A US court filed criminal charges against Cuba’s 94-year-old former leader, Raúl Castro, on May 20. Castro has been charged with conspiracy to kill US nationals, four counts of murder and two counts of destruction of aircraft. The charges relate to a 1996 incident in which four men were killed after Cuban fighter jets shot down two planes belonging to an exile group from Miami.

The indictment comes at a time when tensions between the two countries are running high, and raises the possibility that the US could try to remove Castro from the country by force, to be brought to trial in the US. We spoke to Anna Grimaldi, a lecturer in global development and Latin American studies at the University of Leeds, about the prospect of military action.

Is there any evidence of Raúl Castro’s involvement in shooting down the aircraft?

Raúl’s brother, Fidel Castro, who was the Cuban president at the time, took responsibility for the 1996 incident shortly after it took place. But US prosecutors argue that, as the then-defence minister, Raúl’s direct orders for Cuban forces to train in tracking and intercepting aircrafts constituted an operational role in the planning phase of the shooting.

In reality, the basic facts of the incident are still unclear. The US maintains the planes were unarmed and flying in international airspace, which would make the downings unlawful. But Cuba argues the aircraft were part of repeated and deliberate violations of its airspace and sovereignty.

Cuban........

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