First Thing: US indicts former Cuban president Raúl Castro as it seeks to oust regime

Good morning. On Wednesday, the US issued a federal criminal indictment against Raúl Castro, Cuba’s former president, and five others, in a significant escalation of the Trump administration’s campaign to oust the country’s communist regime. The indictment, filed in US district court for the southern district of Florida, comes at a time of heightened tension between the US and Cuba. Donald Trump has threatened military action against the Cuban government, and an energy crisis created by a tight US oil embargo has caused rolling blackouts and prompted protests in the capital. Trump was asked by reporters on Wednesday if there could be an arrest similar to that of the ousted Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro in January. “I don’t want to say that,” he said. What are the details? Castro, 94, was charged with conspiracy to kill US nationals, four counts of murder and two counts of destruction of aircraft related to an incident in 1996 – in which four men were killed by the Cuban military, when two small planes were shot down during a humanitarian mission in the Florida Straits. How has Cuba reacted? Miguel Díaz-Canel, the Cuban president, condemned the indictment as a political stunt that sought only to “justify the folly of a military aggression against Cuba”. …