The Latest: US indicts former Cuban President Raúl Castro over 1996 downing of planes
Federal prosecutors on Wednesday charged former Cuban President Raúl Castro with ordering the 1996 shootdown of civilian planes operated by Miami-based exiles, a major escalation of pressure by the Trump administration on the socialist government. President Donald Trump has set a calamitous energy blockade on the island and has been threatening military action ever since U.S. forces captured the Cuban government’s longtime patron, Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.
Two police officers who helped defend the U.S. Capitol from an attack by a mob of President Donald Trump's supporters sued Wednesday to block anyone — including Jan. 6, 2021, rioters — from receiving payouts from a new nearly $1.8 billion settlement fund for people who claim to be victims of politically motivated prosecutions. The lawsuit’s filing comes a day after Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, during his congressional testimony, wouldn’t rule out the possibility of fund payouts for rioters who assaulted police on Jan. 6.
Also, Trumpscored another win Tuesday against a Republican rival, dislodging Rep. Thomas Massie in Kentucky’s primary and knocking out one of his most outspoken critics on Capitol Hill. Massie has been a particularly difficult thorn in Trump’s side, pushing for the release of the Epstein files, opposing the war with Iran and voting against Trump’s signature tax legislation last year.
The U.S. government will permanently drop tax claims against Trump, according to a settlement document made public Tuesday, in an extraordinary use of executive power that could effectively help shield the president from further examination of his finances and legal conduct. As part of the settlement deal, the U.S. is “forever barred and precluded” from examining or prosecuting Trump, his sons and the Trump organization’s current tax examinations.
Here's the latest:
Roberto Morales Ojeda, a senior Communist Party leader, praised Army Gen. Raúl Castro on Wednesday, saying he “embodies the most genuine essence of the Cuban Revolution thanks to his ability to lead with modesty and personal example. His career has been an uninterrupted lesson in loyalty to Cuba and Fidel.”
He also said Raúl Castro has cultivated “an exceptional human sensitivity” and the ability to examine the “revolutionary endeavor,” rectify errors and open spaces for dialogue.
“For all these reasons, the Cuban people are absolutely certain that they will defend Raúl’s physical and ethical integrity and his legacy at any cost,” Morales Ojeda wrote on X. “Defending his legacy means embracing the continuity of the Revolution, updating the economic model without losing its socialist essence, training new generations, and the fundamental lesson: that one can be a revolutionary with firmness, constructive criticism, and unwavering loyalty to the people.”
Peter Hernandez, whose family owns Los Pinareños Fruteria in Miami’s Little Havana neighborhood, said it’s about time for the U.S. to do something about Castro.
“The piracy in that country, Cuba, it has been going on for a very long time,” Hernandez said.
Hernandez, whose parents moved from Cuba to South Florida before he was born, said he doesn’t have a problem with the U.S. sending its military to arrest Castro.
“He’s a criminal,” Hernandez said. ”I think we should do that with all criminals, especially if they’re hiding behind a country that consistently has been proven that they are on the wrong side of our national security efforts and ideology.”
Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel condemned the indictment of Raúl Castro and accused the U.S. of lying and manipulating the events of 1996. He called it “a 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.”
Díaz-Canel wrote on X that Cuba acted in “legitimate self-defense within its territorial waters after repeated and dangerous violations of its airspace by notorious terrorists.”
He said U.S. officials at the time had been warned about the violations but allowed them to continue.
Trump has been threatening military action in Cuba ever since U.S. forces captured the Cuban government’s longtime patron, Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. After ousting Maduro, the White House ordered a blockade that choked off fuel shipments to Cuba, leading to severe blackouts, food shortages and an economic collapse across the island.
Lt. Col. Lorenzo Alberto Pérez-Pérez of Las Tunas is among the Cuban military pilots accused of downing the civilian planes in 1996.
The others include José Fidel Gual Barzaga and Lt. Col. Luis Raúl González-Pardo Rodríguez, whom the U.S. indicted in November 2025 on charges including fraud and misuse of visa and permits.
At the time, former U.S. Attorney General Pamela Bondi said: “This man’s past as a longtime military pilot for the evil Castro regime — which has wrought untold suffering on the Cuban people — should have been front and center in his immigration file.”
González-Pardo Rodríguez was accused in part of falsely claiming he had never received any weapons or military training on an application to register for permanent residence or adjust status.
The others accused are Emilio José Palacio Blanco and Raul Simance Cárdenas.
The murder and conspiracy charges Castro is facing carry a maximum sentence of the death penalty or life in prison upon conviction. However, it is unclear whether Castro will ever step foot in a U.S. courtroom.
Castro is charged alongside five other defendants. One of them, Luis Raul Gonzalez-Pardo Rodriguez, is in U.S. custody awaiting sentencing later this month in a case alleging he made false statements in an immigration document, according to the Justice Department.
Speaking at Wednesday’s event, Sen. Ashley Moody decried what she described as previous administrations’ relaxed attitudes toward Cuba, including moves to “relax our banking restrictions” or “coddle them into freedom.”
But with actions like the Castro indictment, the Florida Republican said the Trump administration is taking “the bold step of actually bringing accountability.”
President Donald Trump has returned to the U.S. Coast Guard Academy to give the commencement address at the Connecticut school.
He told cadets on Wednesday that they show “unbelievable heroism and exceptional selflessness” but will “be tested further” as they embark on their military careers.
Trump’s remarks to the class of 2026 were the first time he has given a commencement speech at one of the nation’s military academies after sending U.S. troops to fight the war with Iran. Trump also spoke at the academy’s graduation in 2017 during his first term.
During his address, Trump quickly touched on the war with Iran, now in its 12th week, as a sign of U.S. success from “the hottest country anywhere in the world.”
“The only question is, do we go ahead and finish it up or are they going to be signing a document? Let’s see what happens,” Trump said.
He did not directly address Raúl Castro or any potential indictment, but Trump mentioned Cuba earlier Wednesday in a commencement address.
“From the Gulf of America to the frozen waters of the Arctic, 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, just like we’ve been doing,” Trump said to graduates at the Coast Guard Academy in Connecticut.
The indictment charges Castro with murder, conspiracy to kill U.S. nationals and destruction of aircraft.
A grand jury in Miami returned the indictment late last month, and it was unsealed on Wednesday, acting Attorney General Blanche said.
Many major Department of Justice cases are announced in Washington, but Blanche said Wednesday that it was important to discuss the Castro case in Florida instead.
“The community here, you all, understands the history of the Cuban regime better than anyone in America,” Blanche said. “Many families here know the cost of oppression.”
Attendees rose to their feet, pulled out cell phones and broke into loud shouts as acting Blanche announced the charges against Castro.
The acting U.S. attorney general and other top Justice Department officials were in Miami on Wednesday for a ceremony to honor those killed in the 1996 shootdown of two civilian planes.
Federal prosecutors on Wednesday charged former Cuban President Raúl Castro with ordering the 1996 downing of civilian planes operated by Miami-based exiles, a major escalation in the Trump administration’s efforts to dismantle seven decades of single-party rule in the Caribbean island.
Castro, now 94, was Cuba’s defense minister when the planes operated by a Miami-based exile group were shot down, killing four people.
U.S. President Donald Trump has been ratcheting up talk of regime change in Cuba after pledging earlier this year to conduct a “friendly takeover” of the country if its leadership did not open up its economy to American investment and kick out U.S. adversaries.
Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel pushed back on Wednesday following claims by U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio that the suffering of the Cuban people is the fault of the socialist government.
“They lie again and again without any shame, with alarming audacity, without presenting a single shred of evidence to support their claims,” he wrote on the social platform X. “The blame lies with those who order the closure of all access to material and financial resources.”
He noted that the U.S. executive order penalizing any country that supplies Cuba with fuel remains in effect.
“Only the most twisted minds could deny before the world this collective punishment being inflicted upon an entire people, which is already becoming an act of genocide,” Díaz-Canel wrote.
Voters of Tomorrow, a group focused on mobilizing young voters, launched a website highlighting Rep. Tom Kean Jr.’s absence from Congress.
House Speaker Mike Johnson on Wednesday said he expects the New Jersey Republican to return “soon” after dealing with a “personal medical issue.” Kean has been missing from Capitol Hill since early March. His family and staff say that he is battling an undisclosed illness.
Santiago Mayer, Voters of Tomorrow’s executive director, said that Kean had “ghosted” Congress, adding that the issue of congressional absences was especially salient to young voters.
The digital ads depict doctored “Missing” posters with an image of Kean and the text “Have U Seen This Man?” The campaign’s accompanying website includes a voter registration pledge.
Kean’s absence from House votes comes as Republicans face a razor-thin majority, complicating the party’s legislative agenda. Democrats have faced their own challenges in maintaining stable margins, as some members have died while in office.
The president called graduates of the Coast Guard Academy “the living standard bearers of America’s first fleet” and suggested danger is “a statement you live by.”
Trump said graduating together would build lifelong camaraderie , saying “You’re always going to be friends with each other. Hopefully with me.”
As he spoke, many in the crowd faced scorching heat with little shade available against the 85-deegre heat and a UV index of 9.
At least one person required medical attention after passing out. Others pleaded with organizers that elderly attendants be allowed to sit under tents.
Chilled water bottles were distributed, but quickly became warm.
And the lawsuit says President Trump will use it to “finance the insurrectionists and paramilitary groups that commit violence in his name.”
It describes the fund’s creation as “the most brazen act of presidential corruption this century.”
One of the attorneys for the officers is Brendan Ballou, a former Justice Department prosecutor who handled Jan. 6 cases.
Two police officers who helped defend the U.S. Capitol from an attack by a mob of Trump supporters sued Wednesday to block anyone — including Jan. 6, 2021, rioters — from receiving payouts from a new $1.776 billion settlement fund for people who claim to be victims of politically motivated prosecutions.
The officers’ attorneys filed the federal lawsuit a day after Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche defended the fund’s creation during a congressional hearing. Blanche, a personal attorney for Trump before joining the Justice Department, wouldn’t rule out the possibility that rioters who assaulted police on Jan. 6 would be eligible for fund payouts.
More than 100 police officers were injured during the Capitol riot. Over 1,600 people were charged with Jan. 6-related crimes, but Trump used his pardon powers to erase all of those cases in a sweeping act of clemency last year.
The plaintiffs suing Trump over the fund are Metropolitan Police Department officer Daniel Hodges and former U.S. Capitol Police officer Harry Dunn, who’s running in Maryland for a seat in Congress.
The Republican leader said he spoke with the president late after Tuesday’s primary elections and the defeat of Rep. Thomas Massie, a once popular GOP lawmaker.
“We talked about how his endorsement is the most powerful in the history of politics,” Johnson of Louisiana said at the Capitol.
The speaker insisted there’s room in the Republican Party for those who cross Trump.
“We don’t demand loyalty to the president,” he said.
“I never ask anybody to violate a core principle,” he said, but “you have to give up on some of your personal preferences sometimes.”
He called Rubio “the mouthpiece of corrupt and vindictive interests, concentrated in South Florida.”
Rodríguez wrote on X that Cuba hasn’t rejected $100 million in humanitarian aid the U.S. has offered, adding that the “cynicism is evident to anyone given the devastating effects of the economic blockade and the energy embargo.”
In late January, President Trump threatened tariffs on countries that supply or sell oil to Cuba, which recently announced that its oil reserves have run dry.
Rodríguez also criticized Rubio for releasing a video message Wednesday in which he calls on Cubans to reject their government and demand new leadership and a free-market economy.
“He takes advantage of the infamous date of May 20th,” Rodríguez wrote. The date marks Cuba’s independence, but the socialist government rejects that date, saying true freedom began with the 1959 Revolution.
Chinese leader Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin hailed their strategic ties and growing energy trade as they met in Beijing on Wednesday only days after a visit by President Trump to China.
Putin and Xi oversaw the signing of more than 40 cooperation agreements in areas such as trade, technology and media exchanges. They stressed their growing trade, particularly in oil and natural gas, and declared themselves aligned on international relations.
The countries’ ties have reached “the highest level in history,” Xi said after the signing ceremony, speaking to members of the delegations and journalists. The two sides also agreed to extend a friendship treaty first signed in 2001.
Putin told those in the room that “the driving force behind economic cooperation is Russian-Chinese collaboration in the energy sector.”
The U.S. imposed sanctions Wednesday on more than a dozen people, a Mexican restaurant and a security firm linked to Mexico’s powerful Sinaloa cartel and its fentanyl trafficking activities.
The Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control targeted Jesus Gonzalez Penuelas, a fugitive known as Chuy Gonzalez, who’s alleged to be involved in trafficking narcotics into the U.S. and laundering funds for the cartel. The State Department has been offering a $5 million reward for information leading to his arrest since 2024.
Additionally, Armando de Jesus Ojeda Aviles, who allegedly helps launder the proceeds of fentanyl and other drugs on behalf of the cartel, has also been hit with sanctions.
A restaurant in Chihuahua, called Gorditas Chiwas — controlled by sanctioned businessman Alfredo Orozco Romero — was hit with sanctions.
The sanctions cut them off from the U.S. banking system, cut off their ability to work with Americans and block their U.S. assets.
Trump has repeatedly offered to send the U.S. military after the cartels and his administration designated the Sinaloa cartel as a terrorist group in 2025.
Asked about it before boarding Air Force One to fly to the U.S. Coast Guard Academy in Connecticut to deliver a commencement address, Trump suggested he might be willing to accept a smaller scale deal with Tehran that would simply open the Strait of Hormuz but potentially not address larger goals.
Trump said of such a deal, “The strait would have to open immediately.”
But he added, “I’m in no hurry.”
He shrugged off suggestions that GOP performances in November’s midterm elections could increase the political pressure to make a deal, but also said: “We could do it another way.”
The White House says Trump will be at the June 15-17 meeting in Evian-les-Bains, in the French Alps.
The war in Iran promises to be a major point of contention, as Trump has said U.S. allies haven’t done enough to help open the Strait of Hormuz.
But Trump also wants to use discussions to reframe development conversations so they can better focus on investment partnerships that benefit investors as well as recipient nations, the White House says.
He’ll further seek to promote global innovation around artificial intelligence development, boost critical mineral supply chain resilience and strengthen international actions against drug smuggling and further tougher immigration policies. And Trump will use the meeting to promote U.S. energy exports, the White House says.
During a news conference Wednesday on Capitol Hill, Rep. Mario Díaz-Balart said “the day of justice is finally arriving” for the Castro family and that the U.S. “is going to do the right thing.”
Saying she was addressing the Castro family, Rep. María Elvira Salazar, another south Florida Republican, said, “your days are over,” adding that “a federal indictment is serious stuff.”
Three people familiar with the matter told The Associated Press on Friday that the Justice Department is preparing to seek the indictment against the former Cuban president, connected to his alleged role in the 1996 shootdown of two planes operated by the Miami-based exile group Brothers to the Rescue. Those moves come as Trump threatens possible military action against the communist-run island.
As he prepared to travel to the U.S. Coast Guard Academy in Connecticut to deliver a commencement address , the president said to reporters that he “had a great number of victories” in Tuesday’s elections and that he “won all races.”
“Not just Massie. Massie’s a low life,” Trump said.
Trump was asked if he spoke to Senate Republican leadership about going up against an incumbent in his endorsement Tuesday of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton over GOP Sen. John Cornyn in the Texas Senate race.
“I did. They’ll be all right with it. They want to win. I know how to win,” Trump said.
He added a moment later: “Some of them don’t know how to win. I know how to win.”
© Copyright The Associated Press. All rights reserved. The information contained in this news report may not be published, broadcast or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press.
