Miami: The United States on Wednesday criminally indicted Cuba’s former president Raúl Castro, while Washington urged the island’s people to “embrace a new path.”

A federal court in Florida unsealed an indictment accusing the former Cuban leader of involvement in the 1996 downing of two civilian aircraft flown by anti-Castro pilots.

Castro, brother of Fidel Castro, the late Cuban revolutionary leader long seen as a US adversary since the 1959 revolution, has been charged with murder, conspiracy to kill Americans, and destruction of aircraft.

The move has intensified speculation that US President Donald Trump may be preparing to push for regime change in Havana.

Trump had earlier cited a US domestic indictment as justification for military action in January that led to the removal and detention of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, a close ally of Cuba’s leadership.

Four people were killed in the 1996 incident, which sharply deteriorated US-Cuba relations. Around two decades later, Raúl Castro took part in diplomatic efforts with then US President Barack Obama aimed at normalising ties.

Those efforts were later reversed under Trump, who has repeatedly hardened policy towards Havana.

He has also suggested Cuba could be the next target after Venezuela, stating earlier this month that Washington would be “taking over” the island — located about 90 miles (145 km) from Florida — “almost immediately.”

Rubio calls for ‘new Cuba’ and criticises Havana leadership

In a video message addressed in Spanish to the Cuban population, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, a Cuban-American, accused the Cuban government of corruption, theft and repression.

“President Trump is offering a new path between the US and a new Cuba,” Rubio said.

“A new Cuba where you have a real opportunity to choose who governs your country and vote to replace them if they are not doing a good job.”

Rubio added, in an English translation released by the State Department:

“In the US, we are ready to open a new chapter in the relationship between our people and our countries. And, currently, the only thing standing in the way of a better future are those who control your country.”

He also targeted Gaesa, the military-linked conglomerate he said controls around 70 per cent of Cuba’s economy.

He described it as a “state within the state” that operates without accountability, alleging it concentrates profits within a small elite while ordinary citizens are forced into “sacrifices” and face repression if they complain.

US lawmakers back indictments amid renewed tensions

Four US members of Congress welcomed the indictments and expressed confidence that accountability would follow.

“We have a different president now, a president who is not willing to look the other way,” Mario Diaz-Balart of Florida told reporters at a press conference. “We expect that today justice is finally arrived.”

Representative Nicole Malliotakis of New York said:

“This a Communist regime that has brutally killed, tortured its people, and much of it was work of Raul Castro himself.”

“We hope this will be a turning point for the Cuban people,” she added.

While Cuban Americans marked Cuba’s independence on Wednesday, Havana observes different historical milestones, particularly the January 1, 1959 victory of Fidel Castro’s revolution.

Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel, writing on X, said:

“Intervention, interference, dispossession, frustration: that is what May 20th signifies in Cuba's history,” referring to the Platt Amendment, which previously allowed US military intervention in Cuba’s internal affairs.