The Justice Department is preparing to seek a criminal indictment against Raúl Castro over the 1996 shootdown of two civilian aircraft operated by the anti-Castro group Brothers to the Rescue, according to multiple reports citing U.S. officials.
Federal prosecutors are reportedly examining Castro’s role in the February 24, 1996 incident, when Cuban MiG fighter jets destroyed two unarmed Cessna planes over international waters near Cuba, killing four Cuban-American activists. At the time, Raúl Castro served as Cuba’s defense minister and oversaw the country’s armed forces.
The planes belonged to Brothers to the Rescue, a Miami-based organization known for searching for Cuban refugees at sea and conducting anti-Castro demonstrations. International investigators later concluded the aircraft were outside Cuban territorial airspace when they were shot down.
According to NBC News, the case is being led by prosecutors in the Southern District of Florida and could be formally unveiled pending grand jury approval:
The case must go before a grand jury which decides whether to indict Castro. Charges were expected to be revealed during a public event in Miami on May 20th, which is considered Cuban independence day, according to a person familiar with the investigation.
The law enforcement effort against Castro, the brother of Cuban revolutionary leader Fidel Castro, was part of a wider campaign by the Trump administration designed to force the regime to bow to U.S. demands, including through drastic economic sanctions and threats of potential military action.
President Donald Trump’s frustrations are growing over the Cuban government’s stubborn grip on power despite months of sustained U.S. pressure.
It also bears some resemblance to the approach used against another Latin American nation, Venezuela, also at odds with Washington.
The potential indictment marks a major escalation in already tense U.S.-Cuba relations under the Trump administration, which has intensified sanctions and economic pressure against Havana while publicly considering broader action against senior Cuban officials.
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WTH is the point of this?