3 min readMay 16, 2026 12:03 PM IST The Trump administration plans to unveil criminal charges against Cuba’s former president, Raul Castro, based on a 1996 incident in which Cuban military jets killed four people, according to a U.S. Justice Department official who spoke on condition of anonymity. Here are details about the incident: On February 24, 1996, Cuban jets shot down two small planes being flown by Brothers to the Rescue, a group of Cuban exile pilots. All four men aboard were ⁠killed. Cuba ​said the planes were in Cuban airspace, while the United States said they were over international waters. Cuba defended the shootdown as legitimate defense of its airspace but the U.S. position was later backed up by the International Civil Aviation Organization, which ​concluded ​the attack took place over international waters. Who were ‘Brothers to the Rescue’? The Miami-based group said its mission was to search the Florida Straits for Cuban rafters fleeing the island. ‌The group routinely flew near the Cuban coast. In early 1996, Cuban officials accused the group …