Raúl Castro indicted for 1996 shoot-down of American pilots
Sen. Ashley Moody, R-Fla., discusses the indictment of former Cuban President Raúl Castro on murder and conspiracy charges tied to the 1996 shoot-down of two civilian aircraft that killed four American pilots on ‘Sunday Night in America.’
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Florida has obtained a state arrest warrant for former Cuban leader Raúl Castro on a no-bond charge of conspiracy to commit first-degree murder stemming from the 1996 Brothers to the Rescue shootdown, according to a warrant obtained by Digital.
Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier, whose office reopened the state’s investigation into Castro after he took office, is expected to announce the new arrest warrant alongside Gov. Ron DeSantis at a press conference Monday morning.
The no-bond warrant, issued in Miami-Dade County, directs law enforcement to immediately arrest Castro and says a judge found probable cause to believe he conspired to commit first-degree murder in connection with the deaths of four men aboard the unarmed civilian aircraft.
The warrant marks a new front in efforts to hold Castro accountable for the Feb. 24, 1996, attack, which has long reverberated through South Florida’s Cuban-American community. Castro already faces a separate federal prosecution over the shootdown.
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Florida has obtained a state arrest warrant for former Cuban leader Raúl Castro on a no-bond charge of conspiracy to commit first-degree murder. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)
“The investigation revealed evidence of a conspiracy to kill persons aboard BTTR aircraft. The deaths of Carlos Costa, Pablo Morales, Mario de la Peña, and Armando Alejandre Jr. were the object of that conspiracy,” the warrant reads.
According to the warrant, investigators allege that in 1996, the Castro regime’s foreign intelligence service’s plan to shoot down Brothers to the Rescue aircraft and kill their occupants traveled through the chain of command, with Raúl Castro and his brother, former Cuban leader Fidel Castro, as the final decision-makers.
Raúl and Fidel Castro attend a parade Dec. 2, 1996, in Havana, Cuba. (Sven Creutzmann/Mambo Photography/Getty Images)
“They have violated the airspace, the waters of the Republic. I made it clear that this had to be decentralized if we wanted it to do its job, and five generals were given the authority. I used to say: Try to shoot them down over our territory. But they would come into Havana and leave,” Raúl Castro, now 95, said in a recorded statement months after the incident, recounting orders he gave to senior military leaders before the shootdown, according to the warrant.
“Of course, with a missile shot like that, plane against plane, what comes down is a ball of fire, and it is going to fall on top of the city. So I said: Fine, shoot them down at sea when they show up, and those who have the authority are not to consult anyone,” he added in his statement.
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The attorney general’s Office of Statewide Prosecution will assume jurisdiction over the multi-circuit criminal conspiracy case against Raúl Castro. (Joe Burbank/Orlando Sentinel/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
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Brothers to the Rescue is a Miami-based organization that flew unarmed civilian aircraft to search for Cuban migrants stranded or lost at sea. By the mid-1990s, the group had also become involved in anti-Castro political activity, including dropping pro-democracy leaflets over Cuba.
The Cuban government has rejected the U.S. prosecution of Castro, maintaining that Brothers to the Rescue repeatedly violated Cuban airspace and that Cuba acted in defense of its sovereignty.
The warrant indicates that Florida authorities are seeking full extradition of Raúl Castro if he is arrested outside the Sunshine State, authorizing authorities to pursue his return to Florida to face the felony charge if he is arrested in another U.S. jurisdiction.
The attorney general’s Office of Statewide Prosecution will assume jurisdiction over the multi-circuit criminal conspiracy case against Castro.
