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In announcing the federal indictment of Ra\u00fal Castro, Acting U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche traveled to Miami\u2019s Freedom Tower for an invitation-only event before a crowd that included multiple elected officials from Miami-Dade County who were supposed to be in Washington that day for a lobbying trip. They canceled the trip at the last minute, which allowed them to be in Miami for the May 20, 2026, event led by Blanche, who is photographed here next to U.S. Sen. Ashley Moody.<\/p>\n
Pedro Portal<\/p>\n
pportal@miamiherald.com<\/p>\n
Reality Check<\/a> is a Herald series holding those in power to account and shining a light on their decisions. Have a suggestion for a future story? Email our journalists at tips@miamiherald.com.<\/a><\/p>\n On the day the Trump administration announced the indictment of Ra\u00fal Castro<\/a> to a packed house of local political leaders in Miami, Miami-Dade\u2019s mayor and most county commissioners were scheduled to be in Washington, D.C., to lobby for transit funding and other county priorities.<\/p>\n But the mayor and commissioners ended up attending the May 20 Freedom Tower event anyway, thanks to a last-minute cancellation of the two-night D.C. trip for about 30 people.<\/p>\n The county\u2019s accounting staff said the abrupt change in travel plans came from the office of Anthony Rodriguez, chair of the Board of County Commissioners (BCC). It cost taxpayers about $32,000 in nonrefundable hotel stays, catering expenses and ground transportation costs for a trip that didn\u2019t happen.<\/p>\n \u201cI was just advised by the Office of the Chair that due to potential political unrest associated with an announcement about Cuba, the BCC has cancelled their scheduled trip to Washington, D.C.,\u201d Barbara Galvez, chief administrative officer for the Clerk and Comptroller\u2019s Office<\/a>, wrote in a May 19 email to staff that was obtained by the Miami Herald through a request for public records. \u201cThe airfare will be credited however the rooms reserved through a hotel block will not be eligible for reimbursement.\u201d<\/p>\n Why cancel a county D.C. trip? Worries about \u2018civil unrest\u2019 cited<\/p>\n There was no civil unrest tied to the next day\u2019s announcement of a federal indictment<\/a> for the 95-year-old Cuban leader, which had already made headlines days earlier in the Herald<\/a> and other news outlets as the Trump administration began to roll out a criminal case with special appeal in the Cuban American stronghold of Miami.<\/p>\n Rodriguez oversees the county lobbying office that plans the annual county trip to Washington, where elected officials and staff meet with members of Congress and federal administrators about grants Miami-Dade hopes to secure from the White House and Capitol Hill.<\/p>\n A spokesperson for Rodriguez downplayed the chair\u2019s role in canceling the trip, saying each elected official was free to continue with their travel plans even after Rodriguez opted to scratch the Washington schedule for himself and his staff.<\/p>\n \u201cHe made the decision for his office,\u201d said Roberto Rodriguez, deputy director of the commission\u2019s media office, who shares a last name with the commission chair but is not related to him. \u201cEveryone from the mayor\u2019s office to the commissioners made that decision on their own.\u201d<\/p>\n Rodriguez, the County Commission spokesperson, said a major factor in canceling the trip was the belief that many South Florida congressional members would be in Miami for the Trump administration\u2019s event, too. In the end, the three Republican members from the area, each Cuban American, stayed in D.C. and held their own press event on Capitol Hill<\/a>. One of Florida\u2019s two senators, Ashley Moody, did make the trip to Miami.<\/p>\n Miami-Dade commissioners, mayor were there for Castro indictment reveal<\/p>\n The scratched annual \u201cDC Fly-In\u201d trip allowed commissioners and Mayor Daniella Levine Cava to take their seats at the invitation-only event in downtown Miami\u2019s Freedom Tower, where Acting U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche announced the Castro indictment on murder charges tied to the 1996 shootdown<\/a> of two Brothers to the Rescue planes. The audience included family members of the men killed in the aircraft attack by Cuban military jets.<\/p>\n On that day, Levine Cava and commissioners were scheduled to be at a working breakfast with county lobbyists at 8:30 a.m. after arriving in D.C. the night before, then five hours of meetings with House and Senate members and staff.<\/p>\n The next morning, the schedule had two hours blocked off for meetings with representatives from the White House and federal agencies.<\/p>\n Nearly 30 years after the murder of the Brothers to the Rescue heroes, justice is finally moving forward.<\/p>\n On Cuban Independence Day, the United States is officially pursuing charges against Ra\u00fal Castro and members of the Cuban regime for the 1996 shootdown that killed Carlos\u2026 pic.twitter.com\/iIisIB16qz<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Anthony Rodriguez (@CommishArod) May 20, 2026<\/a> <\/p>\n Miami-Dade\u2019s plans to expand rail<\/a> can only work with significant grants from Washington, making transportation a top priority for county lobbyists. Federal funds are also crucial<\/a> for county efforts to prevent beach erosion, improve Miami International Airport, restore coral reefs, reduce flooding, and contribute toward other infrastructure and environmental needs.<\/p>\n To accommodate its delegation for the May lobbying trip, the commission\u2019s Intergovernmental Affairs office in February booked about 30 rooms at the Royal Sonesta on Capitol Hill for May 19 and May 20. The rate was $485 a night, according to expense documentation provided to the Herald through the records request.<\/p>\n A booking list with almost $28,000 worth of rooms included in the expense reports showed nine commissioners with reservations that were canceled \u2014 Rodriguez, plus Commissioners Marleine Bastien, Danielle Cohen Higgins, Oliver Gilbert, Roberto Gonzalez, Vicki Lopez, Kionne McGhee, Natalie Milian Orbis and Raquel Regalado.<\/p>\n Also on the canceled rooms list were Levine Cava and two other elected officials: Elections Supervisor Alina Garcia and Tax Collector Dariel Fernandez. Representatives for Fernandez and Garcia said their offices were never charged for any D.C. rooms on the trip, so no refunds were requested.<\/p>\n Canceled county D.C. trip meant no refunds for hotels, catering, vans<\/p>\n Paperwork from a member of the Intergovernmental Affairs office showed the Sonesta charging $27,692 for the rooms in the days after the canceled trip. The Clerk\u2019s Office said a $1,414 catering bill for coffees, sweets and sodas in a break room in the Capitol\u2019s Cannon Building also was not refundable. About $3,000 in transportation costs for passenger vans and drivers had to be written off as well. That adds up to $32,000.<\/p>\n Expense reports filed by county employees for their nonrefundable trip expenses each cited the same statement justifying the incurred costs: \u201cIn light of recent news concerning Cuba and the potential for related political unrest, the planned trip to Washington, D.C. was canceled as a precautionary measure.\u201d<\/p>\n For nearly thirty years, these families have carried the unbearable weight of loss while waiting for accountability. Today, the indictment of Ra\u00fal Castro marks a historic step toward justice for Carlos Costa, Armando Alejandre Jr., Mario de la Pe\u00f1a, and Pablo Morales, the four\u2026 pic.twitter.com\/Euo7o5WAbQ<\/a><\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/MIA_106RaulCIndictment20NEWPPP.JPG\" "\\"MIA_106RaulCIndictment20NEWPPP.JPG\\"")
The audience at Miami\u2019s Freedom Tower to hear the Trump administration announce the indictment of Ra\u00fal Castro on May 20, 2026, included multiple elected officials from Miami-Dade County. Pedro Portal pportal@miamiherald.com <\/p>\n