{"id":238463,"date":"2026-05-20T20:22:16","date_gmt":"2026-05-20T20:22:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/238463\/"},"modified":"2026-05-20T20:22:16","modified_gmt":"2026-05-20T20:22:16","slug":"ex-cuba-leader-raul-castro-94-charged-with-murder-conspiracy-to-kill-americans-in-1996-shootdown-of-humanitarian-planes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/238463\/","title":{"rendered":"Ex-Cuba leader Raul Castro, 94, charged with murder, conspiracy to kill Americans in 1996 shootdown of humanitarian planes"},"content":{"rendered":"

Former Cuban president Raul Castro and five others were indicted<\/a>\u00a0for the murder of four US nationals who assisted Cuban refugees in the 1990s, Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche announced Wednesday.<\/p>\n

Blanche told a news conference in Miami that a federal grand jury handed up the\u00a0charges against Castro, 94,\u00a0<\/a>on April 23 for directing the 1996 shootdown by Cuba\u2019s air force of two planes operated by Brothers to the Rescue, an exile-run humanitarian group.<\/p>\n

The regime\u2019s fighter jets fired air-to-air missiles at two unarmed civilian Cessna aircraft carrying Carlos Costa, Armando Alejandre Jr., Mario de la Pe\u00f1a and Pablo Morales,\u00a0killing all four, who were US nationals. Three were American citizens.<\/p>\n

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche announcing the indictment of former Cuban President Raul Castro and five other for the murder of four US nationals in 1996. REUTERS<\/p>\n

Cuba\u2019s former President Raul Castro (center) and former Vice President Jose Ramon Machado Ventura (right) attend a May Day rally. AFP via Getty Images<\/p>\n

Brothers to the Rescue was founded in 1991 to help Cuban migrants \u201cstranded or lost at sea\u201d while attempting to flee the island\u2019s Communist regime, according to the 19-page unsealed indictment.<\/p>\n

Castro and his co-defendants have been charged with conspiring to kill US nationals, two counts of destruction of aircraft and four counts of murder in the Feb. 24, 1996,\u00a0incident.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor nearly 30 years \u2014 30 years \u2014 the families of four murdered Americans have waited for justice,\u201d Blanche said. \u201cThey were unarmed civilians and were flying humanitarian missions for the rescue and protection of people fleeing oppression across the Florida Straits.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cFor the first time in nearly 70 years, senior leadership of the Cuban regime has been charged in this country \u2026 for acts of violence resulting in the deaths of American citizens,\u201d he added. \u201cNations and their leaders cannot be permitted to target Americans, kill them, and not face accountability.\u201d<\/p>\n

The indictment drew parallels to the federal charges levied against\u00a0Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro,\u00a0who was captured by\u00a0US special forces from his Caracas compound in a daring Jan. 3 operation to face narco-trafficking and firearms charges in New York City.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Carlos Costa, Armando Alejandre Jr., Mario de la Pe\u00f1a and Pablo Morale died after the plane they were using to bring humanitarian aid to Cuba was shot down in 1996. Tribune News Service via Getty Images<\/p>\n

Asked whether Castro would face the same forced extradition fate as Maduro, Blanche said a warrant had already been issued for his arrest but \u201cthe way that we get people here who are charged with crime varies.\u201d<\/p>\n

When pressed on \u201cwhat steps\u201d the US was willing to take to nab Castro, Blanche also said: \u201cThis isn\u2019t a show indictment.\u201d<\/p>\n

Raul Castro and brother Fidel ran Cuba with iron fists. REUTERS<\/p>\n

Cuban president\u00a0Miguel D\u00edaz-Canel slammed the indictment as \u201ca political\u00a0maneuver\u201d and insisted \u201cno imprudent action was taken nor was international law violated\u201d in the 1996 shootdown.<\/p>\n

\u201cOn February 24, 1996, Cuba acted in legitimate self-defense within its jurisdictional waters, following repeated and dangerous violations of our airspace by notorious terrorists\u2014a fact of which the U.S. administration at the time was alerted on more than a dozen occasions, yet it ignored the warnings and allowed those violations to continue,\u201d D\u00edaz-Canel\u00a0posted on X<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Follow The Post\u2019s live coverage of President Trump and national politics for the latest news and analysis<\/a><\/p>\n

Months after ordering the Soviet-made\u00a0MiG fighter jets to strike the humanitarian planes, Castro confessed to telling the pilots \u201cto knock them down,\u201d according to an 11-minute audiotape later obtained by US intelligence, Rep.\u00a0Mario D\u00edaz-Balart (R-Fla.)\u00a0told USA Today<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Miami Herald previously reported\u00a0on the recording<\/a>. The indictment makes no mention of it.<\/p>\n

AFP via Getty Images<\/p>\n

Castro, Lorenzo Alberto Perez\u2011Perez, Emilio Jos\u00e9 Palacio Blanco, Jos\u00e9 Fidel Gual Barzaga, Raul Simanca Cardenas and Luis Raul Gonzalez\u2011Pardo Rodriguez all face up to life in prison or the death penalty upon conviction.<\/p>\n

The Justice Department had previously charged three Cuban military officials for the murders in 2003, but none were extradited.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis isn\u2019t a show indictment,\u201d Blanche declared\u00a0Wednesday, referring to Castro. \u201cThere was a warrant\u00a0issued for his arrest.\u00a0So we expect that he will show up here, by his own will or by another way.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Rodriguez, 65, is already in US custody ahead of a sentencing hearing scheduled for later this month related to making false statements on an immigration document, per the DOJ.<\/p>\n

Rep. Carlos Gimenez (R-Fla.), who escaped Cuba to the US with his family as a young boy following Fidel Castro\u2019s 1959 revolution, suggested before the press conference that Raul Castro would face a similar fate as\u00a0Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro<\/a>\u00a0or Panamanian leader Manuel Antonio Noriega.<\/p>\n

\u201cDon\u2019t ever make the mistake that somehow Raul Castro is far removed from the politics,\u201d Gimenez also said in the interview on Fox News\u2019 \u201cAmerica Reports\u201d ahead of the announcement.<\/p>\n

Rep. Carlos Gimenez (R-Fla.) speaking at a press conference at the Capitol building calling for Catro\u2019s indictment on May 20, 2026. REUTERS<\/p>\n

The congressman noted that the former Cuban president founded and still leads GAESA, a military-run enterprise that controls at least 40% of the island\u2019s economy, which has helped the Castro family maintain control over the populace.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou cannot deal with this regime,\u201d Gimenez continued. \u201cThere needs to be political change.\u201d<\/p>\n

President Trump has pushed for that change, telling reporters Wednesday that Cuba is \u201ca failing nation\u201d and the US would be \u201cfreeing\u201d it up.<\/p>\n

South Florida US Attorney Jason Qui\u00f1ones noted at the press conference that May 20 \u201ccarries deep meaning for the Cuban people. It is their Fourth of July.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt marks Cuban independence from colonial Spain [in 1902]. It reminds us that the pursuit of freedom, dignity and accountability spans generations and still lives alive and well in the heart of the Cuban community,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cToday\u2019s indictment is one part of that long effort. When I came into office in August of last year, I made reviving this case a priority, and I want to thank the team that made it happen.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Former Cuban president Raul Castro and five others were indicted\u00a0for the murder of four US nationals who assisted…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":238464,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[4054,1082,9,11,10,87,93154,58],"class_list":["post-238463","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york","tag-cuba","tag-justice-department","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-headlines","tag-new-york-news","tag-politics","tag-raul-castro","tag-us-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/238463","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=238463"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/238463\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/238464"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=238463"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=238463"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=238463"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}