The United States has moved forward with a new judicial and political offensive against the Cuban dictatorship by confirming the indictment of former dictator Raúl Castro for the shooting down of planes from the organization Brothers to the Rescue that occurred in 1996, an episode considered by international organizations as an extrajudicial execution.
The measure represents a significant escalation in the pressure strategy pushed by President Donald Trump against the communist regime in Havana.
The charges against Raúl Castro
According to a senior official from the U.S. administration, the Department of Justice has moved forward with charges related to the airstrike carried out on February 24, 1996, when Cuban military planes shot down two civilian Cessna 337 aircraft operated by the exile group Brothers to the Rescue.
The attack resulted in the deaths of:
Armando Alejandre Jr.
Carlos Costa
Mario de la Peña
Pablo Morales
The bodies of some victims were never recovered in the Florida Straits.
The international investigation pointed to Cuba
Investigations by the International Civil Aviation Organization concluded that the aircraft were shot down outside Cuban airspace, approximately ten nautical miles from the territorial limit.
Additionally, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights classified the episode as an “extrajudicial execution” and directly held the chain of command of the Cuban regime responsible.
The connection with the Wasp Network
After the attack, the FBI dismantled the so-called Wasp Network, a spying structure operated by Cuban intelligence on U.S. territory.
Its leader, Gerardo Hernández, was convicted in 2001 for conspiracy to commit murder after the prosecution demonstrated that the spies alerted the regime about the flights of Brothers to the Rescue.
Hernández was later released in 2014 during the diplomatic agreement pushed by Barack Obama.
Trump intensifies pressure on Havana
The indictment comes amid a tightening of U.S. policy towards Cuba under the Trump administration.
In recent months, Washington:
