US indicts former Cuban president Raúl Castro over fatal 1996 civilian plane shooting

Key points

• Who is Raúl Castro?
• Nearly three decades after two civilian aircraft were shot down over waters near Cuba, US has indicted former Cuban president Raúl Castro over the deaths of four Cuban Americans in one of the most controversial incidents in US-Cuba relations.The US Justice Department (DOJ) on Wednesday announced charges against 94-year-old Castro accusing him of conspiracy to kill US nationals, murder and destruction of aircraft in connection with the 1996 attack on planes operated by Brothers to the Rescue, a Cuban exile group.At the time of the incident, Castro was serving as Cuba’s defence minister and head of the military under the government led by his brother and a known revolutionary Fidel Castro.US attorney general Todd Blanche announced several charges, including murder, against Raúl Castro.The announcement was made outside Miami’s Freedom Tower, a landmark closely linked to the Cuban exile community and often called the “Ellis Island of...