Miami judge issues no-bond arrest warrant for Raúl Castro over 1996 Brothers to the Rescue shootdown

A Miami judge has signed a no-bond arrest warrant for former Cuban president Raúl Castro on a state first-degree-murder conspiracy charge over the 1996 shootdown of two Brothers to the Rescue aircraft.

Chief Judge Ariana Fajardo Orshan of Florida’s 11th Judicial Circuit signed the warrant on Friday, October 16, after an FDLE investigation, per court documents obtained by the Miami Herald and Tampa Bay Times. (USA Today)

Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier announced it Monday at Florida International University in Miami: “Raul Castro called for the planes to be shot down. He called for murder. And that is why today we are announcing state charges against Raul Castro with an arrest warrant for conspiracy to commit first-degree murder.” (Radio Purple)

On February 24, 1996, Cuban MiGs shot down two unarmed Brothers to the Rescue planes over international waters, killing Carlos Costa, Armando Alejandre Jr., Mario de la Peña and Pablo Morales, three of them US citizens.

Prosecutors allege Castro, then Cuba’s defence minister, was a final decision-maker, and that two Cuban spies infiltrated the group in Miami and Key West to relay flight data to Havana, grounding Florida’s jurisdiction claim. (Economic Times)

The state case is the second against Castro, 95, over the shootdown, adding to a May 20 federal indictment of him and five former Cuban military officials on murder, aircraft-destruction and conspiracy charges. Asked about escalation with Cuba, President Donald Trump said: “There won’t be escalation. We won’t have to,” per the Economic Times. (Cuba Headlines)