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Thirty years after the downing of the Brothers to the Rescue planes, the Cuban exile community in Miami is once again raising a demand that has defined the relationship between Cuba and the United States for decades: that Raúl Castro be prosecuted for the murder of four crew members.
In a commemorative event held in South Florida, several Cuban-American congressmembers joined the families of the victims to remember the attack that took place on February 24, 1996, when two civilian Cessna aircraft were shot down by Cuban fighter jets while carrying out a humanitarian mission in the Florida Strait.
The victims were Mario de la Peña (24 years old), Carlos Costa (30), Armando Alejandre Jr. (45) —American citizens— and Pablo Morales (30), a permanent resident in the United States. Their bodies were never recovered.
Mario's parents, Miriam and Mario, say he was a volunteer pilot for "Hermanos al Rescate," and he carried out humanitarian missions in search of Cuban rafters attempting the dangerous journey in search of an opportunity for freedom.
“ He was a very friendly young man with a very noble character,” said his father to WSVN.
But that mission turned into a disaster. A chilling Cuban military audio captured the moment of the gunfire.
"First shot! We've got it, damn it! We've got it!" said a Cuban military officer in Spanish.
"We have been living with this for 30 years, asking for justice," said Miriam, her voice filled with emotion.
For their part, the legislators argue that there is sufficient evidence to directly accuse General Raúl Castro, who was the Minister of the Armed Forces at the time, of having ordered the attack.
"We have asked the Administration, the president, and the U.S. Attorney General to review the facts and if they find - as we know they will find - the evidence, to prosecute those who ordered the cold-blooded assassination of these individuals," said Mario Díaz Balart, as reported by Telemundo 51.
“It's time to hold Raúl Castro accountable,” wrote Congresswoman María Elvira Salazar on X, who claimed that the four Americans were “deliberately murdered in international airspace by the Cuban regime.”
In the same tone, Congressman Carlos A. Giménez stated that they are “demanding the indictment of dictator Raúl Castro” and described the initiative as a struggle for “freedom and justice.”
The pressure arrives at a time of renewed tensions between Washington and Havana, as exile leaders believe that under the administration of Donald Trump, there is political will to reactivate a process that has been seen as a long-standing debt for years.
For the victims' families, the commemoration was not just a symbolic act, but a painful reminder that, three decades later, they are still waiting for justice for a tragedy that left an open wound in the Cuban community of South Florida.
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