The researcher Luis Domínguez, from the project Cuban Repressors, explained in an interview with Tania Costa why the case of the downing of the planes from Hermanos al Rescate took three decades to reach a formal criminal charge, and why the current moment is, in his own words, «a perfect time».
"How have 30 years passed? And it had to be this way," Domínguez responded. "At first, the names of the other three people were not known; initially, the recording of Raúl Castro was not available, even though it was from an event in '96. I believe it was around June '96, during a party meeting in Holguín, but that recording did not come out until 2006."
The recording, recorded on June 21, 1996 in Holguín during a meeting of the Communist Party, captures Raúl Castro stating: "Well, throw them in the sea when they appear; if not, consult those who have the authority." It was not made public until 2006, a decade after the attack that claimed the lives of four Cuban-American activists.
Domínguez outright dismissed the conspiracy theories surrounding the delay: "People love to get caught up in conspiracies about this and that, and honestly, it's ridiculous to do something like that. Things have their own timing."
The researcher identified three factors that now converge and did not exist before: the initial unfamiliarity with the names of all the pilots, the public absence of Raúl Castro's recording, and — the most decisive — the physical presence in U.S. territory of Luis Raúl González-Pardo, identified as the fifth pilot of the attack.
"That this man is here now in the United States, that he participated in that, that he knows who else was beside him, that couldn't be done 30 years ago," he stated.
González-Pardo was sentenced last Wednesday to seven months in prison for immigration fraud in a federal court in Jacksonville, Florida, after concealing his military background upon entering the United States.
On May 20, the Department of Justice declassified a federal indictment that includes him alongside Raúl Castro and three other former Cuban military officials for the 1996 shooting down incident, with charges of conspiracy to murder U.S. nationals and four counts of murder.
The political climate also has an impact, according to Domínguez: "The politics of this country have repercussions. Now there are people involved who are willing to take the step that perhaps they were not ready to take in the past."
The researcher revealed that those who pushed the case are not public figures: “I spoke with the people who promoted this, none of whom were there the other day at the Tower of Liberty. Look, I'm going to tell you, one of them was a pilot. So when you explained this to him, he understood it clearly.”
Domínguez also discussed the potential role of González-Pardo as a cooperating witness, pointing out that the former pilot could confirm not only who participated in the attack but also who gave the orders. "Things happen when they are supposed to happen. And now there are more pieces on the board, don't you think?" he said.
However, his cooperation faces a specific obstacle: “He is at a crossroads. He has a daughter who is traveling in Cuba, who was in the military until not long ago," warned Domínguez, noting that this family vulnerability could influence any agreement with the U.S. prosecutor's office.
The researcher concluded with a reflection that captures the essence of the moment: "It is the combination of factors that came together for everything to work out. God intervened so that this could reach its conclusion."
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