U.S. charges Cuba's Castro with murder over the collapse of two planes in 1996

The case revealed Wednesday accuses Castro and five others of the plane crash belonging to the Cuban-American group “Rescue Brothers” and the killing of four people, including three Americans, reports BBC, broadcast Periscope.

Castro, now 94, was then the head of the country's armed forces and faced international punishment for the collapse.

While the US seeks to put increasing pressure on Cuba's communist rule, President Miguel Diaz-Canel called the charges “a political maneuver, without any legal basis”.

Speaking at the Miami Freedom Tower, the Attorney General at Todd Blanche announced that the United States will also accuse Castro of destroying planes and four individual counts of killing Armando Alejandra Jr, Carlos Alberto Costa, Mario Manuel de la Peña and Pablo Morales.

The United States and President Trump will not forget and forget their citizens”, Blanche said.

The charges should be argued in an American court, with some holding the possibility of a life sentence. Charges of murder carry a maximum sentence of death or life imprisonment.

The new justice department charges target a key figure of Cuba's communist leadership, while it is facing strong US pressure to make significant political and economic reforms in its one-party rule there. /Periscope/