May 20 (Reuters) – The Trump administration said on Wednesday that it was indicting Cuba’s former president, Raul Castro, on murder charges, based on a 1996 incident in which Cuban military jets killed four people.
Here are details about the incident:
WHAT HAPPENED?
On February 24, 1996, Cuban jets shot down two small planes being flown by a group known as Brothers to the Rescue. All four men aboard were killed. Cuba said the planes were in Cuban airspace, while the United States said they were over international waters. Cuba defended the shooting as legitimate defense of its airspace but the U.S. position was later backed up by the International Civil Aviation Organization, which concluded the attack took place over international waters.
WHO WERE ‘BROTHERS TO THE RESCUE’?
The Miami-based group founded by Cuban Americans said its mission was to search the Florida Straits for Cubans fleeing the communist-run island on rafts. The group routinely flew near the Cuban coast. In early 1996, Cuban officials accused the group of dropping tens of thousands of flyers over Havana. The group’s leader, Jose Basulto, said the leaflets were released over international airspace and carried by winds to Cuba.
CUBA’S RESPONSE
Fidel Castro, Cuba’s then-president, said after the incident that he gave general orders to stop the flights but did not specifically direct them to be shot down. Castro said the military acted on “standing orders” and that his brother Raul, who at the time oversaw the nation’s security services as defense minister, also did not give a specific order to shoot the planes.
A former Brothers to the Rescue member, Juan Pablo Roque, alleged on Cuban television that the pilots’ group had flown into Cuban airspace to gather information ahead of a possible attack and had planned to smuggle arms into the country. U.S. officials dismissed his claims as propaganda and said he was likely a Cuban agent.
THE U.S. RESPONSE
Then-U.S. President Bill Clinton ordered sanctions including the suspension of charter flights and restriction of Cuban diplomats’ movements, and he sought cooperation with Congress on tightening the U.S. trade embargo on Cuba. However, the Clinton administration did not pursue criminal charges against either Castro brother. The Justice Department filed charges against three Cuban military officers in 2003 but they were never extradited.
(Reporting by Andy Sullivan; Editing by Sanjeev Miglani and Rosalba O’Brien)
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