Former Cuban President Raúl Castro has been charged in a U.S. indictment with murder and other crimes for his alleged role in the downing of two civilian aircraft operated by Miami-based exiles in 1996 off the coast of the Caribbean island.

The U.S. indictment of former Cuban leader Raúl Castro is pushing U.S. relations with the communist-run island to the foreground.

Federal prosecutors on Wednesday charged former Cuban President Raúl Castro with ordering the 1996 shootdown of civilian planes operated by Miami-based exiles, a major escalation of pressure by the Trump administration on the socialist government.

In a story published May 15, 2026, about the potential indictment of Raúl Castro, The Associated Press erroneously reported that the planes operated by Brothers to the Rescue were shot down Feb. 26, 1996; that Castro took over from his brother Fidel Castro in 2011; and that Miguel Díaz-Canel became president in 2019.

Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel says that former President Raúl Castro is involved in talks between the island and the United States.

Speculation is mounting about who, if anyone, might replace Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel as U.S. President Donald Trump pushes for change in Cuba’s leadership.

The U.N. General Assembly has voted overwhelmingly to condemn the U.S. economic embargo of Cuba for a 33rd year.

After the 1959 revolution, Cuba repressed gay people and many were sent to labor camps.

The anti-communist sister of Cuban leaders Fidel and Raul Castro has died in Miami at age 90.

At least one Molotov cocktail has been thrown at the Cuban Embassy in Washington, but there was no significant damage and no one was injured.

Cuba’s National Assembly has ratified President Miguel Díaz-Canel for a new five-year term, in a decision to maintain continuity as the island faces a deep economic crisis.

Grammy-winning Cuban balladeer Pablo Milanés has died in Spain at age 79.

Gay couples have begun to get married in Cuba under the country’s new Family Code.

Cuban voters have approved a sweeping “family law” code that will allow same-sex couples to marry and adopt as well as redefining rights for children and grandparents.

Cuba is holding a rare referendum on an unusually contentious law — a government-backed code that would allow same-sex couples to marry and adopt.

Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador has confirmed that he will not attend the Summit of the Americas in Los Angeles this week, dealing a blow to the event hosted by U.S. President Joe Biden.

When leaders gather this week in Los Angeles at the Summit of the Americas, the focus is likely to veer from policy issues like migration, climate change and inflation and instead shift to something Hollywood thrives on: the drama of the red carpet.

The Summit of the Americas is a little more than two weeks away in Los Angeles, and there's still no clear answer on which countries are going.

Cuban officials have rallied tens of thousands of supporters in the streets nearly a week after they were stunned by the most widespread protests in decades.

In many ways, Cuba’s new maximum leader is nothing like those who have governed the island for the past six decades.

Raul Castro says he is stepping down as Cuban Communist Party leader, leaving the island without a Castro guiding affairs for the first time in more than six decades and handing control of the party to a younger generation.

For most of his life, Raul Castro played second-string to his brother Fidel — first as a guerrilla commander, later as a senior figure in their socialist government.

For most of his life, Raul Castro played second-string to his brother Fidel — first as a guerrilla commander, later as a senior figure in their socialist government.

Raul Castro says he is stepping down as head of Cuba’s Communist Party, ending an era of formal leadership by he and his brother Fidel Castro that began with the 1959 revolution.

This week’s Communist Party congress in Cuba could be the last with a Castro at the helm of the island's all-powerful political institution.