U.S. Indicts Raúl Castro Over 1996 Plane Shootdown

Prosecutors in Florida unsealed an April 23 indictment charging Raúl Castro and five others with conspiracy to kill U.S. nationals, four murder counts and two counts of destruction of aircraft.

The indictment says Cuban MiG fighters shot down two Brothers to the Rescue Cessna planes on Feb. 24, 1996, killing three U.S. citizens and one green-card holder and says the planes were outside Cuban airspace.

Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel condemned the indictment as "a political action without any legal basis" and said the shootdown was "legitimate self-defense," while family members and Miami Cuban-American attendees welcomed the charges, officials said.

The indictment names five other defendants, including fighter pilot Lorenzo Alberto Pérez-Pérez, references a Wasp Network espionage effort and notes convictions of members such as Gerardo Hernández, officials said.

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said prosecutors intend to try the case and that he expects Castro to appear in the U.S. "by his own will or another way," though extradition remains uncertain, officials said.