For nearly three decades, four American families have waited for justice.
On February 24, 1996, Cuban military fighter jets shot down two unarmed civilian Cessna aircraft operated by Brothers to the Rescue, a South Florida humanitarian organization that conducted missions searching for Cuban migrants in distress at sea. The planes were over international waters.
Four men were killed: Carlos Costa, Armando Alejandre Jr., Mario de la Peña, and Pablo Morales.
President Trump’s Department of Justice has unsealed a superseding indictment charging 94-year-old Raul Modesto Castro Ruz and five Castro-regime co-defendants for the shoot-down. The charges include conspiracy to kill U.S. nationals, two counts of destruction of aircraft, and four counts of murder. If convicted, the defendants face a possible maximum penalty of death or life imprisonment on the murder and conspiracy counts.
Federal prosecutors allege that Brothers to the Rescue was a Miami-based humanitarian group that flew unarmed Cessna planes across the Florida Straits to locate Cuban migrants in distress. According to the indictment, Cuban intelligence infiltrated the organization and provided flight operation information to the Cuban government prior to the attack. The indictment states that Cuban military fighter jets, under a chain of command overseen by Raul Castro, fired air-to-air missiles at two unarmed civilian aircraft outside Cuban territory. The pilots had departed from Opa-locka Airport for a planned humanitarian mission and were destroyed without warning.
This attack was an act of premeditated murder against unarmed civilians on a humanitarian mission and stands as one of the most brazen acts of state-sponsored violence against American citizens in the Western Hemisphere. For decades, no charges of this magnitude were brought. The Obama administration normalized relations with Cuba without pursuing accountability for the four dead Americans. President Trump’s Justice Department has sent a clear signal: America will pursue those who kill its citizens, regardless of how powerful the perpetrators believe themselves to be or how much time has passed.
The indictment also notes that the attack followed prior Cuban military training to locate and intercept slow-moving civilian aircraft. The two aircraft, identified by tail numbers N2456S and N5485S, were targeted during a planned flight south of the 24th parallel. Federal prosecutors state that Raul Castro and one co-defendant face up to five years in prison on each aircraft destruction count. However, all defendants remain presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in court.
Justice does not have an expiration date.
