Raúl Castro is making his first public appearance since the Trump DOJ murder charges were filed

Former Cuban leader Raúl Castro appeared in public on Friday for the first time since the Trump administration indicted him for the 1996 shooting down of a group of Cuban planes.

Castro appeared on state television during an Interior Ministry ceremony in Havana, according to Reuters.

This came weeks after the Justice Department filed a lawsuit accusing Castro of participating in the destruction of two planes used by the exiled Miami-based organization Brothers to the Rescue nearly 30 years ago.

Castro has been charged with conspiracy to kill Americans, destroying aircraft and four counts of murder.

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Castro, who would have turned 95 on Wednesday, was last seen in public during a May Day celebration in Havana, days before the trial.

Before his May Day appearance, Castro had remained out of public view for months, appearing only at a public ceremony in the Cuban capital in January to honor the 32 Cuban soldiers killed during the US military operation that led to the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.

The charges relate to a February 1996 incident in which Cuban military aircraft allegedly shot down two unarmed helicopters operated by Brothers to the Rescue, killing four men: Carlos Costa, Armando Alejandre Jr., Mario de la Peña and Pablo Morales.

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Fidel Castro and his brother Raul Castro attend a parade in Havana, Cuba, on Dec. 2. 1996. (Sven Creutzmann/Mambo Photography/Getty Images)

Prosecutors suspect that the plane was flying outside of Cuban territory when it was destroyed.

The case comes amid rising tensions in the Caribbean and a series of comments from Trump and his supporters hinting at the possibility of regime change in the island nation.

President Donald Trump has previously praised impeachment, saying Cuban Americans whose families suffered under the Communist regime have waited decades for accountability.

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Former Cuban Vice President Jose Machado and dictator Raul Castro are seen in Cuba. (Yamil Lage/Getty Images)

“We have big news about Cuba, as you know, about the Castro case,” Trump said. “Many people have suffered much, much, much, on levels that few people can understand.”

Trump also suggested that tensions with Cuba would not increase following the impeachment.

“There will be no escalation,” he said. “It won’t be necessary.”

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Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and former Cuban leader Raul Castro joined the ceremony. (Ismael Francisco/Cubadebate/AP:Juan Barreto/AFP via Getty Images)

Still, the decision to impeach Castro prompted comparisons to Trump’s campaign of pressure against Maduro.

“At the very least, it means he’s now suspended like Nicolás Maduro was,” Christine Balling, a Cuba expert at the Institute of World Politics and a former adviser to the US Special Operations Command South, previously told Fox News Digital.

The US indicted Maduro on charges of narco-terrorism while tightening sanctions on Venezuela’s oil sector, backing opposition efforts to remove him from power and expanding military operations in the Caribbean.

“I don’t think we’re going to do the same job,” Balling said. “Raúl Castro is 94 years old. It may not be worth the trouble.”

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Still, Balling argued that the case sent “a clear message that we are 100 percent behind the fall of the Castro regime.”

Fox News Digital’s Robert McGreevy, Greg Wehner and Morgan Phillips, and Fox News’ David Spunt, Bill Mears and Jake Gibson contributed to this report. Reuters also contributed to this report.