DOJ indicts Raúl Castro for 1996 air terrorism conspiracy under 18 U.S.C. § 2332

A federal grand jury in Miami unsealed a superseding indictment on May 20, 2026, charging former Cuban President Raúl Castro — Cuba's defense minister in 1996 — along with five co-defendants with conspiracy to kill U.S. nationals, four counts of murder, and two counts of destruction of aircraft under 18 U.S.C. § 2332 for ordering the shootdown of the Brothers to the Rescue planes. The co-defendants include Lorenzo Alberto Pérez-Pérez, Emilio José Palacio Blanco, José Fidel Gual Barzaga, Raul Simanca Cardenas, and Luis Raul González-Pardo Rodríguez. Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche called the indictment the result of a thirty-year investigation, not a show indictment. The victims named in the murder counts were Carlos Costa, Armando Alejandre Jr., Mario de la Peña, and Pablo Morales — three U.S. citizens and one permanent resident.