Trump Administration Indicts Cuba’s Raul Castro Over 1996 Shootdown
The United States has indicted former Cuban President Raul Castro over the 1996 downing of two civilian planes flown by the Miami based exile group Brothers to the Rescue near Cuba. The indictment was unsealed in Miami nearly 30 years after the incident and marks one of the sharpest escalations in tensions between Washington and Havana in recent years. US prosecutors say Raul Castro was serving as Cuba’s defence minister when Cuban fighter jets were ordered to intercept and shoot down the unarmed aircraft on February 24 1996 killing four Cuban American exiles. Castro now 94 faces charges including conspiracy to kill US nationals murder and destruction of aircraft along with five other Cuban military officials named as co defendants in the case. According to the US Department of Justice the planes were flying humanitarian missions for Brothers to the […]
