Thursday, May 21, 2026 - The United States government has unsealed a major federal indictment against former Cuban President Raúl Castro and five other individuals. The criminal charges stem from the fatal February 24, 1996, shoot-down of two unarmed U.S. civilian aircraft operated by the Miami-based Cuban exile humanitarian organization, Brothers to the Rescue.
The update to the case was formally announced during a news
conference at Miami's symbolic Freedom Tower. Federal court records indicate
that a grand jury in South Florida returned the superseding indictment, which
updates an existing case from 2003.
According to details provided by the U.S. Department of
Justice, the 94-year-old former leader—who served as Cuba's defense minister at
the time of the incident—is facing specific criminal charges along with his
co-defendants.
The formal
charges listed in the federal court record include:
One count of
conspiracy to kill U.S. nationals
Four individual counts of murder
Two counts of destruction of aircraft
The 1996 incident occurred when Cuban MiG fighter jets
targeted and destroyed two Cessna aircraft over international waters, resulting
in the deaths of four volunteers: Carlos Costa, Armando Alejandre Jr., Mario de
la Peña, and Pablo Morales.
A third plane, carrying the head of the organization, José
Basulto, managed to escape the attack. While international investigators
concluded the strike happened in international airspace, Cuba has historically
maintained that the planes violated or closely approached its sovereign
territory.
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