Why the U.S. Just Indicted Cuba’s Former President

About this episode

<p>The U.S. charged Raúl Castro, Cuba’s former leader and Communist general, with murder on Wednesday. It was the latest escalation in the Trump administration’s campaign to force political change on the island.</p> <p>The New York Times reporters Frances Robles and Julian Barnes break down what is behind the charges against Mr. Castro and what the American government really wants from Cuba.</p> <p>Guest:</p> <ul> <li><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/by/frances-robles" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><strong>Frances Robles</strong></a>, an international correspondent covering Latin America and the Caribbean for The New York Times.</li> <li><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/by/julian-e-barnes" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><strong>Julian E. Barnes</strong></a>, a reporter covering the U.S. intelligence agencies and international security matters for The New York Times.</li> </ul> <p>Background reading: </p> <ul> <li><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/20/us/raul-castro-cuba-doj-indictment.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">The Justice Department charged the former Cuban president</a> in fatal downing of planes.</li> <li><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/15/world/americas/cuba-raul-castro-us-indictment.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Here’s what happened</a> on the day Cuba shot down two civilian planes.</li> </ul> <p>Photo: Norlys Perez/Reuters</p> <p>For more information on today’s episode, visit <a href="http://nytimes.com/thedaily?smid=pc-thedaily" rel="noopener noreferrer"><strong>nytimes.com/thedaily</strong></a>. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday. </p> <p><p>Subscribe today at <a href="http://nytimes.com/podcasts">nytimes.com/podcasts</a> or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher">https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher</a>. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.</p></p><br/> <p>Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See <a href="https://pcm.adswizz.com">pcm.adswizz.com</a> for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.</p>