US preparing criminal charges against Raul Castro over 1996 plane shootdown

The Trump administration is preparing to drop the hammer on former Cuban strongman Raúl Castro — with criminal charges expected Wednesday in a dramatic escalation of Washington’s pressure campaign against the communist island.

The 94-year-old ex-president, and younger brother of revolutionary Fidel Castro, is expected to be charged over the infamous 1996 shootdown of two civilian planes flown by Miami-based exile group Brothers to the Rescue — an attack that killed all four men onboard.

Federal prosecutors are set to unveil the bombshell case during a Miami ceremony honoring the victims, in what could become one of the most explosive legal moves ever aimed at Cuba’s ruling dynasty.

At the time of the deadly incident, Raúl Castro was serving as Cuba’s defense minister and was widely seen as the regime’s iron-fisted military boss. Cuba claimed the planes violated its airspace — but international investigators later concluded the aircraft were shot down over international waters.

The move comes as President Donald Trump ramps up his hardline push against Havana, tightening sanctions and openly hinting that Cuba “is next” after the dramatic downfall of Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro earlier this year.

Born in 1931, Raúl Castro helped lead the communist revolution that toppled U.S.-backed dictator Fulgencio Batista, fought off the Bay of Pigs invasion, and later ruled Cuba after Fidel stepped aside. Even after leaving office, he remained the shadowy powerbroker behind the scenes in Havana.

Now, nearly 30 years after the Brothers to the Rescue tragedy shocked the world, U.S. officials appear ready to haul one of communism’s last surviving Cold War giants into the dock.

Cuba’s leaders are already digging in for a showdown.

Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez blasted U.S. “threats” and sanctions, while Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel warned any American military action against the island would trigger a “bloodbath.”