Florida Issues No-Bond Arrest Warrant for Raúl Castro in 1996 Brothers to the Rescue Shootdown

Video: Attorney General James Uthmeier's official YouTube channel, Oct. 19, 2026.

"It was not an accident what happened. It was murder," Uthmeier said at the news conference, according to the video posted by his office. "The evidence makes abundantly clear that there was a conspiracy." He blamed "the communist tyrants that ultimately called in the order," adding: "Raul Castro called for the planes to be shot down. He called for murder. And that is why today we are announcing state charges against Raul Castro with an arrest warrant for conspiracy to commit first-degree murder."

In the written release, Uthmeier said: "Raúl Castro ordered the murder of four Floridians in cold blood, and Florida will never stop pursuing accountability for that communist conspiracy."

The shootdown. Brothers to the Rescue was a Miami-based group that flew unarmed civilian planes over the Florida Straits to look for Cuban migrants at sea. On Feb. 24, 1996, three of its Cessnas left Opa-locka Airport. Cuban MiGs destroyed two of them with air-to-air missiles, killing Carlos Costa, Armando Alejandre Jr., Mario de la Peña and Pablo Morales. The release says both planes had crossed the 24th parallel southbound, "well outside Cuba's territorial waters," were flying away from Cuba and received no warning. The Herald notes that the U.S. and a United Nations investigation both concluded the shootdown happened over international waters. The Justice Department has said three of the four men were U.S. citizens.

What the affidavit alleges. According to the release, Castro, then Cuba's minister of the Revolutionary Armed Forces and first vice president, was a final decision-maker in the chain of command that authorized the attack, and gave senior military leaders standing orders: "Fine, shoot them down at sea when they show up, and those who have the authority are not to consult anyone."

Why Florida says it has jurisdiction. The state's case rests on Cuban intelligence agents of the so-called Wasp Network, who, the affidavit says, infiltrated Brothers to the Rescue in Miami-Dade and Monroe counties, reported flight plans and supported the operation. The release says the collection and transmission of flight data occurred in the Eleventh Judicial Circuit (Miami-Dade) and Sixteenth Judicial Circuit (Monroe). The Herald reports that the affidavit says spies reported on the naval air station in Key West and that the network told its moles not to fly with the group between Feb. 24 and 27.

The federal case. Castro, now 95, already faces federal charges. On May 20, the Justice Department unsealed a superseding indictment charging him and five co-defendants with conspiracy to kill U.S. nationals, four counts of murder and two counts of destruction of aircraft. In the state's release, U.S. Attorney Jason A. Reding Quiñones said the federal indictment "laid the groundwork" and that the administration supports "parallel federal and state prosecutions."

What happens next. Castro lives in Cuba, beyond the direct reach of Florida and federal authorities. Uthmeier's office says the case remains active and further charges are possible. Fajardo Orshan is a former U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Florida appointed by President Trump in his first term, the Herald reports.