A judge in Miami has signed a state arrest warrant with no bail for Raúl Castro, 95 years old, for conspiracy to commit first-degree murder, related to the shooting down of two aircraft belonging to Brothers to the Rescue that occurred on February 24, 1996.
The order was signed last Thursday by Ariana Fajardo Orshan, Chief Judge of the Eleventh Judicial Circuit of Florida, as reported by Telemundo 51.
This Monday, Florida's Attorney General, James Uthmeier, publicly presented the details of the order at a press conference held at Florida International University (FIU), an institution with a strong symbolic connection to Miami's Cuban-American community.
The state order states that, if Castro is found outside the state, the authorities are empowered to seek his return to Florida.
The court documents state that two Cuban agents infiltrated in Brothers to the Rescue — operating in Miami and Key West — collected and transmitted information about the flights and conducted surveillance activities related to the preparation of the attack, which supports state jurisdiction.
This legal action is separate from the federal charges brought by the Department of Justice on May 20, 2026, which accused Castro and five other former Cuban military personnel of seven counts, including four of individual murder and one of conspiracy to kill American citizens.
Since that date, Castro is considered a fugitive from federal justice for failing to appear before the court.
The only defendant currently in U.S. custody is Luis Raúl González-Pardo Rodríguez, a former lieutenant colonel of the Cuban Air Force, transferred to Miami in June 2026 to face federal charges, to which he pleaded not guilty.
The case originated from the downing of two Cessna 337 aircraft over international waters in the Florida Straits. Four men lost their lives: Armando Alejandre Jr., Carlos Costa, Mario de la Peña —American citizens— and Pablo Morales, a legal resident. Their bodies were never retrieved.
Castro was then the Minister of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Cuba. The central piece of evidence against him is an audio recording from June 1996, released in 2006 by journalist Wilfredo Cancio, in which the former dictator acknowledges having given the order. In that recording, he can be heard saying: "Throw them into the sea when they appear; and do not consult those who have the authority."
Uthmeier had reopened the state investigation on March 4, 2026, arguing that the case had been stalled during the previous administration. “We will leave no detail unexamined,” the prosecutor declared at the time.
Although neither the state nor federal orders can be enforced while Castro remains in Cuba, as there is no extradition treaty between the two countries, the process is gaining increasing legal and symbolic weight in the international condemnation of the crimes of the Castro regime.
The press conference this Monday at FIU confirmed that the state order adds a second independent judicial avenue to pursue Castro for the murders of 1996.
Related videos:
Filed under: