the indictment, saying Washington was distorting and falsely presenting what happened in 1996. He described the move as “a political action without any legal basis” intended only to “bolster the case they are fabricating to justify the folly of a military aggression against Cuba”.

Writing on X, Díaz-Canel said Cuba had acted in “legitimate self-defence within its territorial waters after repeated and dangerous violations of its airspace by notorious terrorists”.

He also said US authorities had been alerted at the time about the airspace breaches but permitted them to continue.