Florida obtains arrest warrant for Raul Castro over 1996 shootdown
Florida has secured a state arrest warrant for former Cuban leader Raul Castro over the 1996 shootdown of two unarmed civilian planes that killed four people, the state’s attorney general announced. Castro already faces federal charges in the case.
Attorney General James Uthmeier announced Monday that the Office of Statewide Prosecution (OSP) and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) obtained the warrant, which charges the former leader with one count of conspiracy to commit first-degree murder.
Uthmeier directed prosecutors last year to reopen the investigation into the February 24, 1996, attack on aircraft operated by Brothers to the Rescue, a Miami-based organization that searched for Cuban migrants in distress. The group also flew missions supporting Cuban pro-democracy activists.
According to the arrest affidavit, the former leader was Cuba’s defense minister and first vice president at the time and was a final decision-maker in the military chain of command that authorized the shootdown.
The affidavit alleges that he gave senior military officials standing orders: “Fine, shoot them down at sea when they show up, and those who have the authority are not to consult anyone.”
Cuban intelligence agents operating in Miami-Dade and Monroe counties as part of the Wasp Network infiltrated Brothers to the Rescue and sent flight information to Havana, according to the affidavit. Prosecutors allege that the intelligence supported an operation called Operation Scorpion.
On the day of the attack, three unarmed Cessna aircraft departed Opa-locka Airport in Miami-Dade County. Cuban MiG fighter jets fired air-to-air missiles at two of the planes over international waters, destroying them and killing Carlos Costa, Pablo Morales, Mario de la Peña and Armando Alejandre Jr.
The affidavit says both aircraft were flying away from Cuba and received no warning, despite being in contact with Havana air traffic control. A third aircraft escaped after Cuban fighters pursued it, according to the earlier federal indictment.
State prosecutors say the collection and transmission of flight information in Miami-Dade and Monroe counties establish that parts of the alleged conspiracy occurred in Florida. OSP will handle the case because it involves alleged criminal activity across multiple judicial circuits.
The federal indictment unsealed in Miami in May charged the former Cuban leader and five other men with offenses including conspiracy to kill U.S. nationals, destruction of aircraft and murder.
Responding to those federal charges in May, Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel called the prosecution a political action “without any legal basis.” He said Cuba acted in “legitimate defense” after repeated violations of its airspace, which he said U.S. officials had been warned about.
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Ella Rae Greene, Editor In Chief
