MIAMI: The United States has charged former Cuban leader Raúl Castro with conspiracy to kill US nationals and several other offences linked to the 1996 downing of two aircraft over waters between Cuba and Florida.
The case, unveiled on Wednesday, accuses Castro and five others of involvement in the shooting down of planes operated by the Cuban-American group Brothers to the Rescue. The incident killed four people, including three American citizens.
Castro, now 94, was serving as head of Cuba’s armed forces at the time and faced widespread international condemnation following the crash.
As Washington intensifies pressure on Cuba’s communist government, Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel dismissed the charges as “a political manoeuvre, devoid of any legal foundation”.
Speaking at the Freedom Tower in Miami, Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche announced that the United States would also charge Castro with destruction of aircraft and four separate counts of murder over the deaths of Armando Alejandre Jr, Carlos Alberto Costa, Mario Manuel de la Peña, and Pablo Morales.
“The United States, and President Trump, does not, and will not, forget its citizens,” Blanche said during the announcement.
The charges must now proceed through a US court, with some carrying the possibility of life imprisonment. Each murder charge also carries a maximum penalty of either death or life in prison.
The new case by the Justice Department targets one of the most recognisable figures of Cuba’s communist leadership at a time when the island nation faces mounting US demands for major political and economic reforms.
William LeoGrande, an expert on Latin American politics at American University, said the strategy appeared aimed at steadily increasing pressure on Havana.
“I think the strategy is to increase the pressure gradually to the point where the Cuban government will give in and surrender at the bargaining table,” he said.
Earlier on Wednesday, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio issued a message to the Cuban people to coincide with the country’s independence day.
“President Trump is offering a new path between the US and a new Cuba,” Rubio said.
Rubio also alleged that the military-run conglomerate GAESA was largely responsible for the blackouts and food shortages affecting Cubans. GAESA controls or operates major sectors of the Cuban economy, including ports, fuel stations, and luxury hotels.
In response, Díaz-Canel accused Washington of spreading falsehoods and imposing collective punishment on the Cuban people.
The Cuban president further argued that the indictment against Castro was being used to “justify the folly of a military aggression against Cuba” and accused the US of distorting facts surrounding the 1996 incident.
He maintained that Cuba had acted in “legitimate self-defence within its jurisdictional waters”.
When reporters asked whether Castro could be brought to the United States to face trial, Blanche confirmed that an arrest warrant had been issued.
Although he declined to say whether the US would attempt to capture Castro, Blanche added: “We expect he will show up here, by his own will or another way.”
LeoGrande said he believed Washington could be prepared to detain the former Cuban leader “if the Cubans don’t surrender at the bargaining table”.
The comments come months after the United States carried out a military operation in January to seize former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro after he was indicted by the Justice Department.
Analysts said the move dramatically altered relations between Washington and Caracas, although LeoGrande cautioned that Cuba’s situation was different, particularly because Castro stepped down from office nearly a decade ago.
Now approaching 95, Castro — the younger brother of late Cuban revolutionary leader Fidel Castro — remains an influential figure in Cuba and is still recognised by supporters as a surviving leader of the Cuban Revolution.
Although he no longer holds active government or party positions, Castro oversaw a brief thaw in relations between Havana and Washington during his presidency from 2008 to 2018 alongside former US president Barack Obama.
Blanche declined to compare Castro’s case with that of Maduro when questioned by journalists.
US President Donald Trump was also asked whether politics played a role in the indictment.
“A lot of those people are related to me in the sense that I’ve had such a great relationship with Cuban-Americans,” Trump said. “On a humanitarian basis, we’re here to help.”
Legal experts believe Castro is unlikely to be extradited or appear before a US court, though they say authorities appear determined to keep all options available.
Attorney Lindsey Lazopoulos Friedman, who previously served as a prosecutor in the US attorney’s office in Miami, said Castro would receive the same legal protections as any other defendant if he were ever brought before the court, including the right to a jury trial.
“No one expects that the case will follow this typical path,” Friedman said, adding that the indictment was “compelling” and backed by substantial evidence.
At the Miami event where the indictment was announced, many Cuban Americans and exile organisations welcomed the development.
The venue was filled with photographs of the four victims killed in the 1996 incident, and several attendees described the charges as long-overdue justice.
“It was time, 67 years of that murderous regime,” said Isela Fiterre. “Raúl Castro did not merely kill four individuals. Over the course of many years, he has killed countless people.”
She thanked the Trump administration for taking action and said justice should never come too late.
Another attendee, Mercedes Puid-Soto, said she felt “very happy” about the announcement.
“Justice has been served,” she said. “It’s very important that the families can close that chapter, and we Cubans too.”
Despite the celebrations among exile groups, experts cautioned that the indictment could further escalate tensions between Washington and Havana.
Roxanna Vigil, an international affairs fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, said questions remained over whether the Trump administration might use the indictment in a similar manner to the Maduro case to justify future military action.
“It’s unlikely that the Cuban regime will surrender to the United States without a fight,” Vigil said. She also noted that any cooperation with Havana would likely face strong opposition from the Cuban diaspora community in the United States.
Reports suggest that US and Cuban representatives — including Castro’s grandson Raúl Guillermo Rodriguez Castro — have held discussions in recent months. However, analysts believe the new charges are unlikely to improve those contacts.
Instead, Cuban state media has responded by strongly rejecting what it called “false accusations” and reinforcing Havana’s stance of offering “no surrender, no concessions” under US pressure.