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The Department of Justice of the United States is expected to announce this Wednesday federal charges against Raúl Castro, 94 years old, for his alleged involvement in the downing of two planes belonging to the Hermanos al Rescate in 1996, in which four Cuban Americans died.
The announcement is scheduled to take place at the Freedom Tower in Miami, coinciding with Cuba's Independence Day and a ceremony honoring the victims, as confirmed by Reuters citing a Department of Justice official who spoke on condition of anonymity.
One of the elements mentioned regarding the possible case is an audio recording from June 1996—recorded four months after the downing—where Castro, then Minister of the Revolutionary Armed Forces, describes the order he issued.
In that recording, published in 2006 by journalist Wilfredo Cancio in El Nuevo Herald, Castro can be heard saying: "I used to say to try to shoot them down over the territory, but they would enter Havana and leave... Well, shoot them down at sea when they show up."
The authenticity of the audio, lasting 11 minutes and 32 seconds, was verified by Cancio with specialists and with Alcibiades Hidalgo, former personal secretary of Castro, who confirmed that the voice was that of Raúl.
According to the announcement from the Department of Justice, the event at the Freedom Tower will bring together the acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, federal prosecutor Jason A. Reding Quiñones, FBI Deputy Director Christopher G. Raia, Senator Ashley Moody, and Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier.
The families of the four victims —Armando Alejandre Jr., Carlos Costa, Mario de la Peña, and Pablo Morales— will also be present at the event, nearly 30 years after MiG jets from the Cuban Revolutionary Air Force destroyed the two unarmed civilian Cessna aircraft over international waters in the Florida Straits.
The eventual accusation would have to be approved by a grand jury before it is formally revealed, according to information released by U.S. government officials.
The correspondent for the newspaper ABC at the White House, David Alandete, revealed on X: "A source at the Department of Justice in Washington confirms to me that on Wednesday charges are expected to be announced in Miami against Raúl Castro for the murder of exiles during a rescue operation."
The potential judicial progress is part of the Trump administration's maximum pressure policy against the Cuban regime.
In March, the Florida Attorney General's Office had reopened the criminal investigation into the shootdown, and Cuban-American lawmakers such as Mario Díaz-Balart, María Elvira Salazar, Carlos Giménez, Rick Scott, and Nicole Malliotakis had urged the federal government to file charges.
Governor Ron DeSantis described the impeachment attempt as "long-awaited," according to statements made on May 15.
The accusation, however, primarily has a symbolic and political significance:
Raúl Castro has never set foot on U.S. soil and there is no extradition treaty between Cuba and the United States, which makes effective prosecution virtually impossible.
José Basulto, founder of Brothers to the Rescue and a survivor of the attack, stated to NBC6 that he has waited decades for this accountability: "I have wished for this for a long time. I have wished for justice, for justice to become a reality."
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