MIAMI — A Miami-Dade judge has signed a state arrest warrant for former Cuban leader Raúl Castro, 95, over the 1996 shootdown of two Brothers to the Rescue planes. Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier announced the warrant Monday at a news conference in Miami.
The warrant is a no-bond state warrant for conspiracy to commit first-degree murder. A judge found probable cause. Reports say it was signed Friday, October 16.
NBC Miami identifies the judge as Ariana Fajardo Orshan of the Eleventh Judicial Circuit.
The charge stems from the February. 24, 1996, shootdown of two unarmed planes flown by the Miami-based exile group during a humanitarian patrol over international waters.
Four men were killed: Armando Alejandre Jr., Mario de la Peña, Pablo Morales and Carlos Costa. Reports describe three of them as U.S. citizens and one as a legal resident.
According to the warrant, the plan to shoot down the aircraft moved through Cuba’s chain of command, with Raúl and Fidel Castro as the final decision-makers.
Raúl Castro was Cuba’s defense minister at the time.
The warrant also alleges a conspiracy on Florida soil. It says conspirators passed flight data to Cuban authorities and surveilled Naval Air Station Key West, which gives Florida jurisdiction. Reports on the investigation add that Cuban intelligence agents infiltrated the group.
A Second Case
The state warrant is separate from the federal case. On May 20, the U.S. Justice Department indicted Castro and five others, all alleged Cuban pilots and military personnel, on four counts of murder, two counts of destruction of aircraft and conspiracy to kill U.S. nationals.
Uthmeier reopened the state investigation in March, and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement led it.
The Office of Statewide Prosecution will take over the multi-circuit case. If Castro is arrested outside Florida, the state says it will seek his full extradition. Castro has not been reported arrested, and the Cuban government rejects the U.S. prosecution.
Reaction
Rep. Carlos Giménez (R-Fla.), the only Cuban-born member of Congress, welcomed the news on X at 10:29 a.m., stating:
“Our community has been waiting for this day for decades!” he wrote. He called Castro “a war criminal” who “must be held accountable for his countless crimes against humanity and role in the murder of innocent Americans.”
