WASHINGTON/MIAMI - The United States announced murder charges against former Cuban President Raúl Castro on Wednesday, a major escalation in Washington's pressure campaign against the island's communist government.

The indictment marks a new low in relations between the longtime Cold War rivals and comes as U.S. President Donald Trump is pushing for regime change in Cuba, where Castro's communists have been in charge since his late brother Fidel Castro led a revolution in 1959.

The charges against Castro and five fighter pilots in the Cuban military stem from a 1996 incident in which Cuban jets shot down planes operated by a group of Cuban exiles.

Raúl Castro, 94, was charged with one count of conspiracy to kill U.S. nationals, four counts of murder, and two counts of destruction of aircraft. He appeared in public in Cuba earlier this month and there is no evidence he has left the island or that he will be extradited.

It is rare for the U.S. to file criminal charges against foreign leaders. The indictment was the latest example of the Trump administration's aggressive efforts to expand U.S. influence in the Western Hemisphere.

"From the shores of Havana to the banks of the Panama Canal, we will drive out the forces of lawlessness and crime and foreign encroachment," Trump said at a Coast Guard Academy event in New London, Connecticut, earlier on Wednesday.

Speaking at a ceremony in Miami to honor the victims of the 1996 incident, acting Attorney General Todd Blanche did not directly answer questions about whether the U.S. military would arrest Castro.

Blanche said he expected Castro to one day face the charges.

"There was a warrant issued for his arrest, so we expect that he will show up here by his own will or by another way," Blanche said to applause in a packed auditorium of government officials and Cuban Americans.

In a post on X, President Miguel Diaz-Canel said Cuba had acted legitimately to defend its territory in shooting down the planes. He said the indictment appeared to be intended to justify military action against Cuba, which he said would be a mistake.

"It is a political maneuver, devoid of any legal foundation," Diaz-Canel said.

Diaz-Canel said on Monday that the island does not represent a threat.

The charges come months after the U.S. capture of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro on January 3 to face drug trafficking charges in New York.

Maduro, a socialist aligned with Havana, pleaded not guilty.

TRUMP ASSERTS US INFLUENCE IN LATIN AMERICA

Washington's more assertive role in Latin America, epitomized by the capture of Maduro, is shaping up to be a significant part of the legacy of Secretary of State Marco Rubio, the son of Cuban immigrants who is seen as a possible contender for the 2028 Republican nomination for president.

His chief Republican rival to succeed Trump, Vice President JD Vance, is a former Marine who has long argued against U.S. entanglements in foreign wars.

Under Trump, the U.S. has effectively imposed a blockade on Cuba by threatening sanctions on countries supplying it with fuel, triggering power outages and exacerbating its worst crisis in decades.

Rubio earlier on Wednesday offered Cuba $100 million in aid, and blamed Cuba's leaders for shortages of electricity, food and fuel. Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez called that offer cynical, citing the "devastating effect" of the economic blockade.

CUBA DEFENDS DOWNING OF PLANES

Born in 1931, Raúl Castro was a key figure alongside his older brother in the guerrilla war that toppled U.S.-backed dictator Fulgencio Batista.

After taking power, Fidel Castro struck an alliance with the Soviet Union, then seized U.S.-owned businesses and properties. The U.S. has since maintained an economic embargo on the nation of about 10 million.

Raúl Castro helped defeat the U.S.-organized Bay of Pigs invasion in 1961, and served as defense minister for decades. He succeeded his brother as president in 2008 and stepped down in 2018, but remains a powerful behind-the-scenes figure in Cuban politics.

He was defense minister at the time of the 1996 incident, in which two small planes operated by Miami-based Cuban exile group Brothers to the Rescue were shot down, killing those aboard.

The group said its mission was to search for Cuban rafters fleeing the island. Fidel Castro said Cuba's military had acted on "standing orders" to down planes entering Cuban airspace. He said Raúl Castro did ⁠not give a specific order to shoot the planes.

The International Civil Aviation Organization later concluded the shootdown took place over international waters.

Portraits of the four men who were killed - Carlos Costa, Armando Alejandre Jr., Mario de la Peña and Pablo Morales - were displayed at the ceremony as Blanche and other officials spoke.

Cuban-Americans gathered outside Miami's Freedom Tower, which served as a refugee center for Cubans in the 1960s, before the ceremony began.

"We all hoped for a long time, for many years that this would happen," said Bobby Ramirez, a 62-year-old musician who left Cuba in 1971 when he was seven years old.

(Reporting by Jana Winter in Washington and Jack Queen in Miami; Additional reporting by Maria Alejandra Cardona in Miami, Ayose Naranjo in Havana, Doina Chiacu, Andrew Goudsward and Dan Rosenzweig-Ziff in Washington, Brendan O'Boyle and Natalia Siniawski in Mexico City and by Jonathan Stempel and Michelle Nichols in New York; Writing by Luc Cohen; Editing by Noeleen Walder, Nick Zieminski, Rosalba O'Brien, Daniel Wallis and Sanjeev Miglani)

Acting U.S. Attorney General, Todd Blanche speaks, while with U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Jason A. Reding Quinones, President of Miami Dade College Madeline Pumariega, Co-Deputy Director of the FBI, Christopher Gilbert Raia, U.S. Senator Ashley Moody (R-FL) and Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier, as the U.S. Department of Justice announces criminal charges against former Cuban President Raul Castro, during a ceremony to honor the victims of the 1996 shootdown of Brothers to the Rescue aircraft incident, at Freedom Tower in Miami, Florida, U.S., May 20, 2026. REUTERS/Marco Bello Marco Bello Reuters

A leading page of the U.S. federal indictment of former Cuban President Raul Castro, who has been indicted in the United States on murder charges, is seen after being released by the U.S. Government in Washington, D.C., U.S., May 20, 2026. U.S. Justice Department/Handout via REUTERS U.S. Department of Justice Reuters

A page of the U.S. federal indictment of former Cuban President Raul Castro, who has been indicted in the United States on murder charges, is seen after being released by the U.S. Government in Washington, D.C., U.S. May 20, 2026. U.S. Justice Department/Handout via REUTERS U.S. Department of Justice Reuters

A man walks past an image of former Cuban President Raul Castro, who has been indicted in the United States in a move that marks an escalation in Washington's pressure campaign against the Caribbean island's communist government, Havana, Cuba, May 20, 2026. REUTERS/Norlys Perez Norlys Perez Reuters

A man works in a school beside an image of former Cuban President Raul Castro, who has been indicted in the United States in a move that marks an escalation in Washington's pressure campaign against the Caribbean island's communist government, Havana, Cuba, May 20, 2026. REUTERS/Norlys Perez Norlys Perez Reuters

FILE PHOTO: Cuban President Raul Castro speaks with his Venezuelan counterpart Hugo Chavez during a ceremony in Havana, Cuba November 8, 2010. REUTERS/Desmond Boylan/File Photo Desmond Boylan Reuters

FILE PHOTO: Cuba's President Raul Castro (C) talks to Nicaragua's President Daniel Ortega (L) and his wife Rosario Murillo during a wreath-laying ceremony at the mausoleum of 19th century Cuban independence hero Jose Marti in Santiago de Cuba, Cuba July 26, 2013. Alejandro Ernesto/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo Pool Reuters

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This story was originally published May 20, 2026 at 1:46 PM.

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