UPDATED 1:40 PM EDT
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche announced the indictment of Raul Castro and several others for their role in the killing of four Cuban American pilots who volunteered for Brothers to the Rescue.
Castro and others were indicted for conspiracy to kill U.S. nationals, destruction of aircraft, four individual counts of murder. “The indictment was returned by a grand jury in the Southern District of Florida on April 23, 2026, and was unsealed today,” Blanche said, adding, "My message today is clear. The United States and President Trump does not and will not forget its citizens."
HUGE: Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche announces the indictment of former Cuban President Raul Castro pic.twitter.com/lLN5ad3xx1
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) May 20, 2026
ORIGINAL STORY:
According to court filings unsealed Wednesday, former Cuban leader Raul Castro has been indicted for his alleged role in the 1996 killing of four Cuban-Americans who were pilots for Cuban exile group Brothers to the Rescue.
The group was founded in the early 1990s by José Basulto and operated search-and-rescue flights over the waters between Florida and Cuba, aiding thousands of people who fled Cuba on makeshift vessels. In February 1996, Cuban fighter jets shot down two Brothers to the Rescue planes in international waters, killing Armando Alejandre Junior, Carlos Costa, Mario de la Peña, and Pablo Morales.
The indictment will be formally announced by Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche at an event at the Freedom Tower in Miami. Blanche is joined there by Jason A. Reding Quinones, US Attorney for the Southern District of Florida; FBI Deputy Director Christopher G. Raia; U.S. Senator Ashley Moody and Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier.
Ahead of the announcement, the Cuban government was in full disinformation mode:
✈️🇨🇺 MythBreakers: Exposing the Brothers to the Rescue hoax
— Cuban Embassy in US (@EmbaCubaUS) May 20, 2026
Is a sovereign State like Cuba obligated to tolerate illegal and continuous incursions into its territory?
Under no circumstances. International law and global civil aviation conventions protect the sovereignty of… pic.twitter.com/p9UC0shT95
(This is a developing story, and will be updated as more information is available.)
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