The Trump Administration is expected to announce formal charges against Cuba’s former President, Raúl Castro, on Wednesday in an apparent escalation of pressure on Cuba’s government.
Castro’s federal indictment will reportedly be revealed alongside a memorial ceremony at the Freedom Tower in downtown Miami that coincides with Cuba’s Independence Day. Unnamed sources familiar with the investigation told NBC News that a grand jury returned an indictment on Castro after it heard evidence against him.
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche is expected to attend the event, along with FBI Deputy Director Christopher Raia, Sen. Ashley Moody, (R, Fla.), and other officials.
The plan to indict Castro, first reported by CBS News last week, comes as U.S. President Donald Trump toys with the idea of military action in Cuba. Trump has mentioned Cuba often in the context of Venezuela and Iran—two other countries where the U.S. military has taken action this year.
An indictment on Raúl Castro, the 94-year-old brother of the late Cuban revolutionary leader Fidel Castro, would come just months after the U.S. forcibly extradited Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, who faces charges of narco-terrorism and conspiracy to import cocaine, among others.
The potential Castro indictment also appears part of a larger Trump Administration attempt to force Cuba to kowtow to U.S. demands. Trump imposed tariffs on countries that supply oil to Cuba, aggravating its longstanding energy crisis and, in effect, causing widespread blackouts as well as food shortages. His Administration has also imposed a fresh wave of sanctions against Cuban regime actors and entities, and he floated a “friendly takeover” of the country, which he said he would have the “honor” to oversee.
“It’s a country that really needs help,” Trump said about Cuba on Tuesday.
Havana has repeatedly pushed back against Washington’s broader pressure campaign. Its President Miguel Díaz-Canel criticized the U.S. government on social media on Monday: “We will continue to denounce, in the firmest and most energetic way possible, the genocidal siege that seeks to strangle our people.”
Who is Raúl Castro?
Raúl Castro, alongside his older brother Fidel, helped topple the U.S.-backed regime in Cuba and pushed the country toward a communist revolution. For about five decades from 1959, Castro served as the Minister of the Revolutionary Armed Forces, solidifying his power within the military and the country and garnering supporters called Raulistas.
As minister, Castro helped thwart the U.S.’s attempted invasion of the island in 1961 through the Bahía de Cochinos (Bay of Pigs) in Cuba’s southern coast.
Raúl Castro served as acting President in 2006 when Fidel fell ill, and he formally took over the presidency in 2008. He held the presidency until 2018, when Díaz-Canel took over, and stepped down as leader of the Communist Party of Cuba in 2021 but remains an influential figure in Cuban politics.
What is the indictment supposed to be about?
The exact charges are not known. But Castro’s indictment, according to a May 15 Miami Herald report, will be based on the 1996 downing of two planes operated by the Miami-based humanitarian group Brothers to the Rescue, when Castro was defense minister. The group, founded by Cuban emigrés, mainly patrolled waters between Florida and Cuba in search of refugees.
On Feb. 24, 1996, three planes carrying Brothers to the Rescue members entered an area near the 24th parallel. Cuban air defense forces blew two of three planes out of the sky, and the third which carried the group’s leader managed to escape. Four men died.
Cuban authorities have justified the attack. Fidel Castro, speaking to TIME in 1996, said that the decision to shoot down the planes came after the organization made repeated attempts to drop leaflets on Havana that were critical of his government and urged Cubans to topple him. “We instructed the armed forces that we would not tolerate it again,” Fidel Castro said.
Years later, in 2001, the leader of a Cuban spy ring, Gerardo Hernández was convicted in the U.S. of conspiracy to commit murder in connection with the downing of the two aircraft, and he was sentenced to life in prison. In 2014, however, Hernández was returned to Cuba in a prisoner swap under President Barack Obama. A Cuban air force general and two airmen were also charged with murder, but they were never tried.
The plane attack was met with swift action and condemnation from then-U.S. President Bill Clinton, who signed the Cuban Liberty and Democratic Solidarity (LIBERTAD) Act that codified the economic embargo on the country.
In a February 2026 letter addressed to the President, several lawmakers including Rep. Mario Díaz-Balart (R, Fla.) urged the Justice Department to consider indicting Raúl Castro over the shootdown.
The following month, Florida’s Attorney General said he was reopening a state-level investigation into the 1996 incident.
The event on Wednesday is a ceremony honoring the four victims in the 1996 incident.
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