Florida obtains state arrest warrant charging Raúl Castro in 1996 Brothers to the Rescue shootdown

Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier’s office announced Oct. 19 that it had secured a state arrest warrant for former Cuban leader Raúl Castro. The warrant charges one count of conspiracy to commit first-degree murder under sections 777.04(3) and 782.04(1)(a)1, Florida Statutes, in connection with the Feb. 24, 1996, shootdown of two Brothers to the Rescue aircraft, according to the office. Chief Judge Ariana Fajardo Orshan of the 11th Judicial Circuit signed the warrant, and the office said “the court ordered no bond.”¹

The attorney general’s office named the four men killed as Carlos Costa, Pablo Morales, Mario de la Peña and Armando Alejandre Jr.¹

The charge

Section 782.04(1)(a)1 defines first-degree murder as an unlawful killing carried out from a premeditated design to cause death, and classifies it as a capital felony.² Section 777.04(3) makes it a crime to agree, conspire, combine or confederate with another person to commit an offense. Under section 777.04(4)(b), conspiracy to commit a capital felony is a first-degree felony.³

What the warrant affidavit alleges

According to the attorney general’s office, the affidavit supporting the warrant describes Castro, then minister of the Revolutionary Armed Forces and first vice president, as “a final decision-maker in the chain of command that authorized the shootdown.” The office said the affidavit alleges that agents of Cuba’s intelligence directorate in a network that had infiltrated Brothers to the Rescue reported the group’s flight plans, and that parts of the alleged conspiracy took place in the 11th Judicial Circuit, which covers Miami-Dade County, and the 16th, which covers Monroe County.¹ CBS Miami reported that the court documents say Cuban agents also monitored the naval station in Key West.⁴

The office said the Office of Statewide Prosecution will assume jurisdiction over the case with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement leading the investigation, and that Uthmeier directed the investigation reopened last year. The office said the case remains active and that “further charges are possible.”¹

The 1996 shootdown and the federal case

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida announced May 20 the unsealing of a superseding federal indictment charging Castro and five others with conspiracy to kill U.S. nationals, two counts of destruction of aircraft and four counts of murder over the same shootdown. According to that office, the group’s planes had left Opa-locka Airport, and the indictment alleges that Cuban military jets shot down two unarmed Cessna aircraft outside Cuban territory. The federal office said the four men killed were U.S. nationals, three of them U.S. citizens. The federal announcement notes that an indictment is an accusation, and every defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty in court.⁵

The News Service of Florida, in a story published by WGCU, reported that a 2003 federal indictment charged two Cuban military pilots and a general in the shootdown.⁶ U.S. Attorney Jason Reding Quiñones spoke at the Oct. 19 news conference at Florida International University; WUSF reported that he said the state and federal cases are two separate prosecutions under the dual sovereignty principle.⁷

Whether Castro could be arrested

WGCU reported that the state has no plan to take Castro, who is 95, into custody right away, and that Uthmeier said the charges restrict his ability to travel.⁶ WUSF reported that Uthmeier said Castro could face extradition to Florida if he visits some countries.⁷

What the records do not show

• The attorney general’s release does not say on what date the warrant was signed, and the warrant and affidavit themselves were not posted with it.
• The release describes no steps to serve the warrant or seek extradition.
• A warrant is a charge, not a finding of guilt; no court has ruled on the evidence in the state case.