The United States announced on Wednesday criminal charges against former Cuban leader Raul Castro over his alleged role in the 1996 downing of two civilian aircraft operated by the Miami-based exile group Brothers to the Rescue, an incident that killed four people.

The indictment, unsealed by Acting US Attorney Todd Blanche in Miami, includes charges of conspiracy to kill US nationals, destruction of an aircraft and four individual counts of murder against Castro and five other co-defendants.

Blanche said a federal grand jury in Miami had issued the charges on April 23.

It marks the first time the US government has sought criminal charges against either of the Castro brothers, whose 1959 revolution transformed Cuba into a communist state aligned against Washington for decades.

Speaking from Miami’s Freedom Tower – where more than 400,000 Cubans fleeing the island after the revolution were processed – Blanche said: “For nearly 30 years, the families of four murdered Americans waited for justice. The US and President Trump do not and will not forget its citizens … If you kill Americans, we will pursue you no matter the charge you hold and in this case, no matter how much time has passed.”

The case centres on the February 24, 1996, shooting down of two Brothers to the Rescue planes by Cuban fighter jets over waters north of Cuba. Havana has long defended the operation as a response to repeated violations of Cuban airspace, while international investigators concluded the aircraft were destroyed in international airspace.