The Justice Department has unsealed an April 23 indictment charging Raul Modesto Castro Ruz and five former Cuban pilots in the 1996 shootdown of two unarmed US civilian planes that killed four Americans, alleging a conspiracy that reached to the highest levels of the Cuban military and linking the operation to longstanding repression and espionage against Brothers to the Rescue.

The Department of Justice on Wednesday revealed charges against Raul Castro and five pilots in connection with the February 24, 1996 shootings that downed two civilian aircraft carrying US nationals. The indictment says the planes belonged to Brothers to the Rescue, a Miami-based group that flew humanitarian missions across the Florida Straits and supported pro-democracy efforts in Cuba. Four US nationals died in the attack, and the filing ties the decision and orders to Cuba’s military command.

The document alleges Cuban intelligence had infiltrated Brothers to the Rescue and that operatives fed information back to Havana. Prosecutors say the organization planned flights tied to pro-democracy demonstrations in February 1996, and that Cuban authorities deliberately kept their informants off those missions. According to the indictment, two BTTR planes were shot down in international waters as they were leaving Cuban airspace.

The indictment focuses on pilots who trained and served in the Cuban Revolutionary Air and Air Defense Force, known as DAAFAR. It asserts that orders to engage came through the ministry and that Raul Castro, with Fidel Castro as the final decision maker, signed off on the operation. The filings specify criminal counts that include conspiracy to kill US nationals, destruction of aircraft, and multiple counts of murder.

Castro Ruz and his co-defendants face one count of conspiracy to kill US nationals, while Castro Ruz and Lorenzo Alberto Perez-Perez are charged with two counts of destruction of aircraft and four counts of murder. Authorities allege Perez-Perez shot down both civilian aircraft seven minutes apart on February 24, 1996, creating a chain of events that killed Carlos Costa, Armando Alejandro Jr., Mario de la Peña, and Pablo Morales. The indictment aims to hold those who ordered and carried out the attack accountable under US law.

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche announced the indictment at a symbolic location in Miami and framed the charges as the culmination of a long wait for the victims’ families. He spoke directly about the human cost and America’s duty to its citizens, saying exactly:

“For nearly years – 30 years – the families of four murdered Americans have waited for justice….This is a story all too familiar. On February 24, 1996, two civilian aircraft operated by Brothers to the Rescue were shot down over International Waters by military aircraft from Cuba. Four men were killed: Carlos Costa, Armando Alejandro Jr., Mario de la Peña, and Pablo Morales. They were unarmed civilians and were flying humanitarian missions for the rescue and protection of people fleeing oppression across the Florida Straits. As alleged in the indictment, Raúl Castro and five co-defendants participated in a conspiracy that ended with Cuban military aircraft firing missiles at those civilian planes and killing four Americans. Those are the allegations returned by a federal grand jury. My message today is clear. The United States and President Trump does not and will not forget its citizens.”

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio also weighed in with a message aimed at the Cuban people, laying the blame for the island’s dire conditions on the regime’s mismanagement and corruption. He posted a statement in Spanish that accused the leadership of stealing resources while ordinary Cubans suffer, and he said exactly:

“The reason you are forced to survive 22 hours a day without electricity is not due to an oil ‘blockade’ by the U.S. As you know, better than anyone, you have been suffering from blackouts for years.

“The real reason you don’t have electricity, fuel or food is because those who control your country have plundered billions of dollars, but nothing has been used to help the people.”

President Donald Trump addressed reporters about the charges and framed the moment as meaningful for Cuban-Americans and anyone with family in Cuba. He stressed the humanitarian angle and the hope of reconnecting families, saying exactly:

“I think it was a very big moment for people that, not only Cuban Americans, but people that came from Cuba, that want to go back to Cuba, people that want to see their family in Cuba. I think this is a very big day, very important day…On a humanitarian basis we’re there to help.”

On the question of broader military involvement, the president pushed back against claims of imminent escalation while signaling sustained pressure. He was blunt about Havana’s collapse and American leverage, saying exactly: “I don’t think there needs to be,” Trump said. “The place is falling apart. It’s a mess, and they’ve sort of lost control. They really lost control of Cuba.”

Alongside indictments, the administration has tightened sanctions and kept Cuba on notice, with the president promising further moves on the embargo and signaling that Washington will continue to use economic and legal tools to press for change. This case resurrects a painful chapter and puts a spotlight on how far US authorities will go to seek accountability when Americans are killed abroad.