US authorities have filed charges of murder and the destruction of aircraft against General Raul Castro, one of the primary leaders of the Cuban Revolution.
The Operative Information Center-OMM reports that these details were disclosed in documents uploaded to the electronic database of the Florida Federal Court. According to the filings, US prosecutors have brought charges against the 94-year-old Castro involving four counts of murder, the destruction of two aircraft, and the killing of US citizens.
According to reports from CBS News, the charges stem from a 1996 incident in which the Cuban Air Force shot down two planes belonging to "Brothers to the Rescue," a Miami-based organization of Cuban immigrants. It is reported that the Florida Attorney General's Office reopened the investigation into the case in 2026 to uncover previously classified details regarding the chain of command during the operation.
The 1996 shootdown remains one of the most contentious points in US-Cuba relations, leading to the passage of the Helms-Burton Act, which strengthened the US embargo against Cuba. Raul Castro, who served as Cuba's Minister of the Revolutionary Armed Forces at the time of the incident, later succeeded his brother Fidel Castro as the country's leader before officially retiring from top posts. The move by US prosecutors signals a significant legal escalation regarding historical grievances between Washington and Havana, occurring under the administration of US President Donald Trump.
