US officials seek to indict former Cuban President Raul Castro

The United States is moving to indict Raúl Castro, the 94-year-old former president of Cuba and brother of Fidel, in connection with the downing of planes 30 years ago.

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The potential indictment , which would need to be approved by a grand jury, is expected to focus on Cuba’s deadly 1996 shootdown of planes operated by the humanitarian group Brothers to the Rescue.

The plan comes as the U.S. heaps pressure on the Cuban government.

The Trump administration has threatened heavy tariffs on any country that exports oil to Cuba, leading to energy shortages as oil shipments are largely cut off. President Trump has pressed for major reforms in Cuba and has floated a “friendly takeover” of the country.

Raúl Castro formally stepped down as the leader of Cuba’s Communist Party in 2021, but he is still widely seen as one of the most powerful figures in the country.

News that the United States was looking to indict Castro came hours after CIA Director John Ratcliffe led a delegation to Havana on May 14 to deliver a message from President Donald Trump to Cuban officials and Raúl “Raulito” Guillermo Rodriguez Castro, who is the elder Castro’s grandson.

The 1996 shootdown of two civilian planes operated by the exile group Brothers to the Rescue remains one of the most politically charged episodes in modern U.S.-Cuba relations – and one in which some U.S. officials are still pressing for criminal accountability three decades later.