Thirty years after planes flown by nonprofit Brothers to the Rescue were shot down, South Florida lawmakers say they’re calling on the U.S. to indict Raúl Castro, former leader of the Cuban regime and brother of Fidel Castro.
U.S. Reps. Mario Díaz-Balart (FL-26), María Elvira Salazar (FL-27), and Carlos A. Giménez (FL-28) were joined by family members of the victims and members of the Cuban American community on Thursday to honor the lives lost and renew calls for accountability.
The group Brothers to the Rescue were on a humanitarian mission over the Florida Straits on Feb. 24, 1996, when their two Cessna planes were shot down upon an order from the Cuban government. Their planes were taken down by a Cuban MiG-29 in international airspace, though Cuba claimed they were violating Cuban airspace.
According to the release, the South Florida legislators and U.S. Rep. Nicole Malliotakis (NY-11) sent a letter to President Trump last week asking for the indictment based on Castro’s “involvement in the 1996 shootdown of the Brothers to the Rescue civilian aircraft which resulted in the cold-blooded murder of four individuals, including American citizens.”