Raul Castro Indicted for 1996 Aircraft Attack by US Prosecutors

Former Cuban President Raul Castro has been indicted by U.S. federal prosecutors for his alleged role in the 1996 downing of two aircraft operated by the Miami-based group Brothers to the Rescue.

The indictment, unsealed on Wednesday, accuses Castro, who was then Cuba’s defense minister, of ordering the attack that killed four Americans on February 24, 1996. U.S. prosecutors charged Castro with conspiracy to kill US nationals, four counts of murder and two counts of destroying an aircraft. Five co-defendants were also named.

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche stated that for nearly 30 years, the families of the murdered Americans have waited for justice. The aircraft belonged to Brothers to the Rescue, a group founded to help Cuban migrants crossing the Florida Straits.

U.S. investigators previously concluded the planes were shot down over international waters, while Cuba maintained the aircraft had violated or neared Cuban airspace. Cuba’s current president, Miguel Diaz-Canel, dismissed the indictment as politically motivated and accused the Trump administration of “lying and manipulating the events” of 1996.