Raúl Castro (Credit: Ismael Francisco/AP)
Acting U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche on Wednesday announced that Cuba’s nonagenarian communist dictator Raúl Castro has been indicted over his role in the killing of four Americans in February 1996.
Speaking at the Freedom Tower in Miami, Florida, acting AG Blanche announced that Castro and five co-defendants have been charged with conspiracy to kill U.S. nationals, as well as other charges including destruction of aircraft and four individual counts of murder.
“My message today is clear, the United States and President Trump does not — and will not — forget its citizens,” acting AG Blanche said.
“President Trump is committed to restoring a very simple but important principle: If you kill Americans we will pursue you, no matter who you are, what title you hold — and in this case, no matter how much time has passed,” he emphasized.
The charges stem from an April indictment by a U.S. grand jury in Florida that was unsealed on Wednesday, May 20, and are related to Castro and the other co-defendants’ involvement in the shooting of two civilian planes belonging to the Miami-based anti-communist charity organization Brothers to the Rescue in 1996, which killed four Americans.
U.S. Senator Ashley Moody (R-FL) explained during the press conference that Castro faces up to life imprisonment on charges of conspiracy to kill U.S. nationals.
Castro, who allegedly “retired” from ruling Cuba in 2018, has remained the sole true dictator of the island nation since he succeeded his late brother Fidel Castro in the late 2000s. The indictment marks the first time in the nearly 70 years that the Castro regime has been in power that senior members of the communist regime have been charged in the U.S. for acts of violence resulting in the deaths of American citizens.
February 2026 marked the 30th anniversary of the murder of Carlos Costa, Armando Alejandre, Mario de la Peña, and Pablo Morales — four American members of Brothers to the Rescue. The group carried out humanitarian airplane missions during the 1990s balsero (“rafter”) migrant crisis, rescuing Cubans adrift at sea as they desperately attempted to flee from communism. (Read more: Breitbart News, 5/20/2026) (Archive)