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This Wednesday, on Cuba's Independence Day, two politically significant events are taking place in Washington D.C. and Miami: a press conference by Republican congress members calling for a formal indictment against Raúl Castro, and an event by the Department of Justice at the Freedom Tower that may include the announcement of federal criminal charges against the 94-year-old former Cuban dictator.
According to NBC News, the event will begin at 9 a.m. at the Capitol, where congressmen Mario Díaz-Balart, María Elvira Salazar, and Carlos A. Giménez from Florida, along with Nicole Malliotakis from New York, will hold a joint press conference to demand that the Department of Justice file charges against Castro for his responsibility in the shooting down of two civilian planes from the organization Brothers to the Rescue in 1996.
In February, the four lawmakers sent a formal letter to President Donald Trump asking his administration to consider "bringing a formal indictment against Raúl Castro for his involvement in the 1996 downing of the Brothers to the Rescue civilian plane, which resulted in the cold-blooded murder of four people, including three American citizens."
At 1 PM, the focus will shift to the Freedom Tower in Miami, where the Department of Justice will hold an event that includes an announcement and a ceremony in honor of the victims.
Interim Attorney General Todd Blanche, Federal Prosecutor Jason Reding Quiñones, FBI Deputy Director Christopher G. Raia, Senator Ashley Moody, and Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier will attend.
Last week, it was confirmed that the Department of Justice is preparing formal charges against Castro, according to sources familiar with the case who confirmed this to NBC News. If the charges are formalized, they would need to be approved by a federal grand jury.
The case dates back to February 24, 1996, when Cuban military planes shot down two civilian aircraft from Brothers to the Rescue over international waters in the Florida Straits, killing four people: Armando Alejandre Jr., Carlos Costa, Mario de la Peña, and Pablo Morales.
The Organization of American States and the International Civil Aviation Organization concluded that the planes were shot down outside Cuban airspace and that Cuba violated international law.
A recording from June 1996, published by journalist Wilfredo Cancio in El Nuevo Herald in August 2006, is considered one of the key pieces of evidence in the case. In the audio, Raúl Castro —then Minister of the Armed Forces— states: "I said to try to shoot them down over the territory, but they would come into Havana and leave. Well, shoot them down at sea when they show up; and do not consult those who have the authority."
The authenticity of the audio was confirmed by Alcibiades Hidalgo, former personal secretary of Castro.
The process leading to the accusation accelerated in 2026. In March, Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier announced the reopening of the state criminal investigation into the downing, noting that it had been closed during the Biden administration.
Last Monday, the Department of the Treasury imposed sanctions on nine senior Cuban officials and the Cuban Intelligence Directorate, as part of the maximum pressure that the Trump administration continues to exert on the regime.
The correspondent of ABC, David Alandete, confirmed, citing a source in the Department of Justice, that charges could be announced against Castro this Wednesday, and the Miami Herald reported, citing two sources, that a federal grand jury indictment could be revealed at the Freedom Tower.
The families of three of the four victims of the shooting initially received a civil compensation of 187 million dollars, but no Cuban official has faced criminal charges in the United States for the attack so far.
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