DOJ Indicts Raúl Castro, But Can’t Explain Why Now, 30 Years After the Fact
May 21, 2026
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has unsealed an indictment charging former Cuban President Raúl Castro, now 94 years old, along with five other Cuban officials, over the 1996 shoot-down of two civilian aircraft belonging to Brothers to the Rescue in which four people died.
At a press conference announcing the case, Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche faced several key questions about the indictment, including why it took three decades to bring charges against Castro.
“I cannot explain or justify why now as opposed to two decades ago or 30 years ago when it happened,” Blanche said. He also declined to discuss evidence beyond what appears in the indictment itself.
Another major question remains unresolved: how the U.S. plans to bring the 94-year-old Cuban leader to trial from a country that has no extradition treaty with Washington.
Blanche said the DOJ expects Raúl Castro to appear “by his own will or by another way.”
Related Stories
Share this Report
-
"Can you speak to the evidence that leads you to believe that Raúl Castro directly participated in the death of those Americans who were killed? And I have a follow up," a reporter asked.
"Well, I cannot explain or justify why now as opposed to two decades ago or 30 years ago when it happened," said General Todd Blanche, U.S. Acting Attorney General.
"As far as what the evidence is, well, a lot of it's in the indictment. And it would not be appropriate or fair to comment outside of the indictment about the evidence. But as you guys know, a grand jury is presented with evidence and then returns an indictment to the extent that they believe there's probable cause that a crime is committed, which a grand jury certainly did here," Blanche said.
"What are the prospects that you could get Raúl Castro to the United States to face justice, given the situation there? And what steps are the U.S. willing to take to get him back here?" another reporter asked.
"Well, we indict men outside of this country all the time and there's all kinds of different ways that we get them here. The reason why we indict somebody is because we want them here to face justice in front of a jury of their peers," the Acting Attorney General said.
"How we go about doing that, obviously depends on the circumstances in the case and I'm not gonna go beyond that. But we expect, we didn't indict. This isn't a show indictment. This is an indictment because we expect that there was a warrant issue for his arrest. So we expect that he will show up here by his own will or by another way. And go to prison," Blanche concluded.
Support Independent Journalism from Cuba
