Former Cuban president Raúl Castro indicted in US over 1996 fatal downing of two planes
Prosecutors say Castro authorized the shootdown that killed four men, and the indictment also charges five other Cuban military figures.
- On Wednesday, the U.S. Justice Department unsealed an indictment charging former Cuban President Raúl Castro with murder, conspiracy to kill U.S. nationals, and aircraft destruction tied to the 1996 shootdown of two civilian planes.
- Cuban MiG-29 fighter jets destroyed two unarmed Brothers to the Rescue Cessna aircraft over international waters on February 24, 1996, killing four men after the regime repeatedly warned the group to cease overflights.
- Prosecutors allege Castro, the former defense minister, authorized the use of deadly force against the humanitarian group, building on decades of federal investigation into the regime's military actions.
- Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel condemned the charges as having "no legal basis," while U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio urged the Cuban people to demand free-market leadership in a Spanish-language video.
- Although extradition remains unlikely as Castro resides in Cuba, legal experts suggest the indictment serves as a tactical pressure point for future diplomatic concessions, mirroring strategies used against former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.
601 Articles
601 Articles
US indicts former Cuban President Raúl Castro over 1996 downing of planes
Federal prosecutors on Wednesday charged former Cuban President Raúl Castro with ordering the 1996 shootdown of civilian planes operated by Miami-based exiles in 1996 off the coast of the Caribbean island, a major escalation of pressure by the Trump administration on the socialist government.The allegations come as part of escalating pressure by the Trump administration on Cuba's socialist government to open its economy to American investment an…
PRESS RELEASE. With the indictment of the fort man of Havana, the American embrace on Cuba tightens up a little more. Is it moving towards an intervention of the same kind as the one conducted by the United States against Nicolas Maduro in Venezuela?This Wednesday, the American court charged the former Cuban president Raúl Castro, 94. The announcement by the interim attorney general, Todd Blanche, took place at the Freedom Tower of Miami, where …
Raul Castro charged in 1996 aircraft shootdown that killed 4 Americans
Former Cuban leader Raul Castro, the younger brother of Fidel Castro, and five other men have been charged in the 1996 shootdown of two unarmed Brothers to the Rescue aircraft over international waters, an attack that killed four people, including three U.S. citizens, according to the Justice Department. The superseding indictment, unsealed Wednesday in federal court in Miami, charges Castro, 94, of Holguin, Cuba, along with Lorenzo Alberto Pere…
The U.S. indicted Raul Castro. Will they bring him to Miami to be prosecuted?
MIAMI — In the moments after he announced that a grand jury had indicted Raúl Castro for the shoot-down of two Brothers to the Rescue planes in 1996, Acting U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche was asked the same question over…
Why the US has decided to charge Cuba's 94yo ex-president with murder
Former Cuban president Raúl Castro has been charged with murder and other crimes by the United States, for his alleged role in shooting down two civilian aircraft operated by Cuban exiles in February 1996, off the coast of the Caribbean island. The allegations come as part of escalating pressure by the Trump administration on Cuba’s socialist government to open its economy to American investment. Castro, now 94, was Cuba’s defence minister at th…
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