MIAMI, United States – The US Department of Justice has filed formal criminal charges against former Cuban leader Raúl Castro, accusing him of murder and conspiracy to kill US nationals over the 1996 downing of two American civilian aircraft.
Okay News reports that Acting US Attorney General Todd Blanche announced the indictment on Wednesday, May 20, 2026, during a press conference at the Freedom Tower in Miami. The case revives and expands upon initial federal charges from 2003, targeting the 94-year-old former president and five others for the shootdown of two planes belonging to the Cuban-American exile group *Brothers to the Rescue*, which resulted in four deaths.
The 1996 incident occurred while Castro served as the head of Cuba’s revolutionary armed forces. Cuban MiG fighter jets intercepted and destroyed the unarmed Cessna aircraft over the Florida Straits, killing pilots Armando Alejandre Jr., Carlos Alberto Costa, Mario Manuel de la Peña, and Pablo Morales. While Cuba’s current President, Miguel Díaz-Canel, swiftly condemned the indictment as a baseless political maneuver, Blanche confirmed an active arrest warrant has been issued for Castro, stating, “We expect he will show up here, by his own will or another way.”
The legal move coincides with heavy economic and diplomatic pressure from the Trump administration against Cuba’s one-party rule, including an oil blockade that has triggered widespread blackouts on the island. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio also issued a targeted independence day message to the Cuban population, blaming the military-run conglomerate GAESA for the country’s economic collapse and stating that the US is offering a path toward a new government. The indictment has been met with emotional celebrations among the Cuban-American exile community in Miami, who viewed the announcement as a long-delayed milestone for judicial accountability.
