The Republican congressman from Florida Mario Díaz-Balart stated on Wednesday in Miami that it should not be ruled out that former Cuban leader Raúl Castro could face formal criminal charges in the United States in the future, related to the downing of two planes from the organization Brothers to the Rescue that occurred on February 24, 1996, an event that Washington classified as happening in international airspace and resulted in four deaths.
During a press conference, reported by Telemundo 51, Díaz-Balart maintained that, in his opinion, the order to shoot down the plane came from Raúl Castro himself, and emphasized that “murder does not expire,” referring to the possibility that the case may be reviewed again.
"Don't be surprised if this is reviewed again and if a formal accusation reemerges, not even for narcoterrorism, but for the murder of Americans," he said.
The representative noted that the case was "basically shelved" during the administration of then-President Bill Clinton, but insisted that the absence of a statute of limitations for the crime of murder opens the door to a reconsideration of the file.
In this context, he recalled that, as he stated, the Cuban regime "murdered three American citizens and one American resident" in the 1996 incident.
The conference was called by Díaz-Balart and Congressman Carlos Giménez, with the participation of the Assembly of the Cuban Resistance and other exile organizations.
During the meeting, the lawmakers announced that they will request the government of President Donald Trump to suspend all flights to Cuba and the sending of remittances to the island, as part of a series of measures against the Cuban regime, which Díaz-Balart described as "a cancer in our hemisphere."
Díaz-Balart stated that "the situation of the regime in Cuba" is one of weakness and that there are other pressure actions that the United States "could adopt" and, he said, "will be taken."
He added that, in his view, "the solution is not to extend the regime, but to eliminate those dictatorships," and he expressed words of gratitude to the Cuban exile community for keeping "this cause always alive," as well as to the people of Cuba for their suffering.
He acknowledged that difficult times might be ahead, but he defended that the actions aim for one goal: for Cubans to "be able to live in dignity and freedom," linking that objective with prosperity.
"He could be prosecuted for the murder of Americans."
For his part, Giménez compared the pressure applied against Venezuela with what —he said— could happen in Cuba, and stated that "all options are on the table."
In his remarks, he revisited the case of the downed airplanes and stated that, at that time, the Department of Justice was working to prosecute Raúl Castro “for the murder of Americans,” but that the matter was “shelved” by Bill Clinton.
"Murder does not have a statute of limitations under United States law," he said, noting that the Department of Justice would only need to review the existing work, update it, and that "it should be no surprise to anyone" if the case "comes up again."
Giménez added that, if the case were to be reactivated, Raúl Castro could go from being "a so-called head of State" —who, he said, "was never elected" and "has no legitimacy"— to becoming someone "facing charges in the United States for the murder of Americans."
In addition to the measures announced regarding Havana, Díaz-Balart indicated that actions are being considered related to third countries.
Among them, as mentioned at the conference, Giménez stated that he will ask the government of Mexico, led by President Claudia Sheinbaum, to stop sending oil to Cuba.
Díaz-Balart concluded his speech with an optimistic message about the political future of the island: "We have never been closer to freedom for Cuba," he stated.
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