Why did the United States prosecute former Cuban President Raul Castro?

The charges relate to a 1996 incident in which the Cuban military allegedly shot down two unarmed civilian aircraft operated by Brothers to the Rescue.

The news comes as the United States is increasing pressure on the ailing Republic of Cuba to change its system of government after 67 years of revolutionary rule.

So why is the United States taking action now, and what happens next?

Who is Raul Castro?

Raul Castro is the younger brother of Cuban revolutionary leader Fidel Castro. Beginning in 1952, he joined Fidel’s campaign to overthrow the dictatorship of American ally Fulgencio Batista. He participated in the attack on the Moncada military camp on July 26, 1953, and became a founding member of the M-26-7 guerrilla movement, the leading organization of the Cuban revolution.

In 1958, he was promoted to commander of the Second Eastern Front. He attracted the attention of Washington in June when he kidnapped 50 U.S. Marines to protect his troops and local villagers from sustained aerial bombardment.

This was a critical moment when Raul was no longer Fidel’s brother – he was now a key leader of the revolution.

In late 1958, Raul Castro’s forces liberated much of eastern Cuba from the Batista regime and began a march toward Havana to end the revolution.

Castro took office as Defense Minister in January 1959, when the war was continuing. He has been the face of Cuba’s military and the island’s defense for decades.

In April 1961, 1,400 Cuban exiles, supported by the CIA, attacked Cuba at the Bay of Pigs, and Castro’s forces achieved a famous victory over the exiles and the United States.

He will also rise through the ranks of Cuba’s civilian and party ranks. He served as vice president from 1976 and then succeeded his aging brother as president from 2008, a position he held until 2019.

Raul Castro served as leader of the Communist Party until 2021 and is still considered influential in Cuban politics. Castro was a soldier, a statesman and, above all, a revolutionary who overthrew a key U.S. ally and resisted U.S. pressure for decades.

However, Cuba is an authoritarian country that does not tolerate dissent. In 2003, Raul Castro’s government of Fidel Castro detained dozens of democracy advocates in an incident known as “Black Springs.”

One of the detainees, José Daniel Ferrer, founder of the Patriotic Union of Cuba, called on the United States to stand with opposition forces in 2025.

What is he accused of doing?

Cuba has been subject to a U.S. blockade since 1960. From 1964 to 2009, Cuba was also subject to an embargo by members of the Organization of American States, which includes nearly every country in the Western Hemisphere.

Cuba’s economic survival has always depended on the support of major powers willing to fuel it.

During the Cold War, the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 was a devastating blow to Cuba and its government. The “Special Period” after 1991 saw fuel shortages, declining food production, social unrest, and mass emigration from Cuba.

Tens of thousands of Cuban exiles boarded the unstable flotilla, hoping to join other exiles in Florida. The U.S. Clinton administration eventually allowed mass immigration, and the U.S. Coast Guard regularly helped rescue stranded Cubans. Still, dozens of people drowned.

A group of Cuban exiles, led by Jose Basulto, a self-proclaimed “Bay of Pigs veteran”, flew a reconnaissance plane to report the location of the stranded Cubans to the Coast Guard.

But there are other motives for these flights. The planes repeatedly flew into Cuban airspace, ignoring warnings and dropping propaganda designed to spark anti-government activity.

Records released by William Leogrand and Peter Kornbrough, authors of books on the subject, show that the United States was aware of these operations and feared that Cuba would eventually shoot down the planes, triggering an international incident.

On February 24, 1996, the Cuban military did shoot down two planes, killing all four people on board.

Today, 30 years later, the U.S. Department of Justice charged then-Defense Secretary Castro and six others with criminal responsibility for the murders of the four men, three of whom were U.S. citizens.

“The passage of time does not erase the murder,” said Jason A. Redding Quinones, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida.

Why is the United States taking action now?

Cuba is again under a U.S. blockade, this time initiated after Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro removed its fuel guarantor in January.

Venezuela’s new president, Delcy Rodriguez, has bowed to pressure to end oil shipments to the island, and Mexico and other regional partners have faced the threat of crippling tariffs.

Cuba announced last Thursday that it had no fuel or diesel left at all. At the same time, the humanitarian situation deteriorated. Amnesty International reported in 2025 that most Cubans struggle to find enough food and medicine.

In a historic visit in recent days, CIA Director John Ratcliffe spoke with members of the Cuban government, a sign of potential regime change.

President Donald Trump also emphasized his motivations for Cuba this week, saying “this will be one of the most important things for a lot of people who have been looking for this moment for 65 years.”

Cuban Americans have indeed been pushing for Castro’s ouster since the 1960s.

Cuban-American Secretary of State Marco Rubio commemorated Cuba’s Independence Day in 1902 by delivering the following message to the Cuban people in Spanish: “…I want to tell you that we in the United States are willing not only to help you alleviate your current crisis, but also to help you build a better future.”

The message denounced the Cuban government and Raul Castro as corrupt. He called for regime change, referring to current Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel.

The prosecution of Castro was more than just justice for one man. It touches on Cuban-American politics in Florida and the looming possibility of regime change in Cuba, America’s main enemy in the region for the past 67 years. SCY

SCY

This article was generated from automated news agency feeds without modifications to the text.