Federal authorities in the United States have charged former Cuban President Raúl Castro and five fighter pilots in the 1996 downing of small civilian planes operated by Miami-based exiles, even as the Trump administration escalates pressure on Cuba and President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio openly raise the possibility of military intervention.
The indictment accuses Castro and the military pilots of conspiring to terrorize, intimidate and retaliate against Cubans and the exile community by shooting down aircraft flown by the Brothers to the Rescue group. Castro, now 94, was defense minister when MiG fighters targeted the group’s planes. The charges, including murder and destruction of an airplane, were secretly filed by a grand jury in April and unveiled by federal prosecutors on Wednesday.
Who Gets Targeted
The people at the bottom of this machinery are the ones who paid first. The planes were flown by Miami-based exiles, and the indictment says the aircraft were shot down in a campaign to terrorize, intimidate and retaliate against Cubans and the exile community. The downings happened on Feb. 24, 1996, after Brothers to the Rescue flew planes that dropped pro-democracy leaflets over Cuba in January 1996.
Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel condemned the indictment as a political stunt that sought only to "justify the folly of a military aggression against Cuba." That warning lands in the middle of a fresh round of pressure, with the U.S. side using criminal charges, sanctions and military signaling in the same breath.
What Washington Calls Pressure
Trump said previous U.S. presidents had considered intervening in Cuba for decades but that "it looks like I’ll be the one that does it." Speaking to reporters during an environmental event in the Oval Office, Trump said, "Other presidents have looked at this for 50, 60 years, doing something," and added, "And, it looks like I’ll be the one that does it. So, I would be happy to do it."
Rubio said the Trump administration wants to resolve differences with Cuba peacefully but is doubtful the United States can reach a diplomatic resolution with the island’s current government. Rubio, the son of Cuban immigrants, said in Miami before boarding a plane to attend a NATO meeting in Sweden and then visit India, "Trump’s preference is always a negotiated agreement that’s peaceful. That’s always our preference. That remains our preference with Cuba," and added, "I’m just being honest with you, you know, the likelihood of that happening, given who we’re dealing with right now, is not high."
Top Trump aides, including Rubio, CIA chief John Ratcliffe and other senior national security officials, have met with Cuban officials in recent months to explore possible improvements in relations, but the U.S. side has come away unimpressed from those talks, leading to more sanctions on the Cuban government in the past week. Rubio said Cuba has been a national security threat for years because of its ties to U.S. adversaries and that Trump is intent on addressing it.
Rubio also said Cuba poses a serious national security threat to America because of its security and intelligence ties with China and Russia and friendly relations with U.S. foes in Latin America. He said Cuba has gotten used to "buying time and waiting us out," adding, "They’re not going to be able to wait us out or buy time. We’re very serious, we’re very focused." When asked whether the United States would use force in Cuba to change the island’s political system, Rubio said a diplomatic settlement was preferred but noted that "the president always has the option to do whatever it takes to support and protect the national interest." He pushed back on a reporter’s suggestion that it sounded like "nation-building," insisting it was about addressing a national security risk.
Sanctions, Ships, and the Apparatus
The pressure campaign is not just rhetoric. The U.S. military touted the arrival of the USS Nimitz aircraft carrier and accompanying ships to the Caribbean Sea on the same day the charges against Castro were announced. U.S. Southern Command said the ships are taking part in maritime exercises with partners in Latin America that began in March.
Trump has been threatening military action in Cuba ever since ousting Maduro and then ordering an energy blockade that choked off fuel shipments to Cuba, leading to severe blackouts, food shortages and an economic collapse across the island. The Trump administration this month also slapped new sanctions on Cuba, including one against Grupo de Administración Empresarial S.A., a business conglomerate operated by the Cuban Revolutionary Armed Forces.
On Thursday, Rubio announced that the sister of GAESA’s executive president, who was living in the United States, had her green card revoked and was arrested and is now in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody. Rubio said, "Past Administrations have permitted the families of Cuban military elites, Iranian terrorists and other reprehensible organizations to enjoy lavish lifestyles in our country funded by stolen blood-money, while the people they repress at home suffer in increasingly dire circumstances. No longer."
Trump has also ratcheted up talk of regime change in Cuba after pledging to conduct a "friendly takeover" of the country if its leadership did not open its economy to American investment and kick out U.S. adversaries. China opposes U.S. sanctions and pressure on Cuba, and Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said Thursday, "China firmly supports Cuba in safeguarding its national sovereignty and national dignity and opposes external interference."
The indictment, the sanctions, the military deployment and the talk of a "friendly takeover" all sit inside the same hierarchy: decisions made at the top, while ordinary people on the island face the consequences in blackouts, food shortages and economic collapse, and exiles are folded into another round of state power games.