U.S. Indicts Raúl Castro, Five Others Over Brothers To The Rescue Plane Shootdown

The U.S. indicted former Cuban leader Raúl Castro and five others in connection with the Cuban military’s fatal downing of two civilian planes flown by the Miami-based exile group Brothers to the Rescue on Feb. 24, 1996, killing four people.

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said at a news conference in Miami, “For nearly 30 years, the families of four murdered Americans have waited for justice,” and the indictment was unsealed in Florida on Wednesday.

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The indictment charges Castro, 94, with conspiracy to kill U.S. nationals, four counts of murder, and two counts of destruction of aircraft, and prosecutors said the planes were outside of Cuban airspace at the time of the shootdown.

The Miami Herald reported the indictment was announced in Miami by Blanche at Miami Dade College’s Freedom Tower, and it said the federal grand jury was led by Jason A. Reding Quiñones, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Florida.

NBC News said the charges were announced during a news conference in front of Miami’s Freedom Tower on May 20, the date recognized as Cuban Independence Day, and it said the civilian planes belonged to Brothers to the Rescue, founded in 1991 by José Basulto and other exiles.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Cuba poses a “national security threat” to the U.S. and that the likelihood of a peaceful agreement is “not high,” while he told reporters diplomacy “remains our preference with Cuba.”

Cuba’s Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez accused Rubio of “lies” and said the island had never posed a threat to the U.S., as the BBC reported his response came a day after the U.S. charged Raúl Castro with murder over the 1996 downing.

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China’s foreign ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun said China “firmly opposes” unilateral sanctions that lack a basis in international law and are not authorised by the UN Security Council, and he urged the U.S. to stop “threatening Cuba with force at every turn.”

Guo said, “China firmly supports Cuba in safeguarding its national sovereignty and national dignity, and opposes external interference,” framing the indictment as part of a broader escalation in tensions between the long-time Cold War rivals.

The BBC also quoted Rubio warning that President Donald Trump had the right and obligation to protect his country against any threat, and it noted Rodríguez also accused the U.S. of “instigat[ing] a military aggression.”

The U.S. said it expects Raúl Castro will be brought to face charges, with Blanche telling reporters there was a warrant for Castro’s arrest and that “we expect that he will show up here, by his own will or by another way.”

NBC News reported Blanche said the Justice Department had been focused on the incident “for a long time,” and it said he declined to get into the specific details of the evidence present to the grand jury.

In Cuba, President Miguel Díaz-Canel said Cuba had acted “in legitimate defense,” and he accused the U.S. on social media of “lying and manipulating the events” related to the 1996 incident.

The Times of India described the indictment as raising tensions between Washington and Havana, quoting former U.S. diplomat Ricardo Zúñiga warning that the indictment could close off communication and make tensions “even more dangerous.”

The Times of India also reported that Díaz-Canel warned that “a blood bath” would await any invading force, while it said anti-Castro groups in Miami believe the communist government could collapse under pressure.