Donald Trump is set to criminally charge Fidel Castro's brother in a direct mirror to Nicolas Maduro's capture.
Raul Castro, the former Cuban President, will be hit with an indictment after approval from a grand jury, the US Department of Justice said.
The potential indictment of the 94-year-old communist is thought to relate to the downing of aircraft in 1996, and could also include drug trafficking charges.
US outlet CBS previously reported the case relates to Cuba's deadly shooting down of planes operated by the humanitarian group Brothers to the Rescue.
The plans echo those used by the US in the lead-up to capturing Venezuelan dictator Mr Maduro.
In August 2025, the US offered a $50million reward for information leading to his capture - and five months later, he was in a New York City jail.
Cuba has been hit with widespread blackouts resulting in protests and chaos after Venezuela was brought under America's thumb.
The South American nation was the main provider of fuel to the communist island, and Mr Trump has implemented a fuel blockade which has prevented other countries providing energy to Cuba.
Raul Castro (left) is set to be indicted by the US Department of Justice
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The move from Mr Trump is seen as the latest move to place pressure on the Cuban Government, after Marco Rubio said on Thursday Cuba was "a broken, non-functional economy".
And in a statement, the US State Department said the US was looking for "meaningful reforms to Cuba’s communist system" after the island rejected a $100million aid package.
Raul's grandson, Raul Guillermo Rodriguez Castro, currently serves as a colonel within Cuba's Interior Ministry, and is said to have held talks with Mr Rubio.
CIA Director John Ratcliffe met Cuban officials, including the younger Mr Castro, to send the message the US would engage on security and economic issues "only if Cuba makes fundamental changes", according to a CIA official.
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Raul Castro (right) raising the arm of his successor Miguel Diaz-Canel
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Mr Ratcliffe also met with Lazaro Alvarez Casas, the Minister of the Interior, as well as the head of Cuba's intelligence services.
The indictment has reportedly been worked on for months, after the US attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Jason Reding Quinones, began working with officials to establish a group specialising in prosecuting those within Communist Party leadership.
The group will also focus on prosecutions relating to drugs, violent crimes, and immigration-related violations.
Raul Castro served as acting President of Cuba after his brother's illness in 2006, and officially served as President from 2008 to 2018.
John Ratcliffe, seen boarding a plane leaving Cuba, met with Raul Castro's grandson in Havana
|REUTERS
He retired from politics in 2021, and was succeeded by Miguel Diaz-Canel, who has called for the US to stop the blockade.
One man, Gerardo Hernandez, was convicted in the US of murder conspiracy in connection to the downing of the two Cessnas operated by Brothers to the Rescue by a Cuban MiG-29 fighter jet, which killed four people.
Arrested in September 1998 as a member of the "Miami Five" Cuban spy ring, he was sentenced to life in prison, but later returned to Cuba in a 2014 prisoner swap.
The attack was condemned by President Bill Clinton at the time, but Cuba argued it was a legitimate operation, as the planes had violated Cuban airspace.
A Justice Department spokesman previously said: "Federal prosecutors from across the country work every day to pursue justice, which includes efforts to combat transnational crime."