U.S. Justice Department seeks Raúl Castro indictment over 1996 exile plane shootdown

The U.S. Justice Department has moved to seek an indictment against former Cuban President Raúl Castro for his alleged role in the 1996 shootdown of two unarmed planes operated by the Miami-based exile group Brothers to the Rescue, according to a person familiar with the investigation. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss an ongoing investigation. MSI reported Friday that the Justice Department was weighing the move; officials have since decided to proceed.

Raúl Castro, 94, served as Cuba’s defense minister at the time of the shootdown, making him the nation’s highest-ranking authority after his brother Fidel Castro. He later served as president from 2008 to 2021, when he handed power to Miguel Díaz-Canel. The potential indictment would be the most direct U.S. legal action against a former Cuban head of state in decades.

The case centers on events of Feb. 24, 1996, when Cuban MiG fighter jets shot down two Cessna 337 aircraft operated by Brothers to the Rescue over the Florida Straits. The planes were flying in international waters, according to the group. Four people aboard the two aircraft were killed. The shootdown caused international outrage and prompted the Clinton administration to tighten the U.S. economic embargo against Cuba.

Brothers to the Rescue was founded by Cuban exiles in the 1990s to conduct search and rescue missions for Cuban rafters attempting to reach the U.S. The group also flew over Havana to drop pro-democracy leaflets, a practice that drew repeated protests from the Cuban government. After the shootdown, the group continued its operations but scaled back its flights.

José Basulto, a Cuban exile and former CIA operative who founded Brothers to the Rescue, had been flying one of the planes that was attacked but escaped. He later campaigned for justice for the victims, including his brother-in-law, who was among the dead.

The U.S. government has long classified the shootdown as an act of aggression. In 2003, a U.S. federal court awarded $187 million in damages to the families of the victims, but the judgment was never collected because of the lack of enforceable assets in the U.S.

The Trump administration has escalated pressure on Cuba in recent months, imposing new sanctions and tightening the embargo. Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel warned this week that a U.S. attack would cause a “bloodbath,” and the Cuban government has accused Washington of seeking a pretext for military intervention.

The indictment, if issued, would be filed in federal court in Miami, where Brothers to the Rescue is based. It would mark the second time the U.S. has indicted a foreign leader for actions taken while in power; the Justice Department previously indicted Panamanian leader Manuel Noriega on drug trafficking charges in the 1980s.

The Justice Department declined to comment on the ongoing investigation. Raúl Castro has not been charged with any crime, and the potential indictment has not been publicly confirmed by U.S. officials. The person familiar with the investigation said the decision to seek the indictment was made in recent weeks and that the case is being handled by the department’s counterterrorism section.