The United States is preparing to indict former Cuban president Raúl Castro over the 1996 shootdown of two civilian planes operated by the exile group Brothers to the Rescue, according to a US Department of Justice official.
The official, speaking to Reuters on condition of anonymity late on Thursday, said the indictment would need approval from a grand jury but added that the move “sounds imminent.”
The case centres on Cuba’s 1996 shooting down of two planes operated by the humanitarian group Brothers to the Rescue. The incident has remained a major point of tension between Washington and Havana for nearly three decades, with several US officials continuing to push for criminal accountability.
Republican lawmakers in the United States have accused Raúl Castro, the younger brother of Fidel Castro, of playing a role in the incident. The US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida has been overseeing efforts to examine possible criminal charges against senior Cuban government officials.
News of the possible indictment came hours after CIA Director John Ratcliffe led a delegation to Havana on Thursday to deliver a message from US President Donald Trump to Cuban officials and Raúl “Raulito” Guillermo Rodriguez Castro, the former leader’s grandson.
Officials from both countries had earlier acknowledged they were holding talks this year, though negotiations appeared to weaken amid ongoing US pressure on Cuba’s fuel supplies.
A CIA official said Ratcliffe told Cuban intelligence officials that the United States was prepared to engage on economic security issues if Cuba makes “fundamental changes.”
The possible indictment comes as the Trump administration increases pressure on Cuba through sanctions and warnings aimed at countries supplying fuel to the island. The measures have contributed to power outages and added strain to Cuba’s economy.
Earlier, on May 1, Trump said at the Forum Club of the Palm Beaches Dinner that the United States would “take over” Cuba soon.
“Cuba, which we will be taking over almost immediately. Cuba's got problems. We'll finish one first,” he said.
Trump also signed an executive order expanding sanctions on the Cuban government.
Cuba strongly rejected the new sanctions, calling them “unilateral coercive measures” intended to impose “collective punishment on the Cuban people.”
Cuban foreign minister Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla said the measures were “extraterritorial in nature and violate the United Nations Charter,” adding that the United States “has no right whatsoever to impose measures against Cuba or against third countries or entities.”
