U.S. charges Raúl Castro, 5 pilots in 1996 downings

May 22, 2026

Summary

U.S. prosecutors charged Raúl Castro and five Cuban pilots in the 1996 shootdown of Brothers to the Rescue planes.

Why this matters

The case revisits a long-running U.S.-Cuba dispute tied to the deaths of four Americans and a defining episode in relations between Cuba and its exile community. It also shows U.S. prosecutors are still pursuing accountability in the nearly three-decade-old case.

U.S. authorities charged former Cuban President Raúl Castro and five fighter pilots in the 1996 shootdown of two civilian planes operated by the Miami-based exile group Brothers to the Rescue.

The indictment, announced Wednesday, accused Castro and the pilots of conspiring to kill U.S. nationals in the Feb. 24, 1996, attack, which prosecutors said occurred in international airspace and killed four Americans. Castro, now 94, was Cuba’s defense minister at the time.

According to the indictment, pilots in Cuba’s Revolutionary Air and Air Defense Force carried out training missions around February 1996 “to find, track, pursue and intercept” aircraft off Cuba’s coast in anticipation of Brothers to the Rescue flights. Prosecutors said the training took place at Castro’s command and under the direction of an uncharged co-conspirator.

The five pilots were identified as Lt. Col. Lorenzo Alberto Pérez-Pérez, José Fidel Gual Barzaga, Lt. Col. Luis Raúl González-Pardo Rodríguez, Emilio José Palacio Blanco, and Raúl Simanca Cárdenas.

The indictment alleged that Pérez-Pérez and an uncharged pilot shot down the two planes. Days later, Pérez-Pérez told Cuban state television that he had intercepted the first aircraft and warned it on orders from controllers, but that it did not comply.

Prosecutors said Castro authorized deadly force after Brothers to the Rescue planes dropped pro-democracy leaflets over Cuba in January 1996, and that he and Fidel Castro, then Cuba’s president, made the final decision on orders to kill.

Pérez-Pérez was previously indicted in the United States in August 2003 on murder, aircraft destruction, and conspiracy charges.

The indictment also alleged that Gual Barzaga, Simanca Cárdenas, and González-Pardo Rodríguez pursued, but did not destroy, a third plane that day.

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U.S. charges Raúl Castro, 5 pilots in 1996 downings

González-Pardo Rodríguez, 65, is the only defendant in U.S. custody. He is scheduled to be sentenced later this month.

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The indictment, announced Wednesday, accused Castro and the pilots of conspiring to kill U.S. nationals in the Feb. 24, 1996, attack, which prosecutors said occurred in international airspace and killed four Americans. Castro, now 94, was Cuba’s defense minister at the time.

According to the indictment, pilots in Cuba’s Revolutionary Air and Air Defense Force carried out training missions around February 1996 “to find, track, pursue and intercept” aircraft off Cuba’s coast in anticipation of Brothers to the Rescue flights. Prosecutors said the training took place at Castro’s command and under the direction of an uncharged co-conspirator.

The five pilots were identified as Lt. Col. Lorenzo Alberto Pérez-Pérez, José Fidel Gual Barzaga, Lt. Col. Luis Raúl González-Pardo Rodríguez, Emilio José Palacio Blanco, and Raúl Simanca Cárdenas.

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