The US formally accuses Raúl Castro for an aerial shootdown where 4 people died
The accusation revives one of the most tense episodes between Washington and the Cuban government
The Department of Justice (DOJ) presented formal charges against Raúl Castro for his alleged responsibility in the downing of two civilian small planes in 1996, an event that left four people dead and caused a strong diplomatic crisis between Washington and Havana. Castro was then Minister of Defense, which made him the highest authority in the country after his brother Fidel.
A federal court in Miami ordered the confidential nature of the superseding accusation presented in the case to be withdrawn, after the United States government formally requested to make the court documents public. The decision, signed on May 1, 2026, authorizes the accusation against all those involved to be open to public knowledge, after considering that there were sufficient grounds to lift the secrecy of the file.
Among those charged by the United States are Lorenzo Alberto Pérez-Pérez, Emilio José Palacio Blanco, José Fidel Gual Barzaga, Raúl Simanca Cárdenas and Luis Raúl González-Pardo Rodríguez. All of them were charged solely with conspiracy.