A federal criminal indictment in Miami charges Raul Castro, Cuba’s former president, and five others with conspiracy to kill U.S. nationals, murder, and destruction of aircraft. Court filings allege Castro ordered Cuban forces to open fire during a 1996 incident in which two small planes from the Brothers to the Rescue volunteer group were shot down over the Florida Straits. Four men died after their Cessnas were hit by missiles fired from Cuban MiG fighter jets. The indictment escalates U.S. efforts to pressure Cuba’s communist regime amid heightened tensions, including Trump threats of military action and an energy crisis linked to a tight U.S. oil embargo. The announcement occurred at Miami’s Freedom Tower, a historic processing site for Cuban refugees.
"The United States has issued a federal criminal indictment against Raul Castro, Cuba's former president, on Wednesday, and five others in a significant escalation of the Trump administration's campaign to oust the country's six-decades-old communist regime. The 94-year-old political figurehead was charged in Miami, Florida, with conspiracy to kill US nationals, four counts of murder and two counts of destruction of aircraft, according to court filings obtained by CBS."
"Other defendants are a fighter pilot who was initially charged in connection with a 1996 incident in which four men were killed by the Cuban military when their aircraft were shot down during a humanitarian mission in the Florida Straits. Castro is alleged to have given the order to open fire. The indictment comes at a time of heightened tension between the US and Cuba, with Donald Trump threatening military action against the Cuban government, and an energy crisis created by a tight US oil embargo causing rolling blackouts and prompting protests in the capital."
"Raul Castro allegedly authorized the 24 February 1996 shooting down of two small planes belonging to the Miami-based Brothers to the Rescue volunteer group of exiles, which would scour the 90 miles of water between Cuba and the Florida Keys for refugees. Four men, Armando Alejandre Jr, Carlos Costa, Mario de la Pena and Pablo Morales, died after their Cessnas were hit by missiles fired from MiG fighter jets from the Cuban air force."
"Miami's Freedom Tower, where more than half a million Cuban refugees were processed as immigrants between 1962 and 1974 after fleeing Fidel Castro's 1959 revolution, provided a symbolic backdrop for the announcement. Raul Castro stepped down as president in 2018, and resigned as secretary of Cuba's communist party three years later, but remains one of the most powerful figures in Cuban politics. Fidel Castro died in 2016 at the age of 90. It is uncertain if he will ever face a US court to answer the charges."
#us-cuba-relations #federal-indictment #raul-castro #brothers-to-the-rescue #1996-aircraft-shootdown
Read at www.theguardian.com
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