Raúl Castro makes 1st public appearance in Cuba since US murder indictment

HAVANA — Former Cuban leader Raúl Castro made his first public appearance Friday since being indicted in the United States on murder charges tied to the 1996 shootdown of two planes operated by the Miami-based exile group Brothers to the Rescue.

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According to Reuters, Castro appeared at an Interior Ministry event in Havana, Cuba, and was shown on Cuban state television.

The Trump administration accuses Castro of ordering the Cuban Air Force’s shootdown of two Brothers to the Rescue Cessna 337 Skymasters that departed from Opa-locka Executive Airport at about 3:20 p.m. on Feb. 24, 1996. Investigators said four people were killed in the shootdown.

Castro was indicted by a Miami federal grand jury on April 23. The superseding indictment remained sealed until it was publicly announced on May 20.

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Reuters reported that Castro, who turned 95 on Wednesday, was last seen publicly during May Day celebrations in Havana, shortly before the indictment was announced.

Before that, he had not appeared in public since Jan. 15, when he attended a ceremony honoring 32 Cuban soldiers killed during the capture of former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.

The case stems from one of the deadliest incidents involving Cuban exile groups and remains a source of tension between the United States and Cuba nearly three decades later.

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