US Charges 94-Year-Old Cuban Revolutionary Leader Raúl Castro With Murder Over 1996 Downing Of Two Planes

The United States Justice Department has formally indicted former Cuban President Raúl Castro on murder and conspiracy charges in connection with the fatal shootdown of two civilian aircraft nearly three decades ago, marking one of the most dramatic escalations in American pressure on the Cuban government in recent memory.

Federal prosecutors in Florida unsealed the indictment on May 20, 2026, charging Castro and five others with murder and conspiracy.

Acting U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche announced the charges, which include conspiracy to kill U.S. nationals, murder, and destruction of aircraft.

The five additional defendants are Cuban fighter pilots involved in carrying out the shooting.

The indictment stems from the events of February 24,1996, when Cuban military jets shot down two small planes operated by Brothers to the Rescue, a Miami-based organisation that conducted humanitarian flight operations across the Florida Straits, searching for Cuban migrants in distress.

All four men aboard the planes were killed. The victims were identified as Carlos Costa, Armando Alejandre Jr., Mario de la Peña, and Pablo Morales, three U.S. citizens and one U.S. legal permanent resident.

U.S. officials allege that Cuban intelligence agents infiltrated Brothers to the Rescue in the early 1990s and relayed detailed information about its flight operations back to the Cuban government, intelligence that was then used by Cuban military leadership in planning the deadly operation.

According to the indictment, all orders to kill within the Cuban military chain of command flowed through Castro and his brother, the late Fidel Castro, as the final decision makers.

At the time of the incident, Raúl Castro was serving as Cuba’s Defence Minister.

He later succeeded his brother as president in 2008 and stepped down in 2018, though he has remained a powerful behind-the-scenes figure in Cuban politics.

The Cuban government has long argued that the strike was a legitimate response to the planes intruding into Cuban airspace, while Fidel Castro previously claimed that Raúl did not give a specific order to shoot the planes down.

Cuba’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla swiftly condemned the indictment, describing the allegations as “illegitimate and illegal.”

The charges, widely viewed as likely to remain symbolic, are part of the Trump administration’s broader campaign of intensified pressure on Cuba.

The announcement was made at a press conference held in front of Miami’s Freedom Tower, a landmark deeply symbolic to the Cuban American community.

Castro is 94 years old and currently resides in Cuba, making any prospect of extradition or trial effectively nil.

Nevertheless, the indictment signals Washington’s intent to maintain a posture of accountability toward Havana, whatever the practical limitations.