THE DAILY BS: HOW MUCH CAN YOU HANDLE?
SPARE ME THE BS (I’ve got things to do).
- Florida has obtained a no-bond arrest warrant charging former Cuban ruler Raúl Castro with conspiracy to commit first-degree murder.
- The case concerns the 1996 shootdown of two unarmed Brothers to the Rescue aircraft that killed four men.
- The new Florida warrant is separate from federal charges announced against Castro in May.
LAY IT ON ME (I’ve got time).
Thirty years after Cuban fighter jets blasted two unarmed civilian aircraft out of the sky, Florida has delivered Raúl Castro a message: The clock may have been running, but the murder case never went away.
Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier has secured a state arrest warrant for the 95-year-old former Cuban dictator, charging him with conspiracy to commit first-degree murder in connection with the February 24, 1996, Brothers to the Rescue shootdown.
And there’s a particularly satisfying detail for anyone who remembers those four Americans: No bond.
The Miami-Dade County warrant directs authorities to arrest Castro immediately if he comes within their reach. Uthmeier and Gov. Ron DeSantis were expected to formally announce the move Monday morning.
The warrant states: “The investigation revealed evidence of a conspiracy to kill persons aboard BTTR aircraft.”
It identifies the four men whose deaths were allegedly the object of that conspiracy: Carlos Costa, Pablo Morales, Mario de la Peña and Armando Alejandre Jr.
These weren’t enemy bombers attacking Havana. They were aboard civilian aircraft operated by Brothers to the Rescue, an organization known for searching the Florida Straits for Cuban migrants in distress and for its anti-Castro activism.
Florida investigators allege that the decision to destroy the aircraft moved through Cuba’s intelligence and military command structure, ultimately involving Raúl Castro and his brother Fidel.
And the newly reported warrant cites some remarkable words attributed to Raúl Castro himself.
In a recorded statement made months after the attack, Castro reportedly described authorizing senior military commanders to act against the aircraft.
“So I said: Fine, shoot them down at sea when they show up, and those who have the authority are not to consult anyone,” Castro said, according to the warrant.
Not exactly the sort of statement a defense lawyer dreams of seeing introduced in court.
The Cuban government has maintained that the aircraft violated Cuban airspace and that its military was defending national sovereignty. But the underlying accusation in the American case concerns the deliberate destruction of unarmed civilian planes and the deaths of four men.
There’s also an important legal distinction here. The Justice Department announced a separate federal indictment against Castro in May. Florida’s new state warrant represents another effort to pursue criminal accountability, not a repeat announcement of those federal charges.
Of course, getting a judge to issue a warrant and getting Raúl Castro into a Florida courtroom are two very different matters. He remains in Cuba, beyond the immediate reach of Florida authorities.
But for the families who have spent three decades waiting for accountability, the new warrant is another reminder that Castro’s retirement doesn’t make those deaths disappear.
DBS WIRE SOURCES (I’ve got all day).
- Fox News — Florida attorney general secures state arrest warrant for Raúl Castro
- Fox News — Earlier federal indictment against Raúl Castro
- Associated Press — Florida’s reopened investigation into the 1996 shootdown
