The United States unsealed a federal indictment Thursday charging former Cuban President Raúl Castro with murder and related counts tied to the 1996 shootdown of two civilian aircraft flown by the humanitarian group Brothers to the Rescue, according to officials and court filings.
Castro, 94, is charged with murder, conspiracy to kill U.S. nationals and destruction of an aircraft in connection with the downing over the Florida Straits that killed four men, officials said.
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche announced the case at a press conference at Miami’s Freedom Tower, joined by U.S. Attorney Jason Reding Quinones, FBI Deputy Director Christopher Raia, Sen. Ashley Moody and Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier.
Prosecutors also charged additional defendants. The indictment centers on events in 1996, when Cuba’s military shot down the unarmed planes operated by Brothers to the Rescue, a group known for flying missions to spot Cuban refugees at sea and relay their coordinates to the U.S. Coast Guard.
Officials said prosecutors allege a 12-minute recording exists in which Castro can be heard discussing the planning and execution of the shootdown.
For relatives of the victims, the announcement brought a jolt of long-sought accountability. “At this point, yeah, it’d be great if they could bring him and whatever he has left in his life, spend it in prison,” Mirita Mendez told one news outlet. Her younger brother, Carlos Costa, was among those killed.
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Castro formally stepped down as head of Cuba’s Communist Party in 2021, but U.S. officials and Cuban exiles have long argued he still casts a shadow over the island’s leadership.
The indictment lands as President Donald Trump intensifies pressure on Havana and pushes for political and economic changes in the communist-run nation. The administration has threatened steep tariffs on countries that sell or supply oil to Cuba, a move officials say has tightened the screws on an already fragile economy and deepened blackouts and energy shortages.
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In a video address to Cubans released Thursday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said “the only thing standing in the way of a better future are those who control your country.” Rubio, who is Cuban-American, argued the island’s hardship stems from its leaders, not Washington, and said the United States is ready “to help you not only alleviate the current crisis, but also to build a better future.”
Even with tensions climbing, behind-the-scenes contacts have continued. Earlier this month, CIA Director John Ratcliffe met with Cuban officials, including Raúl Castro’s grandson, Raúl Guillermo Rodríguez Castro, as well as Interior Minister Lázaro Álvarez Casas and the head of Cuba’s intelligence services, according to U.S. and Cuban officials.
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A statement from Cuba’s government acknowledged that the meeting “took place … against a backdrop of complex bilateral relations.” U.S. officials said Ratcliffe warned that Cuba cannot remain a “safe haven for adversaries in the Western Hemisphere,” while Cuban officials insisted the island poses no threat to U.S. security and protested Cuba’s continued placement on the U.S. list of state sponsors of terrorism.
Rodríguez Castro, who has not held a formal government post, has operated close to the regime’s inner circle, serving as his grandfather’s bodyguard and later leading Cuba’s version of the Secret Service, according to reports cited by U.S. officials. He also has been linked to discreet contacts with Rubio earlier this year at a regional summit.
Florida officials have steadily pushed to revive legal efforts tied to the Brothers to the Rescue shootdown. Uthmeier said earlier this year that his office was reopening a state investigation, a move backed by victims’ families and Cuban exile groups.
Castro’s indictment also fits a broader effort by federal and state officials to target senior Cuban leaders over alleged crimes ranging from economic offenses to violence and immigration-related violations, with the Communist Party’s top ranks in the crosshairs.
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