Raul Castro indictment brings back history of Cuba's downing of U.S. civilian planes
Category: News & Politics
Via: perrie-halpern • 6 months ago • 34 commentsBy: Carmen Sesin (NBC News)
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
May 20, 2026, 5:54 PM EDTBy Carmen Sesin
MIAMI — Families of four Cuban exiles who were killed in 1996 when the Cuban military shot down their civilian planes said Wednesday's indictment of former Cuban President Raul Castro was a long time coming.
"I hope it's justice for my dad and for the other three men. We have waited 30 years to the day," said Marlene Alejandre, who attended the indictment's announcement. She was 18 when her father, Armando Alejandre, was killed.
The indictment of Castro, who will be 95 next month, and five other Cuban nationals brings to the forefront a three-decade-old incident that roiled the international community and continues to profoundly affect U.S.-Cuba relations to this day.
Here's a brief look at what took place then.
Mirta Costa Mendez next to an image of her late brother, Carlos Costa, one of the men killed when the Brothers to the Rescue planes were shot down in 1996. Melisa Chantres, right, is his niece.Erika Angulo / NBC News
The civilian planes Cuba shot down belonged to Brothers to the Rescue, a group founded in 1991 by Cuban American pilot Jose Basulto and other U.S.-based Cuban exiles who were strongly opposed to the Cuban government. Basulto has said he participated in the botched Bay of Pigs invasion in 1961, which was sponsored by the CIA with the aim of ousting Fidel Castro.
Brothers to the Rescue operated search-and-rescue flights over the Florida Straits. In the early 1990s, communist-run Cuba was in a deep economic crisis following the collapse of the Soviet Union, which had heavily subsidized it for decades. There were extreme shortages of food and medicine, and thousands of Cubans were taking to the seas in dangerous makeshift boats and rafts trying to reach the U.S.
In 1994, Cuba and the U.S. signed an immigration agreement, and a subsequent "wet foot, dry foot" policy in 1995 sent Cubans back to the country if they were caught at sea, which helped stem the massive exodus. But Cubans still routinely tried to leave the country.
Brothers to the Rescue routinely flew small planes over the waters trying to spot fellow Cubans so they could alert the U.S. Coast Guard to assist them. But it also sometimes penetrated Cuban airspace, according to declassified U.S. records that cite an official warning from the Federal Aviation Administration about the group's "taunting" of the Cuban government. The declassified records also note that the Cuban government had protested Brothers to the Rescue flights that flew over Cuba and dropped anti-government leaflets.
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On Feb. 24, 1996, three Cessnas took off from Miami. During their mission, a Cuban MiG-29 shot down two of them in international airspace.
Cuba has said the planes were violating Cuban airspace. Reports from the United Nations' International Civil Aviation Organization and the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights disagreed, concluding the Brothers to the Rescue planes were still in international airspace when they were shot down.
According to the U.N.'s report, "Cuba acted without using standard interception procedures" when it shot down the planes, resulting in the deaths of Alejandre, Carlos Alberto Costa, Mario Manuel de la Pena and Pablo Morales.
The men, according to the U.N. aviation organization, "died as a consequence of direct actions taken by agents of the Cuban State in international airspace."
In an interview with Time magazine in 1996, Fidel Castro said he ordered his military to shoot down planes violating Cuban airspace.
Afterward, President Bill Clinton swiftly condemned Cuba's actions.
Instead of launching strikes on Cuban military bases, Clinton opted to support a bill to impose much tougher restrictions on Cuba.
"It wasn't gathering sponsors because it was considered too extreme and there wasn't any real interest in Congress in moving it along," said Ricardo Herrero, executive director of the Cuba Study Group, a nonpartisan group. "After the shootdown, there was a huge public uproar, and Clinton felt he had to act."
The House and the Senate passed the Cuban Liberty and Democratic Solidarity (LIBERTAD) Act, also known as the Helms-Burton Act, and Clinton signed it into law.
The law has repercussions to this day, since it turned the sanctions into U.S. law. Now, only Congress can lift the restrictive embargo against Cuba and only if a series of conditions are met, including establishment of "a transition government."
The Helms-Burton law also allowed the original owners of Cuban properties confiscated by Castro to sue the companies that are using them in U.S. courts. That part of the law had not been enforced until 2019 by President Donald Trump.
Some lawsuits have been settled out of court recently, including suits against the shipping companies Crowley Maritime and SeaBoard Marine.
Cuba's top leadership had not been indicted over the shootdown. In 1998, five Cuban intelligence agents known as the "Cuban 5" were arrested and convicted on charges including conspiracy and failing to register as foreign agents. One of them, Gerardo Hernandez, was convicted of a murder conspiracy for having provided information to the Cuban government about the Brothers to the Rescue planes and had been serving two life sentences plus 15 years.
During President Barack Obama's rapprochement with Cuba in 2014, the five spies were released in exchange for a Cuban spy who had worked with the U.S. for 20 years.
Nancy Morales, the sister of Pablo Morales, was still living in Cuba when he was shot down. She found out when a friend living in the U.S. called her. Morales told NBC News the period following the planes' shootings were torturous because she was harassed by pro-government mobs. It lasted until she and her daughter were able to come to the U.S. a few months later.
On Wednesday, they drove two hours from their Florida home to attend the event at Miami's Freedom Tower, where the indictments were announced. It is considered a symbolic place for Cuban Americans who left the communist country.
"I have always waited for this moment, and I'm very hopeful," Morales said. "I hope the people of Cuba can have liberty very soon and that we can enjoy a free Cuba."
Mirta Costa Mendez, the sister of Carlos Costa, said, "I've been waiting 30 years for this."
She said she does not know how she would feel if Castro were extradited, because in the end "nothing is going to bring my brother back."
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Is this so different from Trump's administration blowing up boats in international waters?
Were the 3 Cessnas delivering drugs that could kill the Cuban people?
There is absolutely no evidence that the boats were carrying drugs.
No, they were aiding and abetting Cuban citizens, illegally leaving Cuba, who were illegally trying to emigrate the USA.
Many were reportedly criminals.
As for the USNavy pilots and drone operators who wantonly killed South American fisherman and privateers in international waters in the Atlantic, the Caribbean and Pacific;
I hope they are treated fairly in the World Court when families from those SA nations come a knocking for the same legal payback.
Admiralty law does not favor the US approach.
Yup that was the Communist regimes explanation.
And if so, they should have been arrested if within their nation's territory, not blown out of the sky, so there is no justification for shooting down those planes. With that said, blowing up people on boats that aren't even in that nations waters without actually verifying any criminal activity taking place is far more criminal, so I hope whoever made that decision gets indicted as well someday.
And?
And I caught you yesterday.
Really? please do explain.
There was to the Cuban government. Our FAA tried to get the "Brothers" to dial it back "or else". The FAA predicted this to the "Brothers"..
Whatever International Court said it was justified due to a pattern of violations of Cuban airspace and leaflet dropping of anti government, anti Commie leaflets.
The pilots ignored Cuban Air Traffic Control and the Mig pilots once too many times.
Play with fire...get burned
or what is the new MAGA saying? Fuck Around, Find Out?
You don't understand the difference between a humanitarian mission and drug running?
so where's the drugs they were running?
You don't think ICE or US Border Patrol shoot at "humanitarian assistance " to illegals crossing the southern border?
As I said above, we have done far worse throughout the Oceans surrounding South & Central America unilaterally executing suspected drug runners including many empty vessels without any proof, without any jurisdiction.
Can't really cry when someone fights back.
"We have done far worse than the Castroite regime..."
But don't ever accuse progressives of being anti-american........
Why didnt Trump indict this 95 year old man back in his first administration when Castro was merely in his middle 80's ?
When will Putin be indicted by our DOJ for the American soldiers killed in the cold war when he was working for the KGB or for all the assassinations outside Russia since he took power?
I guess I won't hold my breath. Am I shocked by the monumental amount of hypocrisy on display from Trump supporters? Of course not, this is just par for the course.
Maybe not for standard spyfare, but Putin is already indicted for war crimes ( so is former POTUS Bush )
it doesn't seem to hinder them much at all.
While true, neither of those indictments came from our own DOJ which is the glaring difference and obvious display of hypocrisy from rightwing conservatives which is what I was pointing out. I have no doubt Trump will be added to the ICC war crime list eventually, but the ICC is essentially a paper tiger.
Specifically, which American civilians did Putin order to be killed?
The DOJ has evidence of Castro ordering the shootdown of civilian planes over the radio. Make an apples to apples case.
It is rather interesting that some are apparently so desperate they're defending a human piece of garbage that is obviously guilty of war crimes, crimes against humanity, hates America, hates democracy and is laughing at the dumb fucks gullible enough to buy all the lies he fed poorly educated rightwing conservatives to help his 'Trump-pet' win the election.
Putin is likely the first person on earth to be blown by a Trump-pet.
Because the International Civil Air Court already exonerated the Cuban government 30 years ago.
They were in Cuban airspace, apparently not on the Cuban flight frequency and ignore the two MiGs.
They were constantly dropping leaflets on or near havanna.
The FAA had warned the "brothers" to cease or desist before they get shot down.
The Brothers thought it would begin a revolution if they did.
They were wrong.
Pure propaganda that completely misrepresents the facts:
.
So there are two versions of what happened, big deal.
Cuba told them repeatedly to stop fucking around or find out.
They found out, you can only taunt the evil commies so many times.
He got four of his besties killed and still thinks it wasn't his fault.
Happy memorial day to them.
Watching progressives whine because a Castro was indicted....
Good stuff.
I'm not whining. I think its pretty pathetic that Trump is going to indict Castro as a 95 year old when he could have done it during 2017-2020, but I suppose he didnt need the distraction as much back then.
Maybe Trump is looking for a good candidate for him to fight in a cage match to rile up his rabid base of MMA loving ignorant incel losers.
He wasn't sure he could beat anyone younger.
My money's on Castro
I hope the cubans stencil MAGA on those 400 drones that trump let putin ship past his blockade into havana ...
[✘]
Sorry, but it's the rightwing that has been cozying up with Americas enemies.
But adorable attempt to deflect.
This is called diplomacy.
Many leftists actively root for these same people to get ahead of the US.
Sure they do.
Hasan Piker, one of yours, said the US deserved 9/11.
He roots for the demise of capitalism, roots for communism while getting rich off the capitalist system.
He is only one of many leftists like this
I was cheering on Castro knocking down trmp with one punch. I'm not a lefty and I don;t root for the enemy.