Florida issues arrest warrant for Raul Castro over 1996 shootdown

State warrant issued

Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier announced Monday that state authorities had secured an arrest warrant for former Cuban President Raul Castro regarding the 1996 downing of two civilian aircraft. The legal document accuses Castro of conspiracy to commit first-degree murder in connection with the Feb. 24, 1996, incident involving planes flown by Brothers to the Rescue, a Miami-based Cuban exile organization.

"Raul Castro ordered the premeditated, state-sanctioned murder of four Floridians in cold blood," Uthmeier said in a post on US social media company X. Chief Judge Ariana Fajardo Orshan of Florida's 11th Judicial Circuit Court signed the document, ordering that Castro be held without bond. Florida's Office of Statewide Prosecution obtained the warrant after investigators reopened the case last year at Uthmeier's direction, according to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.

1996 shootdown deaths

On Feb. 24, 1996, Cuban fighter jets downed two unarmed Cessna planes operated by the group over international waters, killing Carlos Costa, Pablo Morales, Mario de la Pena and Armando Alejandre Jr. The planes had departed from Opa-Locka Airport in Miami-Dade County and were flying away from Cuban territory, according to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. Havana maintained that the planes had violated Cuban airspace, while US authorities insisted the aircraft were over international waters.

Federal charges and diplomatic rift

Castro, 95, led Cuba as president from 2008 to 2018, succeeding his brother Fidel Castro. The state prosecution follows a federal indictment announced in May against Castro concerning the same events, with federal charges including conspiracy to kill US nationals and destruction of aircraft. Florida authorities stated that the investigation remains ongoing as they pursue accountability for the deaths.