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  "path": "/news/world/raul-castro-donald-trump-fidel-castro-mirror-nicolas-maduro-capture",
  "publishedAt": "2026-05-15T01:57:09.000Z",
  "site": "https://www.gbnews.com",
  "tags": [
    "$50million reward",
    "protests and chaos",
    "The GB News Editorial Charter"
  ],
  "textContent": "\n\n\n\nDonald Trump is set to criminally charge Fidel Castro's brother in a direct mirror to Nicolas Maduro's capture.\n\nRaul Castro, the former Cuban President, will be hit with an indictment after approval from a grand jury, the US Department of Justice said.\n\nThe potential indictment of the 94-year-old communist reportedly relates to the downing of aircraft in 1996, and could also include drug trafficking charges.\n\nIn August 2025, the US offered a $50million reward for information leading to the capture of Nicolas Maduro.\n\nHe was later captured and brought to New York on January 3, five months after the reward was announced.\n\nUS outlet CBS previously reported the case relates to Cuba's deadly shootdown of planes operated by the humanitarian group Brothers to the Rescue.\n\nCuba has been hit with widespread blackouts resulting in protests and chaos after the US captured Maduro.\n\nVenezuela was the main provider of fuel to the communist nation, and Mr Trump has implemented a fuel blockade which has prevented other countries providing energy to Cuba.\n\nThe move from Mr Trump is seen as the latest move to place pressure on the Cuban government, after Marco Rubio said on Thursday Cuba was \"a broken, non-functional economy, and it's impossible to change it\".\n\nAnd in a statement, the US State Department said the US seeks \"meaningful reforms to Cuba’s communist system\" after the island rejected a $100million aid package.\n\nRaul's grandson, Raúl Guillermo Rodríguez Castro, currently serves as colonel within the Ministry of Interior and has reportedly held talks with Mr Rubio.\n\nCIA Director John Ratcliffe met Cuban officials, including the younger Mr Castro, to send the message the US would engage on security and economic issues \"only if Cuba makes fundamental changes\", according to a CIA official.\n\nMr Ratcliffe also met with Lázaro Álvarez Casas, the Minister of the Interior, as well as the head of Cuba's intelligence services, the CIA official added.\n\nThe indictment has reportedly been worked on for months, after the US attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Jason Reding Quiñones, began working with officials to establish a group specialising in prosecuting those within Communist Party leadership.\n\nThe group will also focus on prosecutions relating to drugs, violent crimes, and immigration-related violations.\n\nRaul Castro served as acting President of Cuba after his brother's illness in 2006, and officially served as President from 2008 to 2018.\n\nHe retired from politics in 2021, and was succeeded by Miguel Diaz-Canel, who has called for the US to stop the blockade.\n\nOne man, Gerardo Hernandez, was convicted in the US of murder conspiracy in connection to the downing of the two Cessnas operated by Brothers to the Rescue by a Cuban MiG-29 fighter jet, which killed four people.\n\nArrested in September 1998 as a member of the \"Miami Five\" Cuban spy ring, he was sentenced to life in prison, but later returned to Cuba in a 2014 prisoner swap.\n\nThe attack was condemned by President Bill Clinton at the time, but Cuba argued it was a legitimate operation, as the planes had violated Cuban airspace.\n\nA Justice Department spokesperson previously said: \"Federal prosecutors from across the country work every day to pursue justice, which includes efforts to combat transnational crime.\"\n\n###\n\n\n\n\nTRENDING\n\nStories\n\nVideos\n\nYour Say\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n**_More to follow..._**\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n**Our Standards: The GB News Editorial Charter**",
  "title": "Donald Trump 'to criminally charge Fidel Castro's brother' in direct mirror to Nicolas Maduro capture"
}