U.S. Charges Raúl Castro With Murder Over 1996 Brothers To The Rescue Shootdown

The U.S. charged former Cuban leader Raúl Castro with conspiracy to kill U.S. nationals and other crimes over the 1996 downing of two planes between Cuba and Florida, with the case unveiled on Wednesday and accusing Castro and five others in the shooting down of aircraft belonging to Brothers to the Rescue and killing four people, including three Americans.

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche announced at Freedom Tower in Miami that the U.S. would also charge Castro with destruction of aircraft and four individual counts of murder over the deaths of Armando Alejandre Jr, Carlos Alberto Costa, Mario Manuel de la Peña, and Pablo Morales, and said, "The United States, and President Trump, does not, and will not, forget its citizens,".

Al Jazeera

NBC News reported that the Justice Department indicted Castro in connection with the 1996 shooting of two civilian planes that killed four Cuban exiles, and said Castro, 94, was charged with conspiracy to kill U.S. nationals, murder and destruction of aircraft, while five other men were also indicted.

NBC News further said the charges were announced during a news conference in front of Miami’s Freedom Tower on May 20, the date recognized as the Cuban Independence Day, and that the civilian planes belonged to Brothers to the Rescue, a group founded in 1991 by Cuban American pilot José Basulto and other exiles.

Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel called the charges "a political manoeuvre, devoid of any legal foundation" and accused the U.S. of lying and distorting the events surrounding the 1996 downing, while the BBC reported that the government would launch an immediate investigation in response to the broader U.S. pressure campaign.

In Miami, the announcement was met with loud cheers from the crowd in downtown Miami, and NBC News said officials honored the four Cuban American men—three U.S. citizens and one a U.S. legal resident—who died aboard the civilian planes downed by the Cuban Air Force on Feb. 24, 1996.

AP News

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche told reporters, "For nearly 30 years, the families of four murdered Americans have waited for justice," and said the victims were "unarmed civilians and were flying humanitarian missions for the rescue and protection of people fleeing oppression across the Florida straits."

NBC New York reported that Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said, "For the first time in nearly 70 years, senior leadership of the Cuban regime has been charged in this country," and framed the case as accountability for acts of violence resulting in the deaths of American citizens.

The U.S. said the charges must be argued in a US court, with some carrying the possibility life terms, and the murder charges each carry a maximum penalty of death or life imprisonment, as the BBC reported.

“US charges Cuba's Raúl Castro with murder over 1996 downing of two planes The US has charged former Cuban leader Raúl Castro with conspiracy to kill US nationals and other crimes over the 1996 downing of two planes between Cuba and Florida”

BBC

Blanche told reporters there was a warrant for Castro’s arrest and said, "we expect he will show up here, by his own will or another way," while CNBC reported that there is no evidence Castro has left the island or that the government would allow him to be extradited.

The indictment coincided with a ceremony to honor the victims of the Brothers to the Rescue incident, and NBC News said the announcement was met with loud cheers as officials honored the four men who died, with the date tied to May 20 and the Freedom Tower.

The Hill reported that Blanche said the indictment was not a "show indictment" and that it was "not going to go away," while also quoting Díaz-Canel’s claim that the move adds to the pretext to invade Cuba and calling it "aimed only at padding the fabricated dossier they use to justify the folly of a military aggression against #Cuba."