The drumbeats of possible U.S. war against Cuba just got noticeably louder.

A federal grand jury in Florida on Wednesday indicted 94-year-old former Cuban President Raúl Castro on charges of murder and conspiracy to kill U.S. nationals. The charges stem from orders he allegedly gave as defense minister in 1996 to shoot down two civilian rescue aircraft that were searching for Cubans fleeing the island on rafts. The downing of the planes killed three U.S. citizens and one U.S. permanent resident.

The drumbeats of possible U.S. war against Cuba just got noticeably louder.

A federal grand jury in Florida on Wednesday indicted 94-year-old former Cuban President Raúl Castro on charges of murder and conspiracy to kill U.S. nationals. The charges stem from orders he allegedly gave as defense minister in 1996 to shoot down two civilian rescue aircraft that were searching for Cubans fleeing the island on rafts. The downing of the planes killed three U.S. citizens and one U.S. permanent resident.

The U.S. Justice Department’s decision to bring charges against Castro now for an incident that occurred 30 years ago has led to fears that the Trump administration aims to use the indictment as a pretext to attack Cuba—similar to the playbook used in Venezuela to capture then-President Nicolás Maduro in........

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