U.S. Indicts Raúl Castro for 1996 Shootdown of Civilian Planes, Imposes Sanctions on Cuban Leadership

A federal grand jury indicted Raúl Castro last month on conspiracy and murder charges tied to the 1996 shootdown of two civilian planes operated by the Miami-based group Brothers to the Rescue. Castro, now 95, was Cuba’s defense minister at the time. S.

Treasury Department imposed sanctions on Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel, Raúl Castro’s son and grandson, and others. The same day President Donald Trump said of Cuba, “We’re going to handle that as soon as we’ve finished” military operations in Iran. Lianys Torres Rivera, Cuba’s chargé d’affaires in Washington, spoke with The Associated Press at the Cuban embassy on Tuesday, June 9, 2026.

She said the sanctions and the indictment are a pretext to persuade the American people to support military intervention. “The sanctions against our leaders, we see as a pretext to make the American people think we are a threat,” Torres Rivera said. ” Torres Rivera said efforts to change Cuba’s government by coercion or force would be met by fierce resistance.

“Raúl is sacred,” she said of the indictment. ” “If we are attacked, we are going to respond, and we are prepared for that. But we don’t want it,” she added. S. has maintained an energy blockade that has cut off fuel shipments to Cuba.

Torres Rivera said the measures have produced power cuts of up to 20 hours a day, food shortages, and sharp rises in the cost of gasoline, kerosene, food, and medicine. “What is happening now is tough,” she said. ” Trump administration officials have attributed Cuba’s economic problems to the Cuban government’s socialist policies and have not ruled out military action but have said Cuban authorities would be given time to enact reforms.