UNITED States federal prosecutors have indicted Cuba’s former President Raul Castro in connection with the 1996 downing of planes operated by the Miami-based exile group Brothers to the Rescue.
The indictment, unsealed on Wednesday, marks one of the sharpest escalations in tensions between Washington and Havana in years.
The US Department of Justice alleges that Castro, Cuba’s defence minister at the time, played a leading role in the decision to have Cuban fighter jets shoot down two civilian aircraft on February 24, 1996.
It has charged Castro with one count of conspiracy to kill US nationals, four counts of murder and two counts of destroying an aircraft. Five co-defendants were also named in the indictment.
Four people were killed in the 1996 attack, which triggered international condemnation and deepened the strains between the US and Cuba.
“ For nearly 30 years, the families of four murdered Americans have waited for justice,” acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said as he announced the charges at Miami’s Freedom Tower.
“ My message today is clear: The United States and President Trump does not and will not forget its citizens.”
He described the four men who were killed — Carlos Costa, Armando Alejandre Jr, Mario de la Pena, and Pablo Morales — as “unarmed civilians” engaged in “humanitarian missions for the rescue and protection of people fleeing oppression across the Florida Straits”.
“Nations and their leaders cannot be permitted to target Americans, kill them, and not face accountability,” Blanche added. “If you kill Americans, we will pursue you, no matter who you are, no matter what title you hold, and in this case, no matter how much time has passed.”
Kash Patel, the director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, also called the indictment “a major step toward accountability”.
Brothers to the Rescue began operating in 1991 during a wave of Cuban migration to the United States. Founded by Cuban exile Jose Basulto, the group aimed to help Cuban refugees crossing the Florida Straits by locating rafters at sea and alerting the US Coast Guard.
US officials and international investigators said the planes were attacked over international waters, while Cuba maintained the aircraft had violated or approached Cuban airspace.
Then-President Fidel Castro later denied that he or Raul Castro gave a direct order to shoot down the planes.
After the indictment was unveiled, Cuba’s current leader, Miguel Diaz-Canel, dismissed the charges as an act of political theatre.
He also accused the administration of US President Donald Trump of “lying and manipulating the events” of 1996 to make the case for military action against Cuba.
“This is a political manoeuvre, devoid of any legal basis, aimed solely at padding the dossier they are fabricating to justify the folly of a military aggression against Cuba,” Diaz-Canel wrote on social media.
Orlando Perez, a political science professor at the University of North Texas at Dallas, told Al Jazeera that the timing of the indictment appears linked to a broader US pressure campaign against Havana.
“I think it’s important to look at the sequence of recent events,” Perez said.