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The correspondent for the newspaper ABC at the White House, David Alandete, posted this Monday on his X account that a source in the Washington Department of Justice confirmed to him that this Wednesday it is expected to announce criminal charges in Miami against Raúl Castro for the murder of Cuban-American exiles in a rescue operation.
"A source in the Justice Department in Washington has confirmed to me that on Wednesday, charges are expected to be announced in Miami against Raúl Castro for the homicide of exiles in a rescue operation," Alandete wrote.
The leak aligns with what the Miami Herald reported, citing two sources familiar with the investigation: that a federal grand jury indictment against Castro would be revealed this Wednesday, May 20, at the Freedom Tower in Miami, at an event organized by the Federal Prosecutor's Office for the Southern District of Florida, coinciding with Cuba's Independence Day.
The charges refer to the shooting down of two unarmed Cessna aircraft belonging to the organization Hermanos al Rescate on February 24, 1996, when MiG fighters from the Cuban Revolutionary Air Force shot them down over international waters in the Florida Straits, killing four Cuban Americans: Armando Alejandre Jr., Carlos Costa, Mario de la Peña, and Pablo Morales.
Their bodies were never recovered.
The International Civil Aviation Organization determined that the downing occurred in international airspace, which makes it an illegal act under international law.
The central element of the accusation would be an audio recording from June 1996,
Additionally, Congressman James McGovern stated in December 2014 that Castro himself personally confessed to him: "I gave the order. I am responsible."
Federal Judge James Lawrence King ruled at that time that Cuba acted "in an outrageous disregard for international law and basic human rights" by murdering four individuals in international airspace.
The families of three victims received a civil compensation of 187 million dollars; Cuba refused to pay, but Washington authorized the transfer of 93 million dollars from frozen Cuban assets to the relatives.
The accusation comes after years of pressure from Cuban-American congress members —Rick Scott, Carlos Giménez, Mario Díaz-Balart, and María Elvira Salazar— who formally urged the Department of Justice to prosecute Castro.
In November 2025, the DOJ accused the former Cuban pilot Luis Raúl González-Pardo Rodríguez of immigration fraud for concealing his military history related to the shootdown.
In March 2026, the Florida Attorney General reopened the criminal investigation into the case.
Asked about the possible accusation aboard Air Force One last Thursday, President Donald Trump avoided confirming it: "I'll let the Department of Justice speak on that. But they need help, as you know."
The leader of Brothers to the Rescue, José Basulto, who was piloting the third plane and managed to escape the shooting down, was cautious last Saturday: "I remain skeptical," he stated to Telemundo 51, until an actual criminal charge occurs.
Raúl Castro, who will turn 95 years old in June 2026, still holds the highest formal authority in Cuba as the first secretary of the Communist Party, although he has not served as president since 2018.
Three decades after the crime, the potential criminal charges would arise within the context of the maximum pressure campaign by the Trump administration, which has imposed over 240 new sanctions against Cuban entities and officials since January 2026.
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