By Maribel Velazquez
The Department of Justice (DOJ) presented formal charges against Raúl Castro for his alleged responsibility in the downing of two civilian small planes that occurred in 1996, an event that left four people dead and caused a strong diplomatic crisis between Washington and Havana. Castro was then Minister of Defense, which made him the highest authority in the country after his brother Fidel.
A federal court in Miami ordered withdraw the confidential nature of the accusation substitute presented in the case, after the United States government formally requested to make the court documents public. The decision, signed on May 1, 2026, authorizes the accusation against all those involved to be open to public knowledge, after considering that there were sufficient grounds to lift the secrecy of the file.
Among those charged by the United States are Lorenzo Alberto Pérez-Pérez, Emilio José Palacio Blanco, José Fidel Gual Barzaga, Raúl Simanca Cárdenas and Luis Raúl González-Pardo Rodríguez. All of them were pointed out only by the conspiracy charge.
A case that strained the relationship between Cuba and the US.
Although for years the case remained frozenthe new formal accusation reopens one of the most sensitive files in recent history between both nations.
According to court documents, US prosecutors maintain that Raúl Castro would have participated in the decisions which led to the military operation against civilian light aircraft.
Until now, The Cuban government has not issued an official response about the accusations made known by the US authorities.
Keep reading:
- The legacy of Raúl Castro: 5 things that Fidel’s brother changed during his years in charge of Cuba
- The CIA declassifies documents from two attempts to assassinate Fidel and Raúl Castro
