Cuban officials closed ranks around Raúl Castro after U.S. authorities indicted the former president on murder charges for the 1996 downing of two civilian aircraft. State media flooded social platforms with nostalgic imagery of Castro as a revolutionary hero, while President Miguel Díaz-Canel called him a father figure.

The charges stem from an incident involving Brothers to the Rescue, an exile activist group whose planes were shot down by Cuban MiG fighters in international airspace. Four men died in the attack, which prosecutors say Castro personally ordered. Cuban state radio once recorded Castro acknowledging the shoot-down order, expressing concern about leaflet-dropping flights over Havana.

The indictment arrives amid deteriorating U.S.-Cuba relations and Cuba's economic crisis, worsened by Trump-era sanctions and oil cutoffs. Experts suggest the charges may harden Cuban resistance rather than force compliance, with negotiations already stalled. Secretary of State Marco Rubio acknowledged slim prospects for diplomatic breakthrough.

Castro, who turns 95 next month, remains influential despite leaving office in 2018. His legacy spans decades as defense minister and president, during which he oversaw military campaigns in Angola and managed Cuba's cautious economic reforms. The murder case represents a late-life legal reckoning for one of Latin America's most enduring revolutionary figures.