US Indicts Raul Castro Over 1996 Plane Shootdown, Deepening Cuba-US Tensions
US prosecutors unsealed an indictment charging former Cuban president Raul Castro, then defense minister, with conspiracy to kill US nationals and four counts of murder plus two counts of destroying an aircraft for the 1996 downing of two Brothers to the Rescue planes; five co-defendants are named. The move—part of a broader pressure campaign on Havana—drew Cuba’s leadership’s denials as political theater and prompted analysis that the case could either rally hardliners or spur a costly deal amid ongoing US-Cuba tensions and domestic politics ahead of midterm elections.
