{"id":767,"date":"2026-05-20T20:05:42","date_gmt":"2026-05-20T20:05:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/southfloridamovingguides.com\/?p=767"},"modified":"2026-05-20T20:05:42","modified_gmt":"2026-05-20T20:05:42","slug":"u-s-indicts-raul-castro-over-1996-fatal-shootdown-of-brothers-to-the-rescue-planes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/southfloridamovingguides.com\/?p=767","title":{"rendered":"U.S. indicts Ra\u00fal Castro over 1996 fatal shootdown of Brothers to the Rescue planes"},"content":{"rendered":"
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MIAMI \u2014 During an event on Wednesday at the Freedom Tower in downtown Miami, Acting U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanch announced there was a warrant for Ra\u00fal Castro\u2019s arrest after an indictment. <\/p>\n

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Leer en espa\u00f1ol<\/p>\n

For the fatal 1996 shootdown of two Brothers to the Rescue planes, the indictment charged Castro, 94, with conspiracy to kill U.S. nationals, two counts of destruction of aircraft, and four counts of murder. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe United States and President Trump does not and will not forget its citizens,\u201d Blanch said during the announcement.<\/p>\n

RELATED VIDEOS<\/b>: Watch the speeches during Raul Castro indictment announcement at Freedom Tower <\/p>\n

The indictment also charges five co-defendants \u2014 Lorenzo Perez, Emilio Palacio, Jose Gual, Raul Simanca, and Luis Gonzalez \u2014 with conspiracy to kill U.S. nationals, two counts of destruction of aircraft, and four counts of murder. <\/p>\n

\u201cThey have been looking for this moment for 65 years,\u201d Trump said on Wednesday about Cubans and Cuban Americans in Miami. <\/p>\n

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Castro was accused of ordering the Cuban Air Force shootdown of two Brothers to the Rescue Cessna 337 Skymasters that had departed from the Opa Locka Executive Airport at about 3:20 p.m. on Feb. 24, 1996. <\/p>\n

Carlos Costa and Pablo Morales were in the Cessna 337C, and Mario De La Pe\u00f1a and Armando Alejandre were in the Cessna 337B \u2014 both planes were registered in the U.S., records show.<\/p>\n

RELATED DOCUMENT<\/b>: Read the 20-page indictment <\/p>\n

\u201cFor 30 years, their families waited for answers. This FBI never forgot,\u201d FBI Director Kash Patel wrote in a statement released on X. <\/p>\n

Air-to-air missiles fired from Cuban Air Force MiG-29 fighter jets hit both planes \u2014 killing Alejandre, 45; Costa, 29; and De la Pe\u00f1a, 24, who were U.S. citizens; and Morales, 29, a U.S. resident, records showed. <\/p>\n

\u201cBoth Cessna aircraft broke up in the air from the explosions of the missiles, the wreckage impacted the sea and sank,\u201d according to the International Civil Aviation Organization\u2019s report.<\/p>\n

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Related document<\/b>: Inter-American Commission on Human Rights 1999 report <\/p>\n

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