The United States has reportedly been looking into indicting 94-year-old Cuban dictator Raúl Castro, brother of Fidel, in connection to the downing of planes 30 years ago.
The indictment would need to be approved by a grand jury and will focus on Cuba shooting down planes operated by the humanitarian group Brothers to the Rescue in 1996, per CBS News.
The plan comes as the U.S. heaps pressure on the Cuban government. The Trump administration has threatened heavy tariffs on any country that exports oil to Cuba, leading to energy shortages as oil shipments are largely cut off. President Trump has pressed for major reforms in Cuba and has floated a “friendly takeover” of the country.
The pressure on Cuba began to pick up in January, after the U.S. military removed Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro from power and flew him to New York to face drug charges. Venezuela was a key partner of Cuba’s before the operation.
Though Raúl Castro stepped down as the Communist Party leader in 2021, experts note he still maintains considerable power in the country, with his grandson, Raúl Guillermo Rodríguez Castro, primarily serving as his representative.
In February 1996, Cuban MiG-29 fighter jets attacked two Cessnas operated by Brothers to the Rescue, a Cuban exile group that searched for dissidents fleeing the island on rafts, killing four people.
“A report by the Organization of American States found the planes were shot down outside Cuban airspace, and alleged that Cuba violated international law by shooting without warning and without evidence that it was necessary,” noted CBS News. “The incident drew outrage at the time, with President Bill Cinton condemning it ‘in the strongest possible terms.’”
Cuba has maintained the planes violated the country’s airspace and had been planning acts of sabotage. At the time, Fidel Castro told reporter Dan Rather that the military had “general orders” to shoot down planes violating Cuban airspace.
Fidel Castro died in 2016.
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