The journalist Wilfredo Cancio Isla revealed on August 20, 2006, in El Nuevo Herald, a recording in which Raúl Castro takes responsibility for giving the order to shoot down the planes of Brothers to the Rescue. This order was ultimately carried out, and two aircraft fell into the sea on February 24, 1996. Four civilians aboard them died.
In the program Transición en Cuba, Cancio Isla explained the origin and scope of that recording, which twenty years after its publication serves as evidence in a formal criminal charge from the U.S. Department of Justice against the former Cuban president.
The audio features Raúl Castro stating that there are five individuals authorized to shoot down the planes, as Cancio Isla emphasized, noting that this should not be confused with other recordings that have circulated regarding the case.
The journalist described the content as "practically a confession, a confessional proof," because in it, Castro "assumes his central responsibility in the downing of the planes and how that act was planned."
The recording lasts 11 minutes and 32 seconds and was made during a meeting that Raúl Castro held on June 21, 1996 at the headquarters of the Communist Party in the province of Holguín. Journalists from Radio Rebelde were present, covering his visit to the area.
That day also included a lunch at the Birán House Museum and a dinner with the press. In fact, the technical staff of Radio Rebelde captured the recording.
The audio left Cuba through an unspecified channel and was placed in the custody of Nancy Pérez Crespo, director of the Nueva Prensa Cubana agency in Miami.
When Fidel Castro's illness was announced on July 31, 2006, the source that had sent the material from Cuba felt it was time to make it public and requested that it be handed over to Cancio Isla.
"When I had this audio in my hands in the early days of August 2006, the perspective was that it was top-notch informative content and that it was important to turn it into public information," the journalist recounted.
The director of El Nuevo Herald, Humberto Castaño, then ordered him to abandon all his projects and dedicate himself exclusively to verifying and publishing the story.
The audio authentication included consultations with voice analysis specialists and verification with two photographs published in 1996 from the meeting in Holguín and in Birán. The voice of Raúl Castro was also identified by Alcibíades Hidalgo, his former personal secretary.
In the audio, Castro states: "I said to try to take them down over the territory... Well, take them down in the sea when they appear."
Cancio Isla insisted that his role was exclusively journalistic. "My contribution was strictly from the journalistic profession and from an informative obsession to reveal something that was not known. The role this plays afterward corresponds to the authorities."
On May 20, 2026, the U.S. Department of Justice filed criminal charges against Raúl Castro and five other Cuban military officials for the downing of the aircraft. They are accused of conspiracy to assassinate U.S. citizens, four counts of murder, and two counts of destruction of aircraft.
The four victims of the attack were Armando Alejandre Jr., Carlos Costa, Mario de la Peña, and Pablo Morales, whose families received a civil settlement of 187 million dollars in a subsequent lawsuit in the U.S.
The accusation is based on over 10,000 pages of declassified FBI documents, the so-called "Operation Venice" —planned since February 13, 1996— and the audio released by Cancio Isla.
Filed under: