{"id":316566,"date":"2026-05-25T12:01:37","date_gmt":"2026-05-25T11:01:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=316566"},"modified":"2026-05-22T14:13:16","modified_gmt":"2026-05-22T13:13:16","slug":"us-charges-raul-castro-with-murder-as-trump-escalates-pressure-on-cuba","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2026\/05\/us-charges-raul-castro-with-murder-as-trump-escalates-pressure-on-cuba\/","title":{"rendered":"US Charges Ra\u00fal Castro with Murder as Trump Escalates Pressure on Cuba"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"attachment_51345\" style=\"width: 470px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/Barack-Obama-and-Raul-Cas-011.jpg\" ><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-51345\" class=\"size-full wp-image-51345\" src=\"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/Barack-Obama-and-Raul-Cas-011.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"460\" height=\"276\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/Barack-Obama-and-Raul-Cas-011.jpg 460w, https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/Barack-Obama-and-Raul-Cas-011-300x180.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 460px) 100vw, 460px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-51345\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">\u2018It is Barack Obama (above, with Raul Castro) who has made the big concession to reality by simply recognising that Cuba is now an independent nation.\u2019 Photograph: Kai Pfaffenbach\/Reuters<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"context-widget-module__container__b9mKr article-body-module__context_widget__sq1EI\" data-testid=\"ContextWidget\">\n<div class=\"context-widget-module__tabcontainer__O1B-s\" data-testid=\"TabContainer\">\n<p><strong><em>Summary<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"context-widget-module__content__lI1uo\" data-testid=\"ContextWidgetContent\">\n<ul class=\"summary-module__summary__QjADA\" data-testid=\"Summary\">\n<li class=\"text-module__text__0GDob text-module__dark-grey__UFC18 text-module__regular__qJJtA text-module__small__sph8i body-module__base__o--Cl body-module__small_body__gOmDf summary-module__point__UgXPz\" data-testid=\"Body\"><em>Indictment escalates Washington pressure on Cuba<\/em><\/li>\n<li class=\"text-module__text__0GDob text-module__dark-grey__UFC18 text-module__regular__qJJtA text-module__small__sph8i body-module__base__o--Cl body-module__small_body__gOmDf summary-module__point__UgXPz\" data-testid=\"Body\"><em>Charges relate to 1996 incident when planes were shot down<\/em><\/li>\n<li class=\"text-module__text__0GDob text-module__dark-grey__UFC18 text-module__regular__qJJtA text-module__small__sph8i body-module__base__o--Cl body-module__small_body__gOmDf summary-module__point__UgXPz\" data-testid=\"Body\"><em>Rubio offers $100 million aid in parallel<\/em><\/li>\n<li class=\"text-module__text__0GDob text-module__dark-grey__UFC18 text-module__regular__qJJtA text-module__small__sph8i body-module__base__o--Cl body-module__small_body__gOmDf summary-module__point__UgXPz\" data-testid=\"Body\"><em>Cuban President calls indictment a &#8216;political maneuver&#8217;<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"paragraph-26\">\n<p><em>20 May 2026\u00a0<\/em>&#8211;\u00a0The United States announced murder charges against former Cuban President <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/world\/americas\/who-is-raul-castro-cuban-leader-facing-us-indictment-2026-05-15\/\" >Ra\u00fal Castro<\/a> on Wednesday, a major escalation in \u200bWashington&#8217;s pressure campaign against the island&#8217;s communist government.<\/p>\n<p>The indictment marks a new low in relations between the longtime Cold War rivals and comes as U.S. President <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/world\/us\/donald-trump\/\" >Donald Trump<\/a> is pushing for regime change in Cuba, where Castro&#8217;s communists \u200chave been in charge since his late brother Fidel Castro led a revolution in 1959.<\/p>\n<p>The charges against Castro and five fighter pilots in the Cuban military stem from a 1996 incident in which Cuban jets shot down planes operated by a group of Cuban exiles.<\/p>\n<p>Ra\u00fal Castro, 94, was charged with one count of conspiracy to kill U.S. nationals, four counts of murder, and two counts of destruction of aircraft. He <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/world\/americas\/cubas-raul-castro-joins-may-day-march-tensions-simmer-with-us-2026-05-01\/\" >appeared in public<\/a> in Cuba earlier this month and there is no evidence he has left the island or that he \u200bwill be extradited.<\/p>\n<p>It is rare for the U.S. to file criminal charges against foreign leaders. The indictment was the latest example of the Trump administration&#8217;s aggressive efforts to expand U.S. influence in the \u200bWestern Hemisphere.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;From the shores of Havana to the banks of the Panama Canal, we will drive out the forces of lawlessness and crime and foreign encroachment,&#8221; Trump said \u2060at a Coast Guard Academy event in New London, Connecticut, earlier on Wednesday.<\/p>\n<p>Speaking at a ceremony in Miami to honor the victims of the 1996 incident, acting Attorney General Todd Blanche did not directly answer questions about \u200bwhether the U.S. military would arrest Castro.<\/p>\n<p>Blanche said he expected Castro to one day face the charges.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;There was a warrant issued for his arrest, so we expect that he will show up here by his own will or \u200bby another way,&#8221; Blanche said to applause in a packed auditorium of government officials and Cuban Americans.<\/p>\n<p>In a post on X, President Miguel Diaz-Canel said Cuba had acted legitimately to defend its territory in shooting down the planes. He said the indictment appeared to be intended to justify military action against Cuba, which he said would be a mistake.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;It is a political maneuver, devoid of any legal foundation,&#8221; Diaz-Canel said.<\/p>\n<p>Diaz-Canel said on Monday that the island does not represent a threat.<\/p>\n<p>The charges come months after the U.S. \u200bcapture of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro on January 3 to face drug trafficking charges in New York.<\/p>\n<p>Maduro, a socialist aligned with Havana, pleaded not guilty.<\/p>\n<p><strong>TRUMP ASSERTS US INFLUENCE IN LATIN AMERICA<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Washington&#8217;s more assertive role in Latin America, \u200bepitomized by the capture of Maduro, is shaping up to be a significant part of the legacy of Secretary of State Marco Rubio, the son of Cuban immigrants who is seen as a <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/legal\/government\/white-house-briefing-vance-says-iran-war-wont-be-forever-2026-05-20\/\" >possible contender<\/a> for the 2028 Republican nomination for president.<\/p>\n<p>His chief \u200cRepublican rival to \u2060succeed Trump, Vice President JD Vance, is a former Marine who has long argued against U.S. entanglements in foreign wars.<\/p>\n<p>Under Trump, the U.S. has effectively imposed a <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/world\/americas\/us-plans-indict-raul-castro-raise-cubans-fears-force-2026-05-15\/\" >blockade<\/a> on Cuba by threatening sanctions on countries supplying it with fuel, triggering power outages and exacerbating its worst crisis in decades.<\/p>\n<p>Rubio earlier on Wednesday offered Cuba $100 million in aid, and blamed Cuba&#8217;s leaders for shortages of electricity, food and fuel. Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez called that offer cynical, citing the &#8220;devastating effect&#8221; of the economic blockade.<\/p>\n<p><strong>CUBA DEFENDS DOWNING OF PLANES<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Born in 1931, Ra\u00fal Castro was a key figure alongside his older brother in the guerrilla war that toppled U.S.-backed dictator Fulgencio Batista.<\/p>\n<p>After taking power, Fidel Castro struck an \u200balliance with the Soviet Union, then seized U.S.-owned businesses \u200band properties. The U.S. has since maintained an \u2060economic embargo on the nation of about 10 million.<\/p>\n<p>Ra\u00fal Castro helped defeat the U.S.-organized Bay of Pigs invasion in 1961, and served as defense minister for decades. He succeeded his brother as president in 2008 and stepped down in 2018, but remains a powerful behind-the-scenes figure in Cuban politics.<\/p>\n<p>He was defense minister at the time of the \u200b1996 incident, in which two small planes operated by Miami-based Cuban exile group Brothers to the Rescue were shot down, killing those aboard.<\/p>\n<p>The group said its \u200bmission was to search for Cuban \u2060rafters fleeing the island. Fidel Castro said Cuba&#8217;s military had acted on &#8220;standing orders&#8221; to down planes entering Cuban airspace. He said Ra\u00fal Castro did not give a specific order to shoot the planes.<\/p>\n<p>The International Civil Aviation Organization later concluded the shootdown took place over international waters.Portraits of the four men who were killed &#8211; Carlos Costa, Armando Alejandre Jr., Mario de la Pe\u00f1a and Pablo Morales &#8211; were displayed at the ceremony as Blanche and other officials spoke.<\/p>\n<p>Cuban-Americans gathered outside \u2060Miami&#8217;s Freedom Tower, \u200bwhich served as a refugee center for Cubans in the 1960s, before the ceremony began.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;We all hoped for a long time, for many \u200byears that this would happen,&#8221; said Bobby Ramirez, a 62-year-old musician who left Cuba in 1971 when he was seven years old.<\/p>\n<p>___________________________________________________<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"paragraph-26\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"padding-left: 40px;\" data-testid=\"paragraph-26\"><em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Jack-Queen.avif\" ><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft wp-image-316567\" src=\"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Jack-Queen.avif\" alt=\"\" width=\"100\" height=\"100\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Jack-Queen.avif 240w, https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Jack-Queen-150x150.avif 150w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 100px) 100vw, 100px\" \/><\/a>Jack Queen covers major lawsuits against the Trump administration involving urgent questions of executive power and how their resolution could affect the law and the legal profession in the years to come. Previously, he covered criminal and civil cases against Trump during the interim of his presidential terms, including gavel-to-gavel coverage of his historic hush money trial in New York and his civil fraud trial, which ended in a half-billion-dollar judgment. Jack has also covered high-profile defamation cases including the Dominion Voting Systems&#8217; lawsuit against Fox News, which settled for $787 million after intense pretrial litigation. Based in New York, he specializes in breaking news as well as analysis, explainers and other explanatory reporting.<\/em><\/div>\n<div class=\"article-body-module__element__5eCce\">\n<p><em>Reporting by Jana Winter in Washington and Jack Queen in Miami; <\/em><br \/>\n<em>Additional reporting by Maria Alejandra Cardona in Miami, <\/em><br \/>\n<em>Ayose Naranjo in Havana, <\/em><br \/>\n<em>Doina Chiacu, Andrew Goudsward and \u200bDan Rosenzweig-Ziff in Washington, <\/em><br \/>\n<em>Brendan O&#8217;Boyle and Natalia Siniawski in Mexico City,<\/em><br \/>\n<em>and by Jonathan Stempel and Michelle Nichols in New York;<\/em><br \/>\n<em>Writing by Luc Cohen; <\/em><br \/>\n<em>Editing by Noeleen Walder, Nick Zieminski, Rosalba O&#8217;Brien, Daniel Wallis and Sanjeev Miglani.<\/em><\/p>\n<p data-testid=\"SignOff\"><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/world\/americas\/us-expected-unveil-criminal-charges-against-cubas-raul-castro-2026-05-20\/\" >Go to Original &#8211; reuters.com<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>20 May 2026 &#8211; Indictment escalates Washington pressure on Cuba-<br \/>\nCharges relate to 1996 incident when planes were shot down-<br \/>\nRubio offers $100 million aid in parallel-<br \/>\nCuban President calls indictment a &#8216;political maneuver&#8217;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":56262,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[53],"tags":[3143,2642,1473,417,133,1559,1854,530,3281,2242,1126,1966,1050,1049,950,541,3324,2571,4047,779,880,2200,70],"class_list":["post-316566","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-latin-america-and-the-caribbean","tag-anti-hegemony","tag-anti-imperialism","tag-blockade","tag-bullying","tag-cia","tag-collective-punishment","tag-crimes-against-humanity","tag-cuba","tag-evil-empire","tag-famine","tag-hegemony","tag-hunger","tag-imperialism","tag-inhuman-punishment","tag-invasion","tag-latin-america-caribbean","tag-north-america","tag-official-lies-and-narratives","tag-raul-castro","tag-sovereignty","tag-state-terrorism","tag-us-empire","tag-usa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/316566","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=316566"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/316566\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":316570,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/316566\/revisions\/316570"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/56262"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=316566"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=316566"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=316566"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}