MIAMI (AP) 鈥� The Justice Department was expected Wednesday against as the Trump administration escalates pressure on the socialist government, according to two people familiar with the matter.
Federal prosecutors in Miami related to Castro鈥檚 alleged role in the 1996 downing of two planes operated by the Miami-based exile group Brothers to the Rescue. Castro, now 94, was Cuba’s defense minister .
The expected charges include murder and destruction of an airplane, one of the people familiar with the matter said. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to publicly discuss the case ahead of the announcement.
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche and other top Justice Department officials were expected to be in Miami on Wednesday for a ceremony to honor those killed in the shootdown.
President Donald Trump has been threatening military action in Cuba ever since U.S. forces captured the Cuban government鈥檚 longtime patron, Venezuelan President . After ousting Maduro, the White House ordered a blockade that choked off fuel shipments to Cuba, leading to severe blackouts, and an economic collapse across the island.
Since Maduro’s capture, Trump has ratcheted up talk of regime change in Cuba after pledging earlier this year to conduct a if its leadership did not open its economy to American investment and kick out U.S. adversaries.
Trump鈥檚 first administration indicted Maduro on drug-trafficking charges and used that to justify removing him from power during a surprise military raid in January that whisked the Venezuelan leader to New York to face trial.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Wednesday urged the Cuban people to demand a free-market economy with new leadership that he said will chart a new course in relations with the U.S.
鈥淚n the U.S., we are ready to open a new chapter in the relationship between our people,鈥� Rubio, the son of Cuban immigrants, said in a Spanish-language video message. 鈥淐urrently, the only thing standing in the way of a better future are those who control your country.鈥�
Cuba鈥檚 deputy foreign minister, Carlos F. de Coss铆o lashed out at Rubio on X, saying he 鈥渓ies so repeatedly and unscrupulously about Cuba and tries to justify the aggression he inflicts on the Cuban people.鈥� Rubio “knows full well that there is no excuse for such cruel and ruthless aggression.鈥�
Ra煤l Castro believed to wield power behind the scenes
There鈥檚 no indication Castro will be taken into U.S. custody anytime soon.
He took over as president from his ailing older brother Fidel Castro in 2006 before handing power to a trusted loyalist, D铆az-Canel, in 2018.
While he retired in 2021 as head of the Cuban Communist Party, he is widely believed to wield power behind the scenes, underscored by the prominence of his grandson, Ra煤l Guillermo Rodr铆guez Castro, who previously met secretly with Rubio.
Last week, for meetings with Cuban officials, including Castro鈥檚 grandson. Two other met with the grandson in April.
鈥淭he symbolic nature is absolutely crucial,鈥� said Lindsey Lazopoulos Friedman, a former prosecutor at the U.S. attorney鈥檚 office in Miami who handled national security cases and crimes involving Cubans.
鈥淓ven though Ra煤l Castro will likely stay and die in Cuba, you can use the indictment as a pressure point, a tactical advantage, to extract other concessions like the release of prisoners or to keep Russia out,鈥� she added.
The investigation into Castro stretches back to the 1990s
Starting in 1995, planes flown by members of Brothers to the Rescue, a group founded by Cuban exiles, buzzed over Havana dropping leaflets urging Cubans to rise up against the Castro government.
The Cubans protested to the U.S. government, warning that they would defend their airspace. Federal Aviation Administration officials also opened an investigation and met with the group鈥檚 leaders to urge them to ground the flights, according to declassified government records obtained by George Washington University鈥檚 National Security Archive.
鈥淭his latest overflight can only be seen as further taunting of the Cuban Government,鈥� an FAA official wrote in an email to her superiors after one intrusion in January 1996. 鈥淲orst case scenario is that one of these days the Cubans will shoot down one of these planes.鈥�
But those calls went unheeded and on Feb. 24, 1996, missiles fired by Russian-made MiG-29 fighter jets downed two unarmed civilian Cessna planes a short distance north of Havana just beyond Cuba鈥檚 airspace. All four men aboard were killed.
Ra煤l Castro faced earlier indictment
Guy Lewis, who was a federal prosecutor, uncovered evidence linking senior Cuban military officials to cocaine trafficking by Colombia鈥檚 Medellin cartel. Following the shootdown, the investigation expanded, and prosecutors pursued charges against Ra煤l Castro for leading a vast racketeering conspiracy by Cuba鈥檚 armed forces.
鈥淭he evidence was strong,鈥� Lewis said in an interview.
In the end, the Clinton administration indicted four individuals, including the MiG pilots, the head of the Cuban air force and the head of a Cuban spy network in Miami 鈥� the only one to see the inside of a U.S. prison 鈥� for providing valuable intelligence about the flights.
The incident led the U.S. to harden its position against Cuba, even though the Cold War had ended and the Castros鈥� support for revolution across Latin America was a fading memory.
But Castro himself was spared as the Clinton administration 鈥� which had quietly sought to expand relations with Cuba prior to the incident 鈥� raised foreign policy concerns about such a high-profile indictment.
鈥淩a煤l was definitely one who slipped through the noose,鈥� Lewis said. 鈥淭he crime is notorious. Three U.S. citizens and one legal permanent resident were killed in a premeditated orchestrated murder. That should never be forgotten.鈥�
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Durkin Richer reported from Washington.
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