![\"United](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/MIA_2025-01-03AD1041VenezuelaCelebration.JPG\" "\\"United")
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United States Representatives Mario D\u00edaz-Balart speaks as Maria Elvira Salazar and Carlos Gim\u00e9nez hold a joint press conference in Doral, Florida, to discuss the U.S. attack on Venezuela and the capture of Venezuelan leader Nicol\u00e1s Maduro on Saturday, January 3, 2026. <\/p>\n
PHOTO BY AL DIAZ<\/p>\n
adiaz@miamiherald.com<\/p>\n
Miami\u2019s Cuban-American members of Congress pointed Wednesday to the expected federal indictment against Ra\u00fal Castro for the shoot-down of two Brothers to the Rescue plans in 1996 as an ultimatum to the country\u2019s former president: leave now, or expect capture or death.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are sending the message to the Castro family: it\u2019s time for you to leave. It\u2019s time for you to heed the signal from the White House and do not fall into the abyss,\u201d Rep. Mar\u00eda Elvira Salazar told reporters during a press conference in Washington.<\/p>\n
She was standing in front of a poster with a photo of deposed Venezuelan ruler Nicol\u00e1s Maduro with the label \u201cCAPTURED,\u201d a photo of the killed former Iranian leader Ali Khamenei marked \u201cELIMINATED\u201d and a photo of Ra\u00fal Castro stamped \u201cPENDING.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou have the option not to wind up where Maduro is. You can leave now,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
The lawmakers \u2014 speaking ahead of an event at Miami\u2019s Freedom tower in which the Department of Justice was expected to unseal charges<\/a> against Castro \u2014 praised the indictment as justice for the killing of the pilots 30 years ago. \u201cJustice delayed, but at least it\u2019s justice,\u201d Rep. Carlos Gim\u00e9nez said. They stood in front of four additional photos showing the four men killed in the shoot-down \u2014 Armando Alejandre, Jr., Carlos Costa, Mario de la Pe\u00f1a and Pablo Morales.<\/p>\n \u201cThese four individuals are screaming and yelling from their grave for justice. Their families are asking for justice,\u201d Rep. Mario D\u00edaz-Balart said.<\/p>\n He and the other Miami representatives, all Republicans, penned a letter to President Donald Trump in February<\/a> requesting the charges against Castro. Nicole Malliotakis, a Cuban-American representative from New York, also signed the letter and joined them Wednesday in Washington.<\/p>\n They didn\u2019t mince words about the stakes or timing of the indictment amid the escalating U.S. pressure against Cuba. Following the military operation to seize Maduro in Caracas and take him to New York to be prosecuted, they repeated statements from Trump that \u201cCuba is next.\u201d<\/p>\n The indictment \u2014 30 years after the alleged crimes \u2014 could mark the latest potential Department of Justice effort to coincide with U.S. military aims, after the U.S. used federal charges against Maduro as justification for a military raid to capture him.<\/p>\n The question now is whether the Trump administration would do the same to Castro, who turns 95 next month.<\/p>\n If Miami\u2019s members of Congress have a say, the military will play an active role in ensuring Castro faces the charges. The South Florida lawmakers have played an outsize role in pressuring the U.S. to escalate sanctions and economic pressure on Cuba\u2019s leaders.<\/p>\n In Venezuela, \u201cIt was a legal action, but it had to be guarded by U.S. military because Maduro was being surrounded by Cuban security,\u201d D\u00edaz-Balart said Wednesday. \u201cSame is likely, obviously, in Cuba.\u201d<\/p>\n The U.S. recognizes May 20 as Cuban Independence Day, marking the end of the U.S. occupation of Cuba in 1902.<\/p>\n \u201cThe indictment and removal of Maduro sent a clear message to his socialist allies in Havana,\u201d the White House wrote in a message<\/a> reflecting the anniversary. \u201cThis is our Hemisphere and those that destabilize it and threaten the United States will face consequences.\u201d<\/p>\n Cuba\u2019s president, Miguel D\u00edaz-Canel, said on social media<\/a> Monday that military aggression from the United States against Cuba \u201cwould trigger a bloodbath with incalculable consequences\u201d and said the country has an \u201cabsolute and legitimate right to defend itself against a military onslaught.\u201d<\/p>\n The U.S. remains in a drawn-out war with Iran after attacking and killing the country\u2019s leader in February. But when asked about Cuba Tuesday, Trump insisted, \u201cWe\u2019re going to get that solved, it\u2019s not going to be hard for us to solve.\u201d<\/p>\n This story was originally published May 20, 2026 at 11:43 AM.<\/p>\n