U.S. Unseals Indictment Charging Raúl Castro With Murder in Brothers to the Rescue Shootdown

Federal prosecutors unsealed charges against former Cuban President Raúl Castro and five co-defendants over the Feb. 24, 1996 downing of two unarmed civilian Cessna planes operated by the Miami-based exile group Brothers to the Rescue, killing four people over international waters.

“United States federal prosecutors have indicted Cuba’s former President Raul Castro in connection with the 1996 downing of planes operated by the Miami-based exile group Brothers to the Rescue”

Al Jazeera

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche announced the indictment at a ceremony in Miami, saying, "For nearly 30 years, the families of four murdered Americans have waited for justice," and the DOJ said the charges include conspiracy to kill U.S. nationals, murder, and destruction of aircraft.

Al Jazeera

The indictment alleges that Castro, then Cuba’s defense minister, played a leading role in the decision to have Cuban fighter jets shoot down the planes, and it names Cuban military pilots including Lorenzo Alberto Perez-Perez and Luis Raul Gonzalez-Pardo Rodriguez.

NBC News reported that the announcement took place at Miami’s Freedom Tower on May 20, the date recognized as Cuban Independence Day, and it said the charges were announced during a news conference in front of the Freedom Tower.

The AP reported that the indictment was filed by a grand jury in April and that Castro, who turns 95 next month, was Cuba’s defense minister at the time of the shootdown.

Cuba’s response framed the indictment as political, with President Miguel Díaz-Canel claiming the charges are a "political" manoeuvre and saying they are "devoid of any legal foundation".

In Miami, Blanche told reporters, "There was a warrant issued for his arrest. So we expect that he will show up here, by his own will or by another way," as the U.S. raised pressure on Cuba following the earlier capture of Nicolás Maduro.

AP News

The BBC reported that Díaz-Canel accused the U.S. of "distorted events" surrounding the downing and accused Brothers to the Rescue of being a "narco-terrorist" group.

Al Jazeera said the indictment marks one of the sharpest escalations in tensions between Washington and Havana in years, and it quoted Blanche describing the four men killed as "unarmed civilians" engaged in "humanitarian missions" across the Florida straits.

The AP also reported that Trump said, "We’re going to see," when asked what comes next for Cuba, and it quoted Secretary of State Marco Rubio urging the Cuban people to demand a free-market economy with new leadership.

The indictment’s potential consequences include the maximum penalties described by the BBC, where the first count carries a maximum term of life in prison for Castro and other counts include maximum penalties of five years and "maximum penalty of death or life imprisonment".

“The US government has filed criminal charges against the former leader of Cuba Raúl Castro”

BBC

NBC News said the indictment alleges that all orders to kill by the Cuban military traveled through a chain of command, "with Castro Ruz and Fidel Castro as the final decision makers," and it reported that the planes were shot down by a Cuban MiG-29.

The Miami Herald reported that the indictment charges Castro and five other defendants with conspiracy to kill U.S. nationals, destruction of aircraft, and four counts of murder for Armando Alejandre, Mario de la Peña, Carlos Costa and Pablo Morales.

The DOJ’s announcement also specified the defendants’ identities and places of origin, including Raul Modesto Castro Ruz, 94, of Holguin, Cuba, and Lorenzo Alberto Perez‑Perez of Las Tunas, Cuba, alongside Emilio José Palacio Blanco, José Fidel Gual Barzaga, Raul Simanca Cardenas, and Luis Raul Gonzalez‑Pardo Rodriguez.

CBS News said it was not clear whether Castro will ever stand trial because Cuba does not extradite people to the United States, and it quoted Blanche saying, "this isn't a show indictment" and that the Justice Department intends to try the case.