After a week of speculation, the US Department of Justice has officially indicted Raúl Castro, the 94-year-old ex-president of Cuba. The charges relate to a 1996 incident in which the Cuban military shot down two unarmed civilian planes operated by Brothers to the Rescue.
The news comes amid mounting US pressure on the ailing Cuban Republic to change its system of government after 67 years of revolutionary rule. So why did the US act now, and what will happen next? Who is Raúl Castro?
Raúl Castro is the younger brother of Cuban revolutionary leader, Fidel Castro. He joined Fidel’s movement to overthrow the authoritarian US ally, Fulgencio Batista, starting in 1952. He participated in the assault on the Moncada Barracks on July 26 1953, becoming a founding member of the M-26-7 guerrilla movement, the leading organisation in the Cuban revolution.
In 1958, he rose to the rank of comandante of the Second Eastern Front. He came to Washington’s attention in June when he kidnapped a group of 50 US Marines to prevent the continued aerial bombardment of his troops and local villagers. This was a pivotal moment when Raúl became more than Fidel’s brother – he was now a key leader of the revolution.
By late 1958, Raúl Castro’s army had liberated much of eastern Cuba from the Batista regime and began marching on Havana to conclude the revolution. From January 1959, Castro became the defence minister. For decades, he was the face of Cuba’s military and the island’s defence.
When, in April 1961, a group of 1,400 Cuban exiles, supported by the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), attacked Cuba at the Bay of Pigs, Castro’s military secured a famous victory against the exiles, and the US. He would also rise through the civilian and party ranks in Cuba. From 1976, he served as vice president and then succeeded his brother as president from 2008, a position he held until 2019.
Raúl Castro remained atop the Communist Party until 2021 and is still viewed as influential in Cuba’s politics. Castro is a soldier, a politician and, above all, a revolutionary who toppled a pivotal US ally and resisted US pressure for decades.
However, Cuba is an authoritarian state that does not tolerate dissent. In 2003, Fidel Castro’s government, of which Raúl Castro was part, detained dozens of pro-democracy advocates in an event dubbed the “black spring”.
Cuba has been subject to a blockade by the US since 1960. The economic survival of Cuba has always been dependent on the support of a large nation willing to supply it with fuel. During the Cold War, that was the Soviet Union, whose 1991 collapse was devastating for Cuba. The “Special Period” following 1991 saw fuel shortages, declining food production, social unrest and large-scale emigration.
Cuban exiles boarded unstable flotillas in their tens of thousands, hoping to join other exiles in Florida. A group of Cuban exiles, led by José Basulto, flew reconnaissance flights and reported the location of stranded Cubans to the Coast Guard. But the flights had other motives. On several occasions, the planes flew into Cuban airspace, ignored warnings and dropped propaganda designed to trigger anti-government activity.
On February 24 1996, the Cuban military shot down two planes, killing all four people on board. Now, 30 years later, the US Department of Justice alleges that Castro, the then-defence minister, and six others are criminally responsible for the murders, three of whom were US citizens.
Cuba is again suffering under a US blockade, this time initiated following the removal of its fuel guarantor, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. New Venezuelan President Delcy Rodriguez was pressured into ending oil shipments to the island, as were Mexico and other regional partners under the threat of crippling tariffs.
Cuba declared last Thursday it had no fuel or diesel remaining at all. Meanwhile, humanitarian conditions worsen. Amnesty International reported in 2025 that most Cubans were struggling to find sufficient food and medicine.
In a historic visit in recent days, CIA Director John Ratcliffe spoke with members of the Cuban government in a sign of potential regime change. President Trump has also highlighted his motives on Cuba.
Cuban-Americans have been pushing for the removal of the Castros since the 1960s. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, himself a Cuban-American, commemorated Cuba’s 1902 Independence Day by delivering a message to the Cuban people, in Spanish, offering to help build a better future.
The Conversation