US Indicts Raúl Castro On Murder Charges Over 1996 Shootdown As Trump Vows To 'Free Cuba' | N18G

Added: 2026-05-24

[00:00:02]As the United States has dramatically escalated pressure on Cuba, this time by indicting former [music] Cuban President Raul Castro on murder charges linked to a deadly [music] Cold War era incident.

[00:00:16]Speaking at the White House on Wednesday, US President [music] Donald Trump said the United States is, quote, freeing [music] up Cuba, while also insisting there would be no military escalation [music] against the island nation. We have Cuba on our mind. Very important.

[00:00:36]A lot of problems for a lot of years, and uh this was a big I think it was a very big moment for people that not only Cuban Americans, but uh people that came from Cuba that want to go back to Cuba.

[00:00:47]Keep people that want to see their family in Cuba.

[00:00:50]I think this is a very big day, very important day. What's coming next for Cuba?

[00:00:55]Well, we're going to see. It's a failing nation. You see that. It's falling apart. They have no oil, they have no money. They It's a failing nation, so I just can't tell you that. But uh we're there to help. We're going to In the meantime, we're going to have to help them out. They have no no way of living. They have no food.

[00:01:12]They have no electricity, they have no energy at all.

[00:01:16]But they do have great people. We'll see what happens, but uh we're freeing up Cuba. Earlier, the US Department of Justice unveiled a major legal move against Castro, one that could sharply [music] worsen already tense ties between Washington and Havana. According to court records filed in federal court in Miami, Raul Castro has been charged with conspiracy to kill US nationals, four counts of murder, and destruction of aircraft.

[00:01:46]The charges relate to a 1996 incident that remains deeply painful for many [music] Cuban Americans.

[00:01:54]At an event in Miami honoring the victims, acting US Attorney General Todd Blanched said the Trump administration was [music] committed to pursuing justice, regardless of how much time had passed.

[00:02:07]He also said the United States [music] expects Raul Castro to appear in the country by his own will or by another way.

[00:02:16]Nations and their leaders cannot be permitted to target Americans, kill them, and not face accountability.

[00:02:27]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, no matter what title you hold, and in this case, no matter how much time has passed. What are the prospects that you could get Raul Castro to the United States to face justice given the situation there?

[00:02:49]And what steps steps are the US willing to take to get him back here?

[00:02:54]Well, we we indict men outside of this country all the time.

[00:02:59]And there's all kinds of different ways that we get them here. The reason why we indict somebody is cuz we want them here to face justice in front of a jury of their peers. How we go about doing that obviously depends on the circumstances in the case, and I'm not going to go beyond that, but but we we expect we didn't indict this isn't a show indictment. This is an indictment because we we expect that there was a warrant issued for his arrest. So, we expect that that he show up here by his own will or by another way.

[00:03:30]The indictment was reportedly returned on April 23rd and names [music] five other defendants as well.

[00:03:38]Now 94 years old, Raul Castro has not responded publicly to the charges.

[00:03:43]Cuba's foreign ministry has also remained silent so far.

[00:03:47]The move comes amid renewed hardline rhetoric from President [music] Trump, who has increasingly pushed for regime change in Cuba.

[00:03:56]The island has been ruled by the Communist Party since the 1959 [music] revolution led by Raul Castro's brother, Fidel Castro.

[00:04:06]For decades, relations between the United States and Cuba have swung between diplomacy and confrontation.

[00:04:20]>> [music] [clears throat] [music] [music] [music] >> Hey, thank you for watching this on CNBC [music] TV18. Hope you liked it. For more such interesting news and updates, follow CNBC TV18 on all the social media platforms.