DOJ indicts fmr Cuban President Raúl Castro on murder charges
OAN Staff Sophia Flores
10:51 AM – Wednesday, May 20, 2026
The Department of Justice (DOJ) has indicted the former President of Cuba, Raúl Castro, in connection with his alleged involvement in the 1996 shootdown of two planes operated by the Miami-based exile group Brothers to the Rescue.
On Wednesday, an unsealed superseding indictment in the U.S. District Court in the Southern District of Florida revealed that 94-year-old Castro has been charged with conspiracy to kill Americans, four counts of murder and two counts of destruction of aircraft. Five others have been charged in connection with the incident.
The charges stem from a 1996 incident, in which a Cuban fighter jet shot down two Cessna aircraft operated by Brothers to the Rescue, an exile group that searched for Cubans attempting to flee the island nation on rafts.
Four people aboard the planes were killed, including three American citizens and one permanent U.S. resident. Following the shootdown, the United States alleged that Cuba had violated international law. Nonetheless, despite the new charges, a trial is considered unlikely as Cuba does not extradite individuals to the United States.
Castro served as president of Cuba from 2008 to 2018. He also served as a top official of the country’s Communist Party from 2011 to 2021.
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