The United States is reportedly moving toward a possible indictment of former Cuban leader Raúl Castro over the 1996 downing of planes belonging to a Cuban exile group.
The United States is reportedly taking steps toward a possible indictment of former Cuban president Raúl Castro over the 1996 downing of aircraft belonging to a Cuban exile organisation.
According to reports by CBS News and USA Today, U.S. officials are exploring legal action connected to the deadly incident that occurred nearly three decades ago.
The potential indictment reportedly centres on the February 24, 1996 shootdown of two aircraft operated by the Miami-based exile group Brothers to the Rescue.
The Cuban Air Force had claimed at the time that the Cessna planes violated Cuban airspace.
However, the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) later concluded that the aircraft were flying over international waters when they were shot down. Three U.S. citizens were among those killed in the incident.
Reports indicated that any formal indictment would typically require approval from a grand jury.
Several U.S. lawmakers have long pushed for criminal charges against Castro, accusing him of authorising the operation while serving as Cuba’s defence minister.
The Governor of Florida, Ron DeSantis, reacted to the reports on X, expressing support for possible charges against the former Cuban leader.
“Let ‘er rip, it’s been a long time coming!” DeSantis reportedly wrote.
Castro, now 94, stepped down as president of Cuba in 2018 and relinquished leadership of the Communist Party in 2021.
Although he no longer plays an active day-to-day political role, he remains one of the most influential surviving figures from Cuba’s revolutionary era and is widely regarded as a key adviser to President Miguel Díaz-Canel.
Raúl Castro is also the younger brother of late Cuban revolutionary leader Fidel Castro.
Relations between the United States and Cuba have remained strained since the 1959 Cuban Revolution and have worsened further since the return of President Donald Trump to office.
In January 2025, the Trump administration returned Cuba to the U.S. list of state sponsors of terrorism.
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