The United States has indicted former Cuban President Raul Castro, brother of the Caribbean island nation's longtime leader Fidel Castro, on murder charges, Reuters reported, citing court documents, BTA reports.
One of the charges is for conspiracy to kill American citizens, four counts are for murder, and two counts are for destroying an aircraft. Five other people are also being charged in the case, Reuters reports.
The charges against 94-year-old Raul Castro are based on a 1996 incident in which Cuban fighter jets shot down planes piloted by Cuban émigrés in the United States, the agency said.
The United States is waiting for the defendant to appear on American soil "of his own free will or otherwise," acting Attorney General Todd Blanch told reporters today, quoted by Reuters.
The administration of US President Donald Trump announced that it is filing murder charges against former Cuban President Raul Castro based on a 1996 incident in which Cuban fighter jets shot down planes piloted by Cuban émigrés in the United States, resulting in the deaths of four people.
WHAT HAPPENED
On On February 24, 1996, Cuban fighter jets shot down two small planes flown by a group known as the Brothers of Salvation. All four people on board were killed. Cuba said the planes were in Cuban airspace, while the United States claimed they were over international waters. Cuba claimed the shooting down was a legitimate defense of its airspace, but Washington's position was later supported by the International Civil Aviation Organization, which concluded that the attack had taken place over international waters.
WHO ARE THE BROTHERS OF SALVATION?
The Miami-based group, founded by Cuban-Americans, said its mission was to monitor the Florida Straits for Cubans fleeing the Caribbean island on rafts. The group regularly flew near the Cuban coast. In early 1996, Cuban authorities accused the group of dropping tens of thousands of leaflets over Havana. Their leader, José Basulto, claimed that the leaflets were dropped over international airspace and carried by the winds to Cuba.
CUBA'S REACTION
Fidel Castro, Cuba's leader at the time, said after the incident that he had issued general orders to stop the planes, but had not given specific instructions to shoot them down. Castro stressed that the military had acted on a general order and that his brother Raúl, who at the time was leading the country's security services as defense minister, had also not given specific orders to shoot down the planes.
A former member of the “Brothers of Salvation“ - Juan Pablo Roque, claimed on Cuban television that the group of pilots had flown into Cuban airspace to gather information before a possible attack and planned to smuggle weapons into the country. US authorities dismissed his claims as propaganda and said he was probably a Cuban agent.
US RESPONSE
Then-US President Bill Clinton ordered sanctions, including a halt to charter flights and restrictions on the movement of Cuban diplomats, and asked the US Congress to tighten the US trade embargo on Cuba. However, the Clinton administration did not indict any of the Castro brothers. The US Department of Justice indicted three Cuban military personnel in 2003, but they were never extradited.