Florida has obtained a state arrest warrant for former Cuban leader Raúl Castro on a no-bond charge of conspiracy to commit first-degree murder in connection with the 1996 shootdown of Brothers to the Rescue aircraft.
The warrant, issued in Miami-Dade County, directs law enforcement to immediately arrest Castro and states that a judge has found probable cause to believe he conspired to commit first-degree murder in connection with the deaths of four men aboard the unarmed civilian aircraft. The victims were Carlos Costa, Pablo Morales, Mario de la Peña, and Armando Alejandre Jr.
According to the warrant, investigators allege that in 1996, the Castro regime's foreign intelligence service planned to shoot down Brothers to the Rescue aircraft and kill their occupants, with Raúl Castro and his brother, former Cuban leader Fidel Castro, as the final decision-makers. The warrant includes a statement from Raúl Castro, made months after the incident, in which he recounts orders he gave to senior military leaders to shoot down the aircraft.
Raúl Castro, now 95, has been charged in a separate federal prosecution over the shootdown, and the Cuban government has rejected the U.S. prosecution, maintaining that Brothers to the Rescue repeatedly violated Cuban airspace and that Cuba acted in defense of its sovereignty.
The Florida Attorney General's Office, which reopened the state's investigation into Castro after taking office, is expected to announce the new arrest warrant alongside Governor Ron DeSantis at a press conference on Monday morning.
NTC Report coverage is based on reporting from the original publisher.
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