In a bold move reminiscent of the audacious capture of former Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro, the United States Department of Justice indicted former Cuban president Raúl Castro on charges of murder and conspiracy to kill Americans related to the downing of two American planes over the waters off the Cuban coast on Feb. 24, 1996. The incident resulted in the deaths of three Americans and one Cuban national.

If convicted, the 94-year-old faces the maximum penalty of life in prison and the possibility of a similar operation to remove him from Cuba as the one conducted to bring Maduro to the United States to face justice. Five fighter pilots who participated in the incident are also named in the grand jury indictment.

The indictment comes amid rising tensions between the two countries as President Donald Trump seeks to topple the regime.

The downed planes belonged to a group called Brothers to the Rescue that searched the sea off Cuba’s coast for people fleeing the Communist country who needed to be rescued. Fidel Castro took responsibility for the mission at the time, claiming the group was dropping anti-regime leaflets on Cuban territory to subvert his government. As one of “the final decision makers,” his brother Raúl Castro is named in the indictment.

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said the Trump administration would hold those who took American lives accountable.

“My message today is clear,” he said. “The United States and President Trump does not — and will not — forget its citizens.”

He did not, however, answer questions about the possibility of U.S. military action to extract the former Cuban leader in the manner of Maduro, saying the final decision for such action rests with the president. Trump also deflected the question, saying “I don’t want to say that” in response to reporters’ questions Wednesday.

The Cuban government pushed back in a statement.

“It is highly cynical for this accusation to be made by the very same government that has murdered nearly 200 people and destroyed 57 vessels in international waters of the Caribbean and the Pacific, far from United States territory, through the disproportionate use of military force,” it said.