NEW YORK, May 20 (Xinhua) -- A U.S. grand jury in Florida indicted Cuban Revolution leader Raul Castro in a move seen as part of a broader pressure campaign against Cuba, according to court filings made public on Wednesday.
The grand jury from the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida indicted Castro and five others in connection with the Cuban military's fatal downing of two planes 30 years ago.
A judge on Wednesday granted a motion to unseal a superseding indictment against the defendants.
The indictment was returned by the grand jury in April, Acting U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche said Wednesday at a press conference in Miami.
Blanche said there are a lot of factors that go into when a sealed indictment is unsealed if ever. He did not elaborate on factors behind the decision.
The grand jury indicted Castro on "one count of conspiracy to kill U.S. nationals, four counts of murder and two counts of destruction of aircraft" in the downing of two planes operated by a Miami-based Cuban exile group named "Brothers to the Rescue" in 1996, according to media reports.
Born in 1931, Castro served as Cuba's minister of the Revolutionary Armed Forces at the time of the incident.
The United States has since accused Cuba of killing U.S. citizens and maintained an embargo on the country, while Cuba has insisted that it shot down the planes because they intruded into its airspace.
The United States has recently tightened sanctions against Cuba and repeatedly threatened military action. U.S. President Donald Trump has said that the United States would take control of Cuba after U.S. military operations against Iran.
Indicting Castro as a way to pressure the Cuban government into a deal may well backfire, warned former U.S. diplomat Ricardo Zuniga.
"Eventually the frustration on both sides could lead to conflict simply because Washington shuts down communication with the Cuban government through this indictment," Zuniga was quoted as saying in a CNN report on Wednesday.
The charges by the U.S. government against Castro are a "political maneuver" with no legal basis whatsoever, Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel said Wednesday.
Diaz-Canel said on X that the charges "only reveal the arrogance and frustration of the empire's representatives in the face of the unwavering resolve of the Cuban Revolution and the unity and moral strength of its leadership."
Any U.S. military attack on Cuba would cause "a bloodbath with incalculable consequences" and a devastating impact on peace and stability in Latin America and the Caribbean, he warned Monday.
Castro is the youngest brother of the late Cuban Revolution leader Fidel Castro. A guerrilla fighter along with his brother, Raul Castro served as a military and political leader after the triumph of the revolution in 1959. ■