The Republican senator from Florida Rick Scott celebrated the formal charges by the U.S. Department of Justice against Raúl Castro for the shooting down of two civilian planes from Brothers to the Rescue in 1996, describing the event as "a great day for the people of Cuba and the United States of America."
In a message posted on his X social media account, Scott listed the charges brought against the former Cuban dictator: conspiracy to murder U.S. citizens, destruction of aircraft, and four individual counts of murder.
"After 30 long years, Raúl Castro has finally been accused of his crimes against the American people and the unimaginable suffering he has caused to the families of the Brothers to the Rescue," wrote the senator.
Scott went further in the video attached to the message, where he claimed that "all the problems we have in Latin America start with the Cuban regime" and that Castro "made the decision" to kill three American citizens and one legal resident.
The senator also deemed the Cuban regime as "a cancer in the Western Hemisphere," a characterization he has repeated on multiple occasions during his lengthy campaign of pressure against Havana.
The accusation was announced this Wednesday by acting Attorney General Todd Blanche at the Tower of Freedom in Miami, precisely on Cuba's Independence Day, which is commemorated on May 20, and was approved by a federal grand jury for the Southern District of Florida on April 23, 2026.
Alongside Raúl Castro, five Cuban military personnel were charged, including Lorenzo Alberto Pérez-Pérez, identified as the pilot who fired the missiles that destroyed two unarmed civilian Cessna aircraft over international waters in the Florida Strait.
Scott's reaction was not surprising: in March 2026, he had publicly called for Castro to be indicted and brought to the United States for trial, stating, "I want Raúl Castro to be charged for his crimes, for killing Americans."
In February of that same year, Scott, along with other Cuban-American lawmakers, signed a formal letter to President Trump requesting that the Department of Justice prosecute Castro, and on April 27, he demanded in Miami the imprisonment of both Castro and Miguel Díaz-Canel.
The accusation was also praised by President Donald Trump, who stated that "the Cuban population in Miami appreciates what the Attorney General has done today," and by Congresswoman María Elvira Salazar, who declared: "Today marks the beginning of the end for the Castro family."
The White House published a poster titled "ENEMIES OF AMERICA – NEUTRALIZED" with Castro labeled as "INDICTED," alongside other leaders identified by Washington.
The Cuban regime rejected the charges: Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez described them as a "farce," and Díaz-Canel referred to them as a "political action without any legal basis."
If found guilty, Raúl Castro, 94 years old, would face the death penalty or life imprisonment.
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