Raúl Castro indicted over 1996 shootdown of civilian planes

Added: 2026-05-22

[00:00:00]Well, 30 years after Cuban fighter pilot shot down two civilian planes and killed four Cuban-Americans, the United States Justice Department has now indicted former Cuban President Raul Castro for his role in an incident that reshaped and hardened US-Cuba relations. NBC's Alice Barr has the latest from Washington.

[00:00:21]Show up here. In a long-awaited step toward accountability, the Justice Department indicting former Cuban President Raul Castro in the 1996 shoot-down of two civilian planes that killed four Cuban-Americans, including Miriam de la Peña's son. My son was a law-abiding American who loved freedom. The news deeply personal to some, celebrated by Cuban-Americans in Miami, where acting Attorney General Todd Blanched made the announcement. The United States and President Trump does not and will not forget its citizens. An American grand jury indicting Raul, now 94 and the younger brother of Fidel Castro, for conspiracy to kill US nationals, destroying American civilian aircraft, and premeditated murder. Prosecutors say he ordered Cuban fighter pilots, who were also indicted, to shoot down the planes from the Cuban-American exile group Brothers to the Rescue that helped others trying to flee to freedom. Cuba says the planes violated its airspace.

[00:01:29]The US says they were humanitarians over international waters. Our son is not coming back.

[00:01:35]It could be 50 years, and the criminal is still there.

[00:01:39]He needs to be put in jail. Castro is still powerful in Cuba's communist government that called the new indictment lies. NBC's Tom Llamas asked whether he will stand trial in the US.

[00:01:51]There's a lot of ways that we can get them, and and I certainly hope that that any defendant that's indicted in this country, um, stands trial. The Trump administration has been raising the pressure on Cuba's regime, but President Trump now says There won't be escalation. I don't think there needs to be. As families wait for what's next.

[00:02:09]Given how unlikely it is that Cuba would extradite Raul Castro, this moment is drawing comparisons to the US military operation to arrest Venezuela's Nicolas Maduro. Blance said the DOJ expects Castro to show up by his own will or by another way. Though again, President Trump is downplaying escalation. In Washington, Alice Barr, NBC News.