While people in Cuba are suffering at the hands of a 60-year embargo — with its effects exacerbated by the fuel blockade established by United States President Donald Trump and his administration — they are being further reminded about what can happen with U.S. military intervention.
On May 20, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) indicted former Cuban President Raúl Castro and previous Cuban government and military leaders with charges relating to the February 1996 shooting down of planes belonging to the American group Brothers to the Rescue (BTTR).
“For the first time in nearly 70 years, senior leadership of the Cuban regime has been charged in the United States for alleged acts of violence resulting in the deaths of American citizens,” said FBI Director Kash Patel when the indictments were unsealed.
The charges include conspiracy to kill U.S. nationals, destruction of a U.S. aircraft and four individual counts of murder.
Cuban diplomats condemn the indictment, stating that shooting down the BTTR planes was an act of self-defense after the group committed a series of airspace violations despite being warned numerous times by the Cuban government and intermediaries. They accuse the U.S. government of fabricating a deceitful narrative to justify its blockade and military threats against the Caribbean country.
“This is a political maneuver, devoid of any legal foundation, aimed solely at padding the fabricated dossier they use to justify the folly of a military aggression against Cuba,” Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel wrote on X. “The U.S. lies and distorts the events surrounding the downing of the planes belonging to the narco-terrorist organization Brothers to the Rescue in 1996.”
Brothers to the Rescue was originally a group focused on helping rafters escaping Cuba for the U.S. until changes in immigration policy between the two countries resulted in the American government agreeing not to admit anyone who was intercepted in the water. After this change, the nonprofit group primarily focused on civil disobedience against the Caribbean country’s government.
Cuban officials accused BTTR of dropping leaflets, medallions and bumper stickers with language opposing the government. They regard the incident as an act of self-defense, as Cuban government flight controllers had warned the group not to fly over Havana on the day of the shootdown. Brothers to the Rescue pilots failed to cooperate, which led to the deaths of Carlos Costa, Armando Alejandre Jr., Mario de la Peña and Pablo Morales.
“The United States, which has been a victim of the use of civil aviation for terrorist purposes, does not and would not permit the hostile and provocative violation of foreign aircraft over its territory and would act, as it has demonstrated, with the use of force,” The Embassy of Cuba in the U.S. said in a May 20 statement.
A Crisis Fueled by More than a Century of Intervention
May 20 is already a day many Cubans are reminded of unwanted U.S. intervention, as on this day in 1902, the Platt Amendment was made to the U.S. Army appropriations bill. While the nation’s armed forces agreed to end its occupation in Cuba, the legislation allowed for the U.S. to intervene in its affairs and operate naval bases in the country.
Many Americans regard this day as Cuban Independence Day, but many Cubans reject it, as they don’t truly feel independent.
“Intervention, interference, dispossession, frustration. That is what May 20 means in the history of Cuba,” Diaz-Canel wrote on X. “There is only one thing to be grateful for from that day: having sown in the Cubans of that time an anti-imperialist sentiment that every subsequent generation has felt deepen with new and constant threats to the independence and sovereignty of the Homeland.”
Although the Platt Agreement was repealed in 1934, the U.S. still has a naval base in Guantanamo, and the embargo-strengthening 1996 Helms-Burton Act — which was made right after the BTTR incident to sanction Fidel Castro’s government and prevent third-party countries from investing in Cuba — is still intact. Its motives remain present with the Trump administration’s energy-crisis-inducing fuel blockade, enacted in January by Executive Order 14380, which allowed the U.S. to impose further tariffs on imports into the nation from countries that supply Cuba with oil.
Since the Cuban economy mostly depends on foreign oil from countries like Venezuela and Mexico, instances like the U.S. intervention in Venezuela led to a siege on exports of oil from the South American country, causing the energy crisis in Cuba that has been detrimental to its citizens.
“This is a struggle sharply accelerated by external pressures,” said Edem Wosornu, director of the United Nations (UN) Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) Crisis Response Division, during a May 15 press briefing following a trip to Cuba to assess the situation. “The energy crisis has become an undeniable multiplier of needs. Access to water, access to food, essential services including health … is being disrupted.”
Without access to oil, Cubans on the island consistently experience power outages lasting up to 20 hours in multiple areas. According to Wosornu, the struggle is most visible in the healthcare sector, as shortages of electricity, medicine and medical supplies are substantially interrupting hospital operations.
According to observations from the World Health Organization’s (WHO) Health Emergency Interventions, more than 100,000 patients, including approximately 11,000 children, are waiting for surgeries that have been delayed due to the current conditions. Roughly 5 million people with chronic conditions are at risk of interrupting life-sustaining treatments, including 16,000 patients needing radiotherapy and more than 12,000 undergoing chemotherapy. Limited access to diagnostic services and little transportation for obstetric emergencies has also affected more than 32,000 pregnant women.
With a lack of oil, UN humanitarian efforts are limited since support crews need to have the ability to move across the country to help those in need. Efficiency in crisis response is critical now, more than ever, as hurricane season is approaching.
“We need to strengthen preparedness and secure resources, or Cuba will enter this season with severely diminished response capacity,” Wosornu said.
In 2025, the OCHA provided Cuba with $7.5 million for Hurricane Melissa alone, and ahead of time, gave them $4 million, which Cuban officials say saved many lives. This year, the response plan is calling for $94 million to respond to the devastation caused by both Hurricane Melissa and the energy crisis. So far, the humanitarian agency has only received about $30 million, mostly from the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF).
“Life-saving aid must reach people quickly and without delays. I want to emphasize the longer it takes, the… stronger the vulnerability gets,” Wosornu warned. “Acting fast and working together is the only way to stop the situation from getting worse. We can’t afford another humanitarian crisis.”
The Embassy of Cuba in the U.S. sees the indictment of Raúl Castro as a continuation of anti-Cuban sentiment from the U.S. government and unilateral coercive measures that have negatively impacted the Caribbean country for more than a century. In their May 20 statement, the embassy reaffirmed Cuba’s commitment to peace and its determination to the right of self-defense if need be.
“The Cuban people reaffirm their unwavering decision to defend the Homeland and its Socialist Revolution and, with the greatest strength and firmness, their unrestricted and unchanging support for Army General Raúl Castro Ruz, Leader of the Cuban Revolution,” the embassy wrote. “Homeland or Death, We Will Win.”
