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Hello, welcome to the programme. This is News Hour from the BBC World Service. I'm Paul Henley. We're coming to you live from London.

The US Justice Department has indicted Cuba's former leader, Raul Castro, on criminal charges. U.S. Justice Department has indicted Cuba's former leader Raul Castro on criminal charges.

U.S. acting attorney general Todd Blanche, speaking in Miami in Florida, home of many Cuban exiles, had this to say.

Today, we are announcing an indictment charging Raul Castro and several others with conspiracy to kill U.S. nationals.

And he went on to say that anyone who'd killed Americans would have to pay the price.

Nations and their leaders cannot be permitted to target Americans,

kill them, and not face accountability.

The allegations centre on a Cuban military offensive against US civilian aircraft in 1996.

The planes involved were operated by an organization called

Brothers to the Rescue and were searching for people who wanted to leave Cuba when they were

shot down by the Cuban military, which was led at the time by Raul Castro. Republican Congresswoman

Maria Elvira Salazar spoke earlier in the day at a news conference also in Miami.

The message is for the Castro family. Understand this well that your days are over.

A federal indictment is serious stuff. If not, look at that example. Maduro thought that Trump was fooling,

and he was just fooling him, and he was playing around, and President Trump gave him enough time

for him to think what to do with his destiny. Look what Maduro did. He thought that President

Trump was not serious. And look

where Maduro is today in a federal prison in New York. A few days ago, we got through to Jose

Basulto, who's a Cuban exile, and was founder of the Brothers to the Rescue Organization,

which operated the two planes that were shot down.

He was in a third plane and escaped. My colleague Julian Warwicker asked him if he welcomed

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