{"id":11,"date":"2026-05-20T18:17:22","date_gmt":"2026-05-20T18:17:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=11"},"modified":"2026-05-20T18:17:22","modified_gmt":"2026-05-20T18:17:22","slug":"ex-cuba-leader-raul-castro-94-charged-with-murder-conspiracy-to-kill-americans-in-1996-shootdown-of-humanitarian-planes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=11","title":{"rendered":"Ex-Cuba leader Raul Castro, 94, charged with murder, conspiracy to kill Americans in 1996 shootdown of humanitarian planes"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Former Cuban president Raul Castro and five others were indicted for the murder of four US nationals who assisted Cuban refugees in the 1990s, Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche announced Wednesday.<\/p>\n

Read more Frantic good Samaritans tried to save Donike Gocaj, who screamed \u2018I\u2019m dying\u2019 before becoming eerily quiet in NYC manhole<\/a><\/p>\n

Blanche told a news conference in Miami that a federal grand jury handed up the charges against Castro, 94, on April 23 for directing the 1996 shootdown by Cuba\u2019s air force of two planes operated by Brothers to the Rescue, an exile-run humanitarian group.<\/p>\n

The regime\u2019s fighter jets fired air-to-air missiles at two unarmed civilian Cessna aircraft carrying Carlos Costa, Armando Alejandre Jr., Mario de la Pe\u00f1a and Pablo Morales, killing all four.<\/p>\n

Brothers to the Rescue was founded in 1991 to help Cuban migrants \u201cstranded or lost at sea\u201d while attempting to flee the island\u2019s Communist regime, according to the 19-page unsealed indictment.<\/p>\n

Follow The Post\u2019s live coverage of President Trump and national politics for the latest news and analysis<\/strong><\/p>\n

Castro and his co-defendants have been charged with conspiring to kill US nationals, two counts of destruction of aircraft and four counts of murder in the Feb. 24, 1996, shootdown.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor nearly 30 years \u2014 30 years \u2014 the families of four murdered Americans have waited for justice,\u201d Blanche said. \u201cThey were unarmed civilians and were flying humanitarian missions for the rescue and protection of people fleeing oppression across the Florida Straits.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cFor the first time in nearly 70 years, senior leadership of the Cuban regime has been charged in this country \u2026 for acts of violence resulting in the deaths of American citizens,\u201d he added. \u201cNations and their leaders cannot be permitted to target Americans, kill them, and not face accountability.\u201d<\/p>\n

Castro, Lorenzo Alberto Perez\u2011Perez, Emilio Jos\u00e9 Palacio Blanco, Jos\u00e9 Fidel Gual Barzaga, Raul Simanca Cardenas and Luis Raul Gonzalez\u2011Pardo Rodriguez all face up to life in prison or the death penalty upon conviction.<\/p>\n

Read more Pod Force One<\/a><\/p>\n

The Justice Department had previously charged three Cuban military officials for the murders in 2003, but none were extradited.<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

\u201cThis isn\u2019t a show indictment,\u201d Blanche declared. \u201cThere was a warrant\u00a0issued for his arrest.\u00a0So we expect that he will show up here, by his own will or by another way.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rodriguez, 65, is already in US custody ahead of a sentencing hearing scheduled for later this month related to making false statements on an immigration document, per the DOJ.<\/p>\n

Rep. Carlos Gimenez (R-Fla.), who escaped Cuba to the US with his family as a young boy following Fidel Castro\u2019s 1959 revolution, suggested before the press conference that Raul Castro would face a similar fate as Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro or Panamanian leader Manuel Antonio Noriega.<\/p>\n

\u201cDon\u2019t ever make the mistake that somehow Raul Castro is far removed from the politics,\u201d Gimenez also said in the interview on Fox News\u2019 \u201cAmerica Reports\u201d ahead of the announcement.<\/p>\n

The congressman noted that the former Cuban president founded and still leads GAESA, a military-run enterprise that controls at least 40% of the island\u2019s economy, which has helped the Castro family maintain control over the populace.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou cannot deal with this regime,\u201d Gimenez continued. \u201cThere needs to be political change.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more Hello world!<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Blanche at a news conference in Miami noted that a federal grand jury handed up the charges against Castro, 94, on April 23 for directing the Brothers to the Rescue murders of 1996, when Cuba’s air force shot down two planes operated by an exile humanitarian group, killing four.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":10,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics"],"yoast_head":"\nEx-Cuba leader Raul Castro, 94, charged with murder, conspiracy to kill Americans in 1996 shootdown of humanitarian planes - Metro Transit Review<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=11\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Ex-Cuba leader Raul Castro, 94, charged with murder, conspiracy to kill Americans in 1996 shootdown of humanitarian planes - Metro Transit Review\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Blanche at a news conference in Miami noted that a federal grand jury handed up the charges against Castro, 94, on April 23 for directing the Brothers to the Rescue murders of 1996, when Cuba's air force shot down two planes operated by an exile humanitarian group, killing four.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=11\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Metro Transit Review\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-05-20T18:17:22+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/709f64abfcc40912e0b413563125b5ba.webp\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"799\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/webp\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=11#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=11\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7cd7bd9683106710eed62ba5da559b14\"},\"headline\":\"Ex-Cuba leader Raul Castro, 94, charged with murder, conspiracy to kill Americans in 1996 shootdown of humanitarian planes\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-20T18:17:22+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=11\"},\"wordCount\":555,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=11#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/709f64abfcc40912e0b413563125b5ba.webp\",\"articleSection\":[\"Politics\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=11#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=11\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=11\",\"name\":\"Ex-Cuba leader Raul Castro, 94, charged with murder, conspiracy to kill Americans in 1996 shootdown of humanitarian planes - Metro Transit Review\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=11#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=11#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/709f64abfcc40912e0b413563125b5ba.webp\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-20T18:17:22+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7cd7bd9683106710eed62ba5da559b14\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=11#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=11\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=11#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/709f64abfcc40912e0b413563125b5ba.webp\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/709f64abfcc40912e0b413563125b5ba.webp\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":799},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=11#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Ex-Cuba leader Raul Castro, 94, charged with murder, conspiracy to kill Americans in 1996 shootdown of humanitarian planes\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Metro Transit Review\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7cd7bd9683106710eed62ba5da559b14\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Ex-Cuba leader Raul Castro, 94, charged with murder, conspiracy to kill Americans in 1996 shootdown of humanitarian planes - Metro Transit Review","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=11","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Ex-Cuba leader Raul Castro, 94, charged with murder, conspiracy to kill Americans in 1996 shootdown of humanitarian planes - Metro Transit Review","og_description":"Blanche at a news conference in Miami noted that a federal grand jury handed up the charges against Castro, 94, on April 23 for directing the Brothers to the Rescue murders of 1996, when Cuba's air force shot down two planes operated by an exile humanitarian group, killing four.","og_url":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=11","og_site_name":"Metro Transit Review","article_published_time":"2026-05-20T18:17:22+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":799,"url":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/709f64abfcc40912e0b413563125b5ba.webp","type":"image\/webp"}],"author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=11#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=11"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/#\/schema\/person\/7cd7bd9683106710eed62ba5da559b14"},"headline":"Ex-Cuba leader Raul Castro, 94, charged with murder, conspiracy to kill Americans in 1996 shootdown of humanitarian planes","datePublished":"2026-05-20T18:17:22+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=11"},"wordCount":555,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=11#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/709f64abfcc40912e0b413563125b5ba.webp","articleSection":["Politics"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=11#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=11","url":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=11","name":"Ex-Cuba leader Raul Castro, 94, charged with murder, conspiracy to kill Americans in 1996 shootdown of humanitarian planes - Metro Transit Review","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=11#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=11#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/709f64abfcc40912e0b413563125b5ba.webp","datePublished":"2026-05-20T18:17:22+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/#\/schema\/person\/7cd7bd9683106710eed62ba5da559b14"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=11#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=11"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=11#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/709f64abfcc40912e0b413563125b5ba.webp","contentUrl":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/709f64abfcc40912e0b413563125b5ba.webp","width":1200,"height":799},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=11#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Ex-Cuba leader Raul Castro, 94, charged with murder, conspiracy to kill Americans in 1996 shootdown of humanitarian planes"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/","name":"Metro Transit Review","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/#\/schema\/person\/7cd7bd9683106710eed62ba5da559b14","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/metrotransitreview.com"],"url":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=11"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/10"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=11"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=11"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=11"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}