NPR-The U.S. Department of Justice has secured an indictment against Raúl Castro, the 94-year-old former president of Cuba, for an attack on a humanitarian group more than 30 years ago.
Castro and other former senior members of Cuban leadership and the military are being charged with conspiracy to kill U.S. nationals, destruction of aircraft and four individual counts of murder, according to acting Attorney General Todd Blanche. He announced the indictment at Miami’s Freedom Tower, a historical site that’s represented a beacon of refuge for Cubans who escaped the Castro regime and made it to Florida.
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The others charged are Lorenzo Alberto Perez‑Perez, Emilio José Palacio Blanco, José Fidel Gual Barzaga, Raul Simanca Cardenas and Luis Raul Gonzalez‑Pardo Rodriguez.
A grand jury in Miami brought the indictment on April 23. The government announced the unsealing of the indictment on Wednesday, which is also recognized as Cuban Independence Day, when U.S. occupation ended in 1902.
The DOJ alleges Castro was instrumental in shooting down two U.S. planes in 1996. The attack killed four people, including three U.S. citizens: Carlos Costa, Armando Alejandre Jr., Mario de la Peña and Pablo Morales. They were members of the anti-Castro activist group Brothers to the Rescue. The organization flew over the waters off the Florida coast, looking for any Cuban migrants using rafts and other boats to escape to the U.S.
The indictment alleges Perez-Perez was one of the fighter pilots who shot the planes down.
The shooting prompted widespread condemnation among Cuban-Americans and led Congress to formally codify the U.S. embargo against Cuba, cementing sanctions that remain in effect today.
The indictment tells the world, “If you kill Americans, we will pursue you,” regardless of title or how much time has passed, Blanche said.
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In a translated social media post, Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel called the indictment essentially a political move by the U.S. with no grounding in the law. He also said that the U.S. “lies and distorts the events surrounding the downing of the planes.” He called the Brothers to the Rescue a “narco-terrorist” group.
An arrest warrant has been issued for Castro. But when asked whether the U.S. plans to extradite him or pull an operation similar to the one in January that led to the capture of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro, Blanche provided no additional details. He said, “We expect he will show up here, either by his own will, or another way, and go to prison.”
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He added, “This is not a show indictment.”
Indictment follows high-level U.S.-Cuba talks
Castro’s indictment comes amid a potential opening of dialogue between the two nations; CIA Director John Ratcliffe met with Cuban officials, including Castro’s grandson, during a visit to the island on May 14.
The indictment also marks a rare U.S. move against a former foreign head of state and comes amid a broader Trump administration pressure campaign against Cuba, including tightened sanctions on countries supplying fuel to the island — worsening blackouts and deepening its economic crisis.
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CIA Director John Ratcliffe met with Raul Castro’s grandson in Havana, US and Cuban officials say
Ratcliffe’s meeting included Interior Minister Lázaro Álvarez Casas and the head of Cuban intelligence services, a CIA official told reporters on background. Intelligence cooperation, economic stability and security issues were on the table, the official said.
The meeting was the highest-level diplomatic talk between the two countries since the U.S. launched a fuel blockade against Cuba, which contributed to a prolonged economic crisis on the island, also hitting air travel and seriously disrupting food production and the operations of hospitals and schools. Most recently, Cuba’s aging power grid has collapsed, prompting major blackouts in Havana and elsewhere.
More indictment details
The DOJ alleges in the indictment that on Feb. 24, 1996, following orders from then-Cuban leaders Raul and Fidel Castro, the Cuban Air Force shot down the two Brothers to the Rescue planes killing the four men.
The Cuban government defended their actions at the time of the incident, saying the planes were working to undermine the Cuban government and that the Brothers to the Rescue organization was made up of anti-Cuba terrorists. Cuba also argued that the planes were shot down in its airspace, while the International Civil Aviation Organization concluded that the planes were shot down in international airspace.
In his social media post on Wednesday, Díaz-Canel wrote that Cuba acted in “legitimate self-defense” and called Castro a “hero” loved by his people.
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Castro is 94 years old.
If I was to advise him I would make America look foolish.
He woukd receive the best possible health care in America.
I would advise him to go to the airport and wait for the American agents to come and pick him up.
Then I would go and spend my last days in America and daily remind them that they have to care and feed me. .
That would really eat America like a cancer.
So in their attempt to humiliate him they would find themselves being the laughing stock of the world.
Thats the best way to beat America at their games.
Same I was thinking best he make dem hold It an every report sick at 94 wat u going trouble d man for he is not even in government smh Trump jus torment
I trust the World Court or the Iran Court or the Palestinian will hold Trump and his Secretary of War also guilty of war crimes, murder and genocide. No other country in the world has the canons to do so.
When are they going to indict George Bush for the war in Iraq that was based on lies?
And what about the Epstein files?
The whole of the Trump Administration also needs to be indicted too. Awful F’kers
So are they going to kidnap him just like they kidnapped Maduro? President Xi Jinping was right. We are now living in the world of the Law of the Jungle. Which simply means the strongest makes and set the rules. The strongest does what he wants when he wants and their is no Rules Base Society any longer. The USA is above all rules and laws. History will repeat it selves. And this too will end one day. I just hope God will grant me the mercy to live that long to see it with my very own eyes. Babylon also felt and no one thought it would. And last Empire that fell was the British Empire. Every dog has their day.
Someone is going around murdering hundreds of people in boats in our beautiful Caribbean waters.
.
The world would rightly call that person a Serial Killer.
Americans call him their president…
The United States of America will cease to exist long before the end of this century. A country with a collection of that many stupid people can’t be saved.
I guess the killing of close to 200 Iranian school children by Trump’s America does not rise to the level of MURDER.But again might is right. Trump and Rubio should be indicted by the Iranian authorities.
Anyway America aint easy. Trump i will hear about you
Boy I tell you. Even HELL will reject the orange baboon (I won’t even write his name). Even HELL is too good for him!
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