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Federal prosecutors charged former Cuban leader Raul Castro and additional co-conspirators in connection with the destruction of two civilian aircraft over international waters that killed four U.S. nationals, including three American citizens.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom
The Justice Department on Wednesday unsealed a criminal indictment charging former Cuban President Raul Castro in connection with the 1996 shootdown of two civilian aircraft operated by the Miami-based humanitarian group Brothers to the Rescue, an attack that killed four U.S. nationals, including three American citizens.
Federal prosecutors in the Southern District of Florida announced charges against Raul Modesto Castro Ruz and other alleged co-conspirators tied to the February 24, 1996 destruction of two unarmed Cessna aircraft flying over international waters near Cuba.
The indictment charges Castro with conspiracy to kill U.S. nationals, destruction of aircraft and four counts of murder.
According to the indictment, Castro authorized the use of deadly force while serving as head of Cuba’s Ministry of the Revolutionary Armed Forces, commonly known as MINFAR.
Prosecutors allege the Cuban military command structure routed operational decisions from local air bases through the Cuban Revolutionary Air and Air Defense Forces, known as DAAFAR, to MINFAR leadership and ultimately to Raul and Fidel Castro as final decision-makers.
The Justice Department stated the aircraft were flying outside Cuban territorial airspace and moving away from Cuba toward the United States when Cuban MiG fighter jets intercepted and destroyed them without warning.
The victims killed in the attack were identified as Carlos Costa, Pablo Morales, Mario Manuel de la Peña and Armando Alejandre.
Brothers to the Rescue had conducted humanitarian operations aimed at locating Cuban refugees attempting to flee the island by sea.
Jose Basulto, founder of the organization, said during a 1999 interview that the group sought to promote “strategic non-violence” while assisting refugees and supporting peaceful opposition movements inside Cuba.
The indictment names Cuban military officers Lorenzo Alberto Perez-Perez and the late Luis Francisco Perez-Perez as operators of the MiG fighter aircraft allegedly responsible for the shootdown.
Federal prosecutors contend the attack was carried out under direct military authorization from Cuba’s highest leadership.
A number of declassified government records later revealed that officials within the Clinton administration had expressed concern in the weeks before the incident that Cuban forces might target Brothers to the Rescue aircraft operating near the island.
Two decades ago, El Nuevo Herald and the Miami Herald published a 2006 audio recording in which Raul Castro allegedly discussed ordering the attack.
“I told them [the Cuban fighter pilots] to try to knock them down over [Cuban] territory,” Castro allegedly stated in the recording. “Knock them down into the sea when they reappear.”
Fidel Castro also publicly addressed the operation during a 1996 interview with TIME magazine, admitting responsibility for the decision while confirming Raul Castro’s involvement in the command structure.
“We discussed it with Raul and the Joint Chiefs of Staff,” Fidel Castro said. “We gave the order to the head of the air force.”
“On the third pass, they scrambled and did their job. They shot the planes down,” he added.
Federal authorities had previously pursued related prosecutions connected to the attack.
The Miami Herald reported that members of a Cuban spy network operating inside the United States were arrested in 1998, including Gerardo Hernandez, who was later convicted of conspiracy related to the killings before being returned to Cuba in a 2014 prisoner exchange.
In 2003, a federal grand jury also indicted Gen. Ruben Martínez Puente and two Cuban MiG pilots connected to the incident.
Then-President Bill Clinton condemned the attack immediately after it occurred.
“Saturday’s attack was an appalling reminder of the nature of the Cuban regime, repressive, violent, scornful of international law,” Clinton said at the time.
International organizations later concluded the aircraft had been operating in international airspace.
The Council of the International Civil Aviation Organization issued findings condemning the use of force against civilian aircraft in flight as incompatible with international law and “elementary considerations of humanity.”
The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights likewise concluded in 1999 that Cuba violated the victims’ right to life through the actions of state agents.
Congress also formally condemned the incident in 1996 and urged the U.S. government to pursue international accountability against Fidel Castro.
The Justice Department announced earlier this week that senior federal officials would attend a ceremony at Miami’s Freedom Tower honoring the victims of the attack.
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, U.S. Attorney Jason Reding Quiñones, FBI Deputy Director Christopher Raia, Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier and Sen. Ashley Moody attended Wednesday’s event.
Several Republican lawmakers also held a press conference earlier Wednesday condemning Cuba’s communist government and calling for accountability in the decades-old case.
Raul Castro, now 94, served for decades as Cuba’s defense minister before succeeding Fidel Castro as president in 2008. He stepped down as president in 2018 and relinquished leadership of Cuba’s Communist Party in 2021.
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