The Florida Attorney General warned this Monday that new charges could be filed in the investigation against Raúl Castro for his alleged involvement in the downing of two aircraft from Hermanos al Rescate, which occurred on February 24, 1996, over international waters and resulted in the deaths of four men.
The warning appears in the official statement issued by Attorney General James Uthmeier, which announces a state arrest warrant against the dictator Raúl Castro Ruz on a charge of conspiracy to commit first-degree murder.
"The case remains active and additional charges could be filed," stated the Prosecutor's Office at the end of its communication.
For now, the arrest warrant includes one state charge of conspiracy to commit first-degree murder, pursuant to sections 777.04(3) and 782.04(1)(a)1 of the Florida Statutes.
The Prosecutor's Office clarified that the offense is classified as a first-degree felony and that the court ordered the warrant to be issued without bail.
The document was signed by Ariana Fajardo Orshan, Chief Judge of the Eleventh Judicial Circuit of Florida.
Uthmeier publicly presented the judicial action on Monday during a press conference at the College of Law of Florida International University (FIU).
According to reported by Local 10, the Attorney General was emphatic when referring to the 1996 attack: "What happened was not an accident; it was a murder," he stated.
The victims were Carlos Costa, Pablo Morales, Mario de la Peña, and Armando Alejandre Jr, who were piloting two civilian aircraft from Hermanos al Rescate, an organization founded in Miami in 1991 to locate and assist Cuban migrants in danger at sea.
De la Peña was 24 years old; Costa and Morales were 29; and Alejandre was 45 when their lives were cut short by the downing of the planes.
In his official statement, Uthmeier directly accused Castro Ruz of having ordered the attack.
Raúl Castro ordered the cold-blooded assassination of four Floridians, and Florida will never stop demanding accountability for that communist conspiracy," said the Attorney General, according to a translation of his words.
The official also stated that Cuban intelligence agents operated in communities in Florida, sent information to Havana, and helped target civilian pilots for the MiG fighters.
"Thirty years later, we continue to fight for justice for Carlos Costa, Pablo Morales, Mario de la Peña, and Armando Alejandre Jr.," he added.
The new judicial action is the result of an investigation that Uthmeier ordered to reopen after taking office in 2025, which involves the Office of State Processing (OSP) and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE).
The reactivation of the case was publicly announced last March, when the prosecutor explained that the authorities would resume investigations to determine potential criminal responsibilities for the downing of the planes.
According to the sworn statement described by the Prosecutor's Office, Castro Ruz, then Minister of the Revolutionary Armed Forces (MINFAR) and First Vice President of Cuba, was said to be one of those responsible for the final decision within the chain of command that authorized the shooting down.
The authorities attribute prior instructions to senior military officials for the aircraft to be shot down at sea without the need for further consultation.
The sworn statement also indicates that agents of the Cuban Intelligence Directorate, members of the so-called Wasp Network, operated in Miami-Dade and Monroe counties.
According to the Prosecutor's Office, the agents infiltrated Brothers to the Rescue, gathered and transmitted information about their flight plans, and supported the so-called Operation Scorpion, linked to the preparation of the attack.
On February 24, 1996, three unarmed Cessna civilian airplanes took off from Opa-locka Airport in Miami-Dade.
After crossing south of the 24th parallel, in an area outside Cuban territorial waters, two of the aircraft were destroyed by MiG military planes using air-to-air missiles.
The four occupants of the two aircraft that were hit died.
The state statement maintains that both aircraft were departing from Cuba and did not receive warnings before being shot down, despite having maintained contact with the Havana air traffic control.
One of the central elements of the state procedure is the alleged involvement of intelligence agents from Florida.
According to the Prosecutor's Office, the sworn declaration identifies activities related to the collection and transmission of information about flights, as well as intelligence directives, that took place in the Eleventh Judicial Circuit, pertaining to Miami-Dade, and the Sixteenth Judicial Circuit, pertaining to Monroe.
The State Processing Office will assume jurisdiction over the alleged organized criminal conspiracy that spanned both judicial circuits.
Michael Stein, special agent in charge of the FDLE, emphasized that the agency has taken the lead role in the investigation and that the passage of time does not diminish its commitment to clarifying the case.
“The passage of time does not diminish the pursuit of justice,” Stein stated in the official statement.
The new state order comes five months after the United States Department of Justice announced an expanded federal indictment against Raúl Castro Ruz and five others for their alleged involvement in the same events.
On May 20th, the federal prosecutor's office for the Southern District of Florida reported seven charges: one for conspiracy to murder American citizens, two for destruction of aircraft, and four for homicide.
In addition to Castro Ruz, the following Cuban military personnel are also accused in this federal proceeding: Lorenzo Alberto Pérez Pérez, Emilio José Palacio Blanco, José Fidel Gual Barzaga, Raúl Simanca Cárdenas, and Luis Raúl González-Pardo Rodríguez.
The federal indictment identifies four victims, three of whom were U.S. citizens. Pablo Morales was a legal resident in the United States.
The federal prosecutor Jason A. Reding Quiñones supported the actions announced this Monday by Florida and defended the possibility of developing parallel state and federal procedures.
"Our historic federal indictment laid the groundwork, and James and his team have now taken the significant step of filing charges under Florida law," stated Reding.
The official stated that federal authorities will continue to use the available legal avenues to seek accountability for the downing of the aircraft.
Miami-Dade Sheriff Rosie Cordero-Stutz also participated in the announcement and recalled the suffering of the victims' families over the past three decades.
"For thirty years, their families and our Cuban-American community have borne this deep loss and have refused to let the pursuit of justice fade away," he stated.
Cordero-Stutz believed that the state order represents an important step in the efforts to demand accountability for the deaths of the four members of Hermanos al Rescate.
This Monday, it was revealed that a Miami judge signed the arrest warrant against Raúl Castro Ruz, in an action independent of the federal process.
It was also reported that Florida would seek his extradition if he were arrested outside the state, in accordance with the provisions of the judicial process.
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