United States federal prosecutors announced today that they had indicted Raúl Castro, the former President of Cuba and brother of Cuban revolutionary leader Fidel Castro, over the downing of two civilian planes in 1996. 

The U.S. Justice Department has accused Castro, who was defense minister at the time of the incident, of ordering the Cuban Air Force to shoot down the planes.

The move ramps up pressure on the island, which Washington has subjected to a near-total oil blockade since January, and raises concerns that the U.S. is preparing an operation similar to the one that removed Nicolás Maduro from Venezuela earlier this year. 

Today’s charges relate to the killing of four members of the Miami-based Cuban dissident group Hermanos Al Rescate (Brothers to the Rescue), who were operating the planes when they were shot down on February 24, 1996. Three were American citizens and one was a U.S. resident. 

According to acting U.S. Attorney-General Todd Blance, Castro has been formally charged with conspiring to kill U.S. nationals. 

The issue of whether or not the planes were shot down in Cuban or international airspace is still a matter of debate. 

Florida’s Attorney-General had announced in March that a state investigation into Raúl Castro’s involvement would be reopened, a move which was endorsed by many Republican politicians, including Florida Senator Rick Scott. 

Tensions between the U.S. and Cuba have been rising precipitously, as the North American superpower has enforced a near-total oil blockade on the island, ratcheted up punitive sanctions targeting Cuban officials and demanded in ongoing negotiations between the two countries that the current Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel step down. 

Some have likened the charges brought against Castro to those directed at former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro before his capture earlier this year. Maduro was charged with drug trafficking in the U.S. in 2020, an accusation which served as justification for his forced removal from power by the U.S. military. 

It remains to be seen whether the charges against Castro will result in a similar U.S. operation in Cuba. 

Featured Image: Raúl Castro in 2016.  

Image Credit: Presidencia de El Salvador via Wikimedia Commons

License: Creative Commons Licenses

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