根据一份新公布的法庭摘要，美国司法部周三指控古巴前总统劳尔·卡斯特罗涉嫌在1996年击落两架载有人道主义援助的飞机。击落事件导致四名美国公民死亡。
起诉书指控卡斯特罗犯有七项罪行，包括阴谋杀害美国国民、破坏飞机和谋杀兄弟救援组织(Brothers to the Rescue)所乘飞机上的四名乘客。兄弟救援组织是一个为试图逃离古巴的古巴流亡者执行救援任务的组织。
这标志着美国正在进行的压力运动的重大升级，以实现这个岛国共产党领导的政府的政权更迭，尽管目前还不清楚94岁的卡斯特罗最终是否会在美国法庭上露面。
代理司法部长托德·布兰奇在佛罗里达州迈阿密的新闻发布会上说，大陪审团于4月23日退回了起诉书，并于今天启封。
布兰奇说:“近70年来，古巴政权的高级领导人首次因导致美国公民死亡的暴力行为在美国受到指控。”。“不能允许国家及其领导人以美国人为目标，杀害美国人，却不承担责任。特朗普总统致力于恢复一个非常简单但重要的原则:如果你杀了美国人...无论你是谁，无论你拥有什么头衔，我们都将追捕你，在这种情况下，无论过去了多少时间。”
他补充说，“美国政府没有忘记这些被击落的无辜者。”
米格尔·迪亚兹·卡内尔总统在一份声明中抨击了这一指控，称其为“政治策略，缺乏任何法律依据，旨在填补他们用来证明对古巴进行军事侵略的愚蠢行为的捏造的档案。”
古巴外交部长在一份声明中表示，击落飞机是对该国领空的“正当防卫”，指控“基于谎言，掩盖了适当记录的历史真相。”
据司法部称，总部位于迈阿密的救援兄弟组织(Brothers to the Rescue)在佛罗里达海峡进行了人道主义飞行行动，以搜寻遇险的古巴移民。美国官员声称，古巴情报人员在20世纪90年代初渗入该组织，并“向古巴政府转达了有关其飞行行动的详细信息。”美国官员声称，这一信息被古巴军方领导层用于策划1996年2月24日的行动。
这次行动造成四人死亡:卡洛斯·科斯塔、小阿曼多·亚历杭德罗、马里奥·德拉培尼亚和巴勃罗·莫拉莱斯，其中三人是美国公民。
Raul Castro charged with murder for Cuba's shootdown of humanitarian planes
The Justice Department on Wednesday charged former Cuban President Raul Castro with murder over his alleged role in shooting down two planes that were carrying humanitarian aid in 1996, according to a newly unsealed court docket. The shootdown resulted in the deaths of four U.S. nationals.
The indictment charges Castro with seven counts including conspiracy to kill U.S. nationals, destruction of aircraft and murder for each of the four passengers aboard the planes being flown by Brothers to the Rescue, a group that conducted rescue missions for Cuban exiles who sought to flee the country.
It marks a major escalation in the United States' ongoing pressure campaign to achieve regime change of the island nation's Communist-led government, though it's not immediately clear whether the 94-year-old Castro will ultimately see the inside of a U.S. courtroom.
The indictment was returned by a grand jury on April 23 and unsealed today, Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said at a press conference in Miami, Florida.
"For the first time in nearly 70 years, senior leadership of the Cuban regime has been charged in this country, in the United States of America, for acts of violence resulting in the deaths of American citizens," Blanche said. "Nations and their leaders cannot be permitted to target Americans, kill them, and not face accountability. President Trump is committed to restoring a very simple but important principle: if you kill Americans ... we will pursue you no matter who you are, no matter what title you hold, and in this case, no matter how much time has passed."
He added, "The United States government has not forgotten these innocent men who were shot out of the sky."
In a statement, President Miguel Diaz-Canel blasted the indictment calling it a "political maneuver, devoid of any legal foundation, aimed solely at padding the fabricated dossier they use to justify the folly of a military aggression against Cuba."
The Cuban foreign minister said in a statement the downing of the planes was in "legitimate defense" of the country's airspace and that the indictment "rests on lies and conceals duly documented historical truths."
Brothers to the Rescue, a Miami-based organization, conducted humanitarian flight operations across the Florida Straits to search for Cuban migrants in distress, according to the Justice Department. U.S. officials allege that Cuban intelligence agents infiltrated the organization in the early 1990s and "relayed detailed information about its flight operations back to the Cuban government." This information was used by Cuban military leadership in planning the Feb. 24, 1996, operation, U.S. officials claim.
The operation killed four people: Carlos Costa, Armando Alejandre Jr., Mario de la Peña and Pablo Morales, three of whom were U.S. citizens.
