US Indicts Former Cuban Leader Raul Castro Over 1996 Downing of Civilian Planes

UNITED STATES – The U.S. Justice Department has announced criminal charges against former Cuban president, 94-year-old Raúl Castro, boosting President Donald trump’s campaign against Havana’s one-party government.

Castro was charged in connection with an incident in 1996, during which Cuban jets shot down exiled civilians’ planes.

Cuban president Miguel Díaz-Canel pushed back on U.S. claims that his country’s communist government was to blame for Cubans’ hardships, noting U.S. sanctions and an energy blockade are still in place.

Russia said on Thursday that it would provide active support ​to Cuba.