Related videos:
The president of the Florida International University (FIU), Jeanette M. Nuñez, issued an institutional statement on Wednesday in response to the criminal charges filed against Raúl Castro and five co-defendants of the Cuban regime for the murder of four members of the organization Brothers to the Rescue, shot down in 1996, and reaffirmed the university's commitment to supporting a democratic transition in Cuba.
«Today we stand on the threshold of justice and accountability. The charges against Raúl Castro and five co-defendants for the murder of four members of our community come much too late,» Nuñez wrote in the statement dated May 20, 2026.
The four victims —Armando Alejandre Jr., Carlos Costa, Mario de la Peña, and Pablo Morales— were shot down on February 24, 1996 while conducting humanitarian missions to search for Cuban rafters in international airspace, aboard unarmed Cessna planes.
Nuñez highlighted the historical connections between FIU and the families of the four murdered men and noted that the university's College of Law houses the Carlos A. Costa Immigration and Human Rights Clinic, named in honor of one of the victims.
He also emphasized a symbolic coincidence: the federal prosecutor who asserted the charges, Jason Reding Quiñones, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, is the son of a Cuban political refugee and a graduate of the same law school.
"The legacy of the four civilians murdered by the Cuban regime endures, and freedom for the island feels closer than it has at any time since 1959," Nuñez stated.
In this context, the president of FIU announced that the university is ready to support the transition towards a free and democratic Cuba, relying on the Democratic Transition Initiative that the institution presented last Saturday.
This initiative brings together academics and experts in economics, medicine, public health, the environment, education, technology, infrastructure, security, engineering, art, law, governance, and civil society, with the stated aim of guiding Cuba towards freedom.
To this end, FIU will mobilize resources from the Adam Smith Center for Economic Freedom, the Jack D. Gordon Institute for Public Policy, the Steven J. Green School of International and Public Affairs, the Institute for Cuban Studies, FIU's office in Washington D.C., the College of Business, and CasaCuba.
"This work will not be easy. The rebuilding of democratic institutions never is," acknowledged Nuñez in the statement.
The downing of the planes from Brothers to the Rescue gained new momentum in February 2026, marking the 30th anniversary of the crime, with new recordings published by the Miami Herald, and in March, Florida's Attorney General, James Uthmeier, reopened a state investigation into the case.
"We applaud the actions of the Department of Justice and honor the memory of those who have fallen. We firmly believe that the Cuban people deserve a future filled with optimism and opportunities, and we are ready to help build it," concluded Nuñez.
Filed under: