Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche announced Wednesday that former Cuban President Raúl Castro has been indicted, and the Senate advances a bill aimed at ending the Iran war.
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche announced Wednesday that former Cuban President Raúl Castro has been indicted for his alleged role in the shootdown of two planes operated by the Florida-based exile group Brothers to the Rescue in 1996.
Three American citizens and a U.S. permanent resident — Mario de la Peña, Carlos Costa, Pablo Morales and Armando Alejandro Jr. — were killed when the International Civil Aviation Organization says Cuban jets shot down the planes over the Florida Straits.
Blanche was met with applause when he made the announcement at a ceremony to honor the four killed three decades ago.
Castro, now 94, was his country’s defense minister at the time. He –– and several others –– face federal charges of conspiracy to kill U.S. nationals, destruction of an aircraft and four counts of murder, the acting attorney general said.
“Today’s indictment, while it does not bring back the murdered victims, it makes a statement,” Blanche said. “The United States government has not forgotten these innocent men who were shot out of the sky.”
Months of increased tensions between the U.S. and Cuba
Castro succeeded his brother Fidel Castro as president in 2008 and as Cuba Communist Party leader in 2011. Raúl Castro stepped down as president in 2018 and party head in 2021, handing over power to Miguel Díaz-Canel, but he has remained a powerful figure in the country.
While the U.S. had loosened travel restrictions to Cuba under former President Barack Obama, the Trump administration has sought to ramp up the pressure on the island’s government in recent months.
Venezuela had supplied Cuba with fuel until its leader, Nicolás Maduro, was deposed by the U.S. in January. Later that month, President Donald Trump signed an executive order to tariff goods from any country that sold or provided oil to Cuba.
Trump has emphasized Cuba’s economic conditions and repeatedly suggested the country is on the verge of collapse, saying in March that he may have “the honor of taking Cuba.”
“Taking Cuba in some form … whether I free it, take it, I think I can do anything I want with it, if you want to know the truth,” Trump said. “They’re a very weakened nation right now.”
Díaz-Canel, who is now serving his second term, warned in a social media post Monday of “a bloodbath with incalculable consequences, plus the destructive impact on regional peace and stability,” if the U.S. took military action against the country.
“Cuba poses no threat, nor does it have aggressive plans or intentions against any country,” he wrote. “It has none against the U.S., nor has it ever had any—something the government of that nation knows full well, particularly its defense and national security agencies.”
The Senate advanced legislation Tuesday that seeks to force President Donald Trump to withdraw from the Iran war, as a growing number of Republicans defied the president’s direction on a conflict that has spanned well over two months.
Since Trump ordered the attack on Iran at the end of February, Democrats have forced repeated votes on war powers resolutions that would require him either to gain congressional approval or withdraw U.S. troops. Republicans had been able to muster the votes to reject those proposals, but Louisiana Sen. Bill Cassidy — fresh off a primary election loss in which Trump endorsed his opponent — switched sides.
The 50-47 vote tally showed that a small but growing number of Republicans are willing to challenge Trump on the Iran war, even though the effort may not advance much further. Three Republicans were absent Tuesday and their votes would be enough to defeat the measure, if they maintain their stance on the war.
Still, the vote showed how Republicans are increasingly uneasy with a conflict that shows no signs of ending, is stuck in a fragile ceasefire and is causing rising gas prices in the U.S.
“Republicans are starting to crack, and momentum is building to check him,” Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said in a statement after the vote. “We are not letting up.”
Republican Sens. Rand Paul of Kentucky, Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska had all previously voted for similar war powers resolutions and did so again Tuesday. Cassidy supported the legislation for the first time, while Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania was again the only Democrat to vote against it.
After his primary election loss last week, Cassidy returned to Washington defiant. He said he was proud of his work to uphold the Constitution and would carefully consider how he would vote on several priorities of the Trump administration going forward.
Trump’s grip on the Senate Republican Conference is potentially slipping after Cassidy’s primary loss, as well as the president’s decision Tuesday to endorse Republican Sen. John Cornyn’s primary opponent.
“While I support the administration’s efforts to dismantle Iran’s nuclear program, the White House and Pentagon have left Congress in the dark on Operation Epic Fury,” Cassidy said on social media.
“Until the administration provides clarity, no congressional authorization or extension can be justified.”