Florida Court Issues Arrest Warrant for 95-Year-Old Raúl Castro

A court in the state of Florida in the United States issued an arrest warrant for 95-year-old former leader of Cuba, Raúl Castro.

Consensus

A Florida judge issued an arrest warrant for Raúl Castro.
The warrant is related to the 1996 incident involving the downing of two civilian aircraft.
The aircraft were operated by the organization Brothers to the Rescue.
The incident occurred over international waters.
Four people died in the incident.
Raúl Castro was 95 years old at the time of the warrant.
Castro was the former leader of Cuba and held key positions including Minister of Revolutionary Armed Forces and First Secretary of the Communist Party.
The U.S. Department of Justice previously unsealed federal charges against Castro in May 2026.
The charges include conspiracy to commit first-degree murder, destruction of aircraft, and murder of U.S. citizens.
The case involves allegations that Cuban intelligence infiltrated the organization and provided flight data to the military.
Castro is currently on Cuba and it is unknown if he will appear before a U.S. court.
The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and other sources have condemned the warrant as politically motivated and baseless.

The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that the UN Security Council Resolution 1067 (1996), which addressed the incident, did not call for personal accountability, indicating the matter was resolved. — tg_MID_Russia
NBC News reported the arrest warrant was issued by a Florida court, with no mention of the specific judge or details beyond the age and identity of Castro. — tg_tass_agency
The warrant was issued by the chief judge of the 11th Judicial Circuit of Florida, Ariana Fajardo Orshan, and includes a charge of conspiracy to commit first-degree murder. — tg_astrapress
A Miami-Dade County council member, Natalie Milian Orbis, claimed that Castro 'ordered the shooting down of four unarmed men' and that Florida has now responded after 30 years. — tg_theinsider
The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs linked the charges to pressure from anti-Cuban lobbies in Miami and described them as 'baseless' and 'revenge' against Castro. — vedomosti
The article includes a historical background on the 1953 attack on Santiago de Cuba by Fidel and Raúl Castro, which is unrelated to the 1996 incident. — tg_republicmag