The U.S. Department of Justice says Cuban ex-dictator Raul Castro has been indicted on charges related to the shooting down of two planes in international waters.
Castro, 94, ruled over the communist government in the island nation until 2018 after his brother, revolutionary icon Fidel Castro, passed over control in 2008 over his health issues. Fidel Castro died in 2016 at the age of 90.
‘If you kill Americans, we will pursue you. No matter who you are. No matter what title you hold.’
In an indictment unsealed Wednesday, the U.S. government charged that the surviving Castro should be held criminally responsible for the deaths of American citizens.
On Feb. 24, 1996, the Cuban government fired upon and shot down two unarmed U.S. civilian aircraft, killing four Americans who were on a rescue mission, according to the indictment.
“For the first time in nearly 70 years, senior leadership of the Cuban regime has been charged in the United States for alleged acts of violence resulting in the deaths of American citizens,” reads a statement from acting Attorney General Todd Blanche.
“President Trump and this Justice Department are committed to restoring a simple principle: if you kill Americans, we will pursue you. No matter who you are. No matter what title you hold.”
The four Americans were working with Hermanos al Rescate, or Brothers to the Rescue, a humanitarian operation that sought to aid Cubans trying to flee the communist regime.
The DOJ alleges that the organization was infiltrated by communist agents who provided information to the Cuban military in order to plan the attack on the planes.
The indictment alleges charges of conspiracy to kill U.S. nationals, two counts of destruction of aircraft, and four counts of murder.
In addition to Castro, the indictment also names five other Cuban officials who are allegedly partly responsible for killing the Americans.
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The U.S. nationals killed in the operation were Carlos Costa, Armando Alejandre Jr., Mario de la Peña, and Pablo Morales.
“For 30 years these families have waited for answers — and this FBI never forgot,” FBI Director Kash Patel said. “We will continue working with our Justice Department partners to bring to justice those who attacked our civilians.”
The defendants face a maximum penalty of death or life imprisonment on the murder and conspiracy charges if convicted, the DOJ said.
In response to the indictment, current Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez claimed in Spanish: “On February 24, 1996, Cuba acted in legitimate self-defense within its jurisdictional waters, following repeated and dangerous violations of our airspace by notorious terrorists — a 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.”
Whether Castro and the other defendants will be extradited to the United States to face the charges is unclear. Blanche said of Castro: “There was a warrant issued for his arrest. So we expect that he will show up here, by his own will or by another way.”
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