The former president of Cuba Raul Castro attends a parade held to observe May Day, or International Workers' Day, in Havana on May 1, 2025. He now faces homicide charges accusing him authorizing the 1996 shootdown of aircraft operated by Brothers to the Rescue, a Cuban American exile organization.
File Photo by Ernesto Mastrascusa/EPA
May 20 (UPI) -- The U.S. Department of Justice on Wednesday formally charged former Cuban President Raúl Castro, 94, accusing him of authorizing the 1996 shootdown of aircraft operated by Brothers to the Rescue, a Cuban American exile organization.
During a ceremony at the Freedom Tower in Miami, acting U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche said the charges include conspiracy to murder U.S. citizens, destruction of aircraft and four individual homicide counts. The event coincided with Cuban Independence Day.
The indictment includes other Cuban military officials allegedly involved in the incident that occurred 30 years ago over international waters: Emilio José Palacio Blanco, José Fidel Gual Barzaga, Raúl Simanca Cárdenas, Luis Raúl González-Pardo Rodríguez and Lorenzo Alberto Pérez-Pérez.
