Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier announced Monday that the state has obtained an arrest warrant for former Cuban President Raúl Castro, charging him with conspiracy to commit murder in the fatal downing of two civilian planes in 1996.
A federal grand jury in Miami earlier this year indicted Castro — who led Cuba from 2008 to 2021, following the resignation of his brother, longtime Cuban leader Fidel Castro — with murder and conspiracy in connection with the same case, alleging that Cuban military forces were acting on orders from Castro when they shot down the two planes.
The Cuban embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the matter.
The federal indictment, and now the state charges, would be difficult to act and remain largely symbolic, but they come as the Trump administration continues to step up pressure against the Cuban government.
At a press conference, Uthmeier argued that Florida The arrest warrant, in addition to the federal charges, has “real world consequences.”
“If you have a communist sympathizer who ends up in the White House, he can’t forgive, he can’t commute, he can’t immunize these dictators from our state procedures,” Uthmeier said. “It’s important.”
The downed planes were piloted by members of Brothers to the Rescue, a U.S.-based humanitarian group formed by Cuban exiles in Miami to search for and rescue refugees fleeing the island by sea. The Florida charges accuse the Castro regime of spying on Brothers to the Rescue as well as U.S. government offices as part of the alleged plot.
“Raul Castro called for the planes to be shot down,” Uthmeier said. “He called for murder.”
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