The Trump administration plans to reveal criminal charges against former Cuban president Raul Castro on Wednesday, representing an escalation in Washington’s pressure tactics against the Caribbean nation’s communist leadership.
The charges targeting Castro, age 94, will reportedly stem from a 1996 incident where Cuban military aircraft shot down planes operated by Cuban exile pilots, according to a U.S. Justice Department official who spoke to Reuters anonymously last week.
The Miami U.S. Attorney’s office has scheduled an event beginning at 1 p.m. EDT (1700 GMT) to commemorate victims of the incident. The Justice Department announced Tuesday it would make a statement alongside the ceremony, though officials declined to elaborate on the announcement’s specifics.
President Donald Trump has pursued regime change in Cuba, where communist leaders have maintained power since Raul Castro’s late brother Fidel Castro spearheaded a revolution in 1959.
The U.S. has essentially established a blockade against the island nation by threatening sanctions on countries providing fuel supplies, causing power outages and damaging Cuba’s already weakened economy.
Cuba has not yet responded directly to the indictment threat, though Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez showed defiance in public statements on May 15.
“Despite the (U.S.) embargo, sanctions and threats of the use of force, Cuba continues on a path of sovereignty towards its socialist development,” Rodriguez said.
BROTHERS TO THE RESCUE
Born in 1931, Raul Castro played a crucial role with his older brother in the guerrilla campaign that overthrew U.S.-backed dictator Fulgencio Batista.
He participated in defeating the U.S.-organized Bay of Pigs invasion in 1961, and held the defense minister position for decades. He took over from his brother as president and continues as an influential behind-the-scenes presence in Cuban politics.
He held the defense minister role during the 1996 incident.
The two small aircraft that were destroyed were operated by Brothers to the Rescue, a Miami-based organization of Cuban exile pilots. All four crew members were killed.
The organization stated its purpose was searching the Florida Straits for Cuban refugees fleeing the island, and regularly conducted flights near the Cuban coastline.
The Cuban government has maintained the attack was a justified response to aircraft violating Cuban airspace. Fidel Castro stated Cuba’s military acted under “standing orders” to destroy planes entering Cuban airspace. He claimed Raul Castro did not issue a specific command to shoot down the planes.
The U.S. condemned the attack and implemented sanctions, but did not pursue criminal charges against either Castro brother. The Justice Department charged three Cuban military officers in 2003 but they were never extradited.
The International Civil Aviation Organization later determined the shootdown occurred over international waters.
TRUMP SAYS CUBA ‘IS NEXT’
Filing criminal charges against a U.S. adversary like Castro would mirror the earlier drug-trafficking indictment of imprisoned former Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, an ally of Havana’s.
The Trump administration referenced that indictment as justification for the January 3 raid on Caracas by the U.S. military in which Maduro was captured and transported to New York to face the charges. He has pleaded not guilty.
Trump claims Cuba’s communist government is corrupt, and in March warned that Cuba “is next” after Venezuela.
Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel stated on Monday that any U.S. military action against Cuba would result in a “bloodbath” and that the island poses no threat.
