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Former Cuban President Ra\u00fal Castro has been charged in a U.S. indictment<\/a> with murder and other crimes for his alleged role in the downing of two civilian aircraft operated by Miami-based exiles in 1996 off the coast of the Caribbean island.<\/p>\n The allegations come as part of escalating pressure by the Trump administration on Cuba’s socialist government to open its economy to American investment and remove U.S. adversaries. In addition, a U.S. blockade of fuel and other goods has caused widespread blackouts, food shortages and an economic collapse on the island.<\/p>\n Castro, now 94, was Cuba’s defense minister at the time the two small planes were shot down. They were operated by the exile group Brothers to the Rescue, which had been dropping leaflets over Havana urging Cubans to rise up against their government. Russian-made fighter jets downed the two unarmed civilian aircraft, killing all four men aboard the planes.<\/p>\n Here’s what to know about Castro, the indictment and the 1996 incident.<\/p>\n Castro is accused in the indictment of authorizing the use of deadly force against Brothers to the Rescue, after the group had flown planes that dropped pro-Democracy leaflets over Cuba in January 1996. U.S. prosecutors said Castro and his older brother, Fidel Castro, who was president at the time, were the final decision makers on orders to kill.<\/p>\n In February 1996, Ra\u00fal Castro ordered Cuban military officials to begin training, using MiG fighter jets from Russia, on finding, tracking and intercepting the group’s small planes off the island’s coast, the indictment says. The two planes were shot down on Feb. 24, killing four U.S. nationals, including three U.S. citizens. A third plane managed to escape.<\/p>\n Castro and five other people, including MiG pilots, were charged in the indictment. Castro is accused of conspiracy to kill U.S. nationals and multiple counts of murder and destruction of aircraft. The murder and conspiracy charges carry a maximum punishment of the death penalty or life in prison upon conviction, but it’s unclear whether Castro will ever set foot in a U.S. courtroom.<\/p>\n Acting U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche, who announced the indictment Wednesday in Miami, said he expected Castro to appear in the U.S. for prosecution, either by \u201chis own will or by another way.\u201d<\/p>\n Blanche said the federal government often indicts people who are outside the United States and uses a variety of methods to bring them to justice.<\/p>\n Former Venezuelan President Nicol\u00e1s Maduro<\/a> was indicted on drug-related charges before he and his wife were seized by U.S. Special Forces in the Venezuelan capital in January.<\/p>\n At about 1:30 p.m. on Feb. 24, 1996, the three Brothers to the Rescue planes took off from an airport in Miami-Dade County, Florida.<\/p>\n Over international waters, outside of Cuban airspace, two of the three unarmed Cessna planes were shot down<\/a> by the Cuban MiG pilots without any warning, U.S. prosecutors said. The MiG pilots then began following the third plane, which escaped being destroyed, authorities said.<\/p>\n A Cuban official, however, insisted at a United Nations Security Council meeting in late February 1996 that the two planes were violating Cuban airspace when they were shot down and one of the civilian pilots had ignored warnings to not enter that airspace, according to Security Council records. The official also alleged the U.S. took no effective measures to prevent such airspace violations by U.S. pilots, despite warnings from Cuba.<\/p>\n Brothers to the Rescue dates back to 1980, during the unexpected emigration of 125,000 Cubans to the United States. It aimed to help the Cuban refugees in the Florida straits by dropping supplies from small planes and alerting the U.S. Coast Guard during the monthslong crisis.<\/p>\n Cuba’s current president, Miguel D\u00edaz-Canel, condemned the indictment against Castro and accused U.S. officials of lying about the 1996 shootdown of the planes. He called it \u201ca political action without any legal basis, that only seeks to bolster the case they are fabricating to justify the folly of a military aggression against Cuba.\u201d<\/p>\n