DOJ Indicts Former Cuban President Raul Castro Over 1996 Brothers to the Rescue Shootdown

Nearly 30 years after Cuban fighter jets blasted civilian aircraft out of the sky over the Florida Straits, the Justice Department is moving against one of the communist regime’s most powerful figures.

The US Department of Justice has indicted former Cuban President Raúl Castro over the 1996 downing of planes operated by the Miami-based humanitarian group Brothers to the Rescue, according to sources familiar with the matter.

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche and South Florida US Attorney Jason Quiñones are expected to formally announce the charges Wednesday in Miami during an event honoring the victims of the attack.

The indictment centers on the Feb. 24, 1996, shootdown of two unarmed civilian aircraft flown by Brothers to the Rescue, a Cuban exile organization that conducted humanitarian missions searching for rafters fleeing the communist island. Four men were killed in the attack.

At the time, Castro served as Cuba’s defense minister under his brother, longtime dictator Fidel Castro. US officials now allege Raul Castro directed or approved the operation that led Cuban MiG fighter jets to fire on the planes.

This story is developing…

🚨 “Today, we are announcing an indictment charging Raúl Castro, and several others, with conspiracy to kill U.S. nationals,” says @DAGToddBlanche in Miami.

“My message today is clear: the United States and @POTUS does not, and will not, forget its citizens.” pic.twitter.com/gAlRAzbvUi

— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) May 20, 2026