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Former Cuban President Raúl Castro has been indicted in connection to his alleged role in the 1996 downing of two planes operated by the Miami-based exile group Brothers to the Rescue.
The indictment, which a Florida grand jury returned in April, was unsealed Wednesday, Acting U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche said during an announcement in Miami on Wednesday. It charges Castro with conspiracy to kill U.S. nationals, destruction of aircraft and four separate counts of murder, Blanche revealed.
The indictment stems from a February 1996 incident in which four Americans — Carlos Costa, Armando Alejandre Jr., Mario de la Peña and Pablo Morales — were flying in civilian aircraft when Cuban military aircraft shot their planes down in international waters and killed them, the indictment alleges, according to Blanche.
“They were unarmed civilians and were flying humanitarian missions for the rescue and protection of people fleeing oppression across the Florida Straits,” Blanche said.
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“As alleged in the indictment, Raúl Castro and five co-defendants participated in a conspiracy that ended with Cuban military aircraft firing missiles at those planes and killing four Americans,” he continued.
“Nations and their leaders cannot be permitted to target Americans. Kill them, and not face accountability,” Blanche also said.
Joining Blanche in announcing the indictment were United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida Jason A. Reding Quiñones, Deputy FBI Director Christopher Raia and Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier.
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The indictment comes amid rising tensions in the Caribbean and a series of comments from Trump and his surrogates hinting at a regime change in Cuba.
Uthmeier also hinted at a leadership change Wednesday.
“There can be no future for a free Cuba so long as the Castros and their criminal gang of thugs remain in power,” Uthmeier said, to thunderous applause from the Miami crowd. “We now have the leaders that will pursue that which is right and just,” Uthmeier added, concluding with “get ready, there’s more to come. God bless America and God bless the free state of Cuba.”
Several South Florida lawmakers praised the indictment Wednesday, calling it a long-awaited step toward justice nearly three decades after the Brothers to the Rescue shootdown.
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Rep. Carlos Gimenez, R-Fla., said he, Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar, Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart and Rep. Nicole Malliotakis sent a Feb. 13 letter urging action in the case.
“We’re very, very happy that it did happen,” Gimenez said.
Gimenez accused former Cuban President Raul Castro of personally ordering the attack, saying Castro “actually boasted that he was the one that gave the order to shoot down these planes” during the 1996 incident over international waters.
Rep. Byron Donalds, R-Fla., described the Brothers to the Rescue pilots as humanitarians helping Cubans fleeing the communist regime.
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“People were swimming across the Florida Strait and the Brothers to the Rescue were going out on their own to help people get to our shores, to escape tyranny,” Donalds said.
Salazar said the indictment marked a historic moment for Cuban Americans in South Florida and confirmed that “him and the four pilots” involved in the shootdown were charged.
Salazar also contrasted the case with the Trump administration’s posture toward Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, warning the Castro family to “look at Maduro.”
“There is a new sheriff in town, and that sheriff is Donald Trump,” Salazar said. “Cuba is the mothership of evil in the Western Hemisphere.”
Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., called the indictment “a good day for America” and “a good day for Cuba” on the country’s Independence Day celebration, saying Castro “made the decision” that led to the deaths of “three Americans and one resident.”
Scott also said the U.S. should not “take anything off the table” in supporting democratic change in Cuba, while adding he hopes Castro ultimately stands trial in the United States.
Speaking with Fox News correspondent Dana Marie McNicholl in Little Havana following the announcement, Cuban exile Oscar Fernandez became emotional while describing what the indictment meant to many in the Cuban American community.
“It means some justice for the Cuban people for 67 years,” Fernandez said. “We hope this is the beginning of the downfall of the Castro regime.”
Fernandez said Cuban Americans were prepared to help rebuild the island if the communist government eventually falls. “We’re ready to go back and help in the reconstruction of our country,” Fernandez said. “We are not going to let this opportunity go by.”
President Donald Trump praised the indictment of Castro, saying Cuban Americans whose families suffered under the communist regime had waited decades for accountability.
“We have big news on Cuba, as you know, with the indictment of Castro,” Trump said. “A lot of people have suffered very big, very, very, at levels that few people would understand.”
Trump said Cuban Americans in South Florida and across the U.S. appreciated the move by the Justice Department after years of alleged abuses under Castro’s leadership.
“I think the Cuban population of Miami, and certainly beyond Miami, people that came here that were decimated, whose families were ruined, appreciate what the Attorney General just did today,” Trump said.
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Trump also suggested the Cuban government was weakening under continued economic pressure.
“The place is falling apart,” Trump said of Cuba. “They’ve really lost control of Cuba.”
Asked whether the U.S. planned further escalation against Cuba following Castro’s indictment, Trump replied, “There won’t be escalation. I don’t think there needs to be.”
This is a breaking news story. Please check back for updates.
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