The Center for a Free Cuba has spent years advocating for the indictment of Raul Castro and other officials responsible for the extrajudicial executions of Carlos Costa (29), Armando Alejandre Jr (45)., Mario de la Peña (24) and Pablo Morales (29), four members of Brothers to the Rescue in international airspace on February 24, 1996. Cuban American Members of Congress renewed their call for justice on February 19, 2026. Over the past 30 years this community has been calling for justice.
News of the indictment announced on May 20, 2026 at the Freedom Tower in Miami, Florida brought about great celebration in South Florida, but also an avalanche of disinformation spread by agents of influence of the Cuban dictatorship.
However, the facts are the facts.
Raul Castro and Lorenzo Alberto Perez-Perez were indicted on seven counts: Count 1: Conspiracy to kill U.S. Nationals. Count 2: Destruction of Aircraft. Count 3: Destruction of Aircraft. Count 4: Murder. Count 5: Murder. Count 6: Murder. Count 7: Murder. Raul Castro gave the order, and Lorenzo Alberto Perez-Perez pulled the trigger that destroyed the two planes killing the four men.
The other four [ Emilio Jose Palacio Blanco , Jose Fidel Gual Barzaga, Raul Simanca Carrdenas, and Luis Raul Gonzalez – Pardo Rodriguez ] took part in the hunt for the Brotherrs to the Rescue planes and were charged with Count 1: Conspiracy to kill U.S. Nationals.
Rosa María Payá was interviewed on CBS News 24/7 addressing a national audience with her analysis of the significance of the indictment of Raúl Castro and what comes next for Cuba.
CFC’s executive director also took part in the public conversation to counter regime disinformation, and that in addition to Brothers to the Rescue shoot down, Havana is responsible for other acts of state-sponsored terrorism on U.S. soil, and is currently harboring fugitives that killed Americans. In the lead up to, and during the announcement of the indictment he was in the studio at WPLG Local 10 providing analysis.
This is the follow up to the first segment.on Local 10 News (WPLG).
John Suarez was interviewed by ABC News, and addressed a national audience.
There was a more contentious interview on Al Jazeera English.
On the late evening of May 20, 2026, John Suarez went onto the BBC World Service’s international hard news and current affairs radio program Newsday. Below is the audio file.
The Wall Street Journal, May 24, 2026
Behind the Indictment of Raúl Castro
The charges against him and five others come after decades of Cuban state-sponsored terrorism.
ET
Murder has no statute of limitations. Last week’s indictment of Cuba’s former President Raúl Castro and five co-defendants alleges their responsibility for the Feb. 24, 1996, murders of three American citizens and one legal resident of the U.S. The indictment says the four victims, members of Brothers to the Rescue flying in two Cessna aircraft, were shot down over international waters by Cuban MiGs, on orders from Mr. Castro, then Cuba’s defense minister.
Brothers to the Rescue was founded in May 1991 after the death of 15-year-old Gregorio Pérez Ricardo, a Cuban refugee who died in 1990 attempting to flee from Fidel Castro’s Cuba to Florida on a raft. The nonprofit group’s pilots, spotters and other volunteers began regularly searching the Florida Straits by plane for other rafters.
The humanitarian organization had a core team of 35 volunteer pilots from more than a dozen countries, including the U.S., Argentina, Peru, France, Jamaica, Nicaragua, Switzerland, Venezuela, Puerto Rico and Cuba. Brothers to the Rescue saved the lives of thousands of rafters in the Florida Straits. Havana carried out an elaborate project called Operation Scorpion to spy on the organization and track its flights.
Miami Herald, May 20, 2026
Cuba’s ‘Operation Scorpion’: A closer look at the federal indictment of Raúl Castro
“This one won’t mess around anymore,” one Cuban MiG fighter pilot said after firing on a Brothers to the Rescue plane, according to radio communications released by the United States after the 1996 shoot-down over the Florida Straits.
Federal prosecutors now cite those recordings — along with allegations of Cuban spy infiltration, military planning and high-level authorization — as part of a sweeping indictment unsealed in Miami on Wednesday accusing Raúl Castro and other Cuban officials of orchestrating the attack that killed four men over international waters.
Brothers to the Rescue, based in Miami, flew over the Florida Straits searching for Cuban rafters so they could alert the U.S. Coast Guard to help.
U.S. indicts Raúl Castro for Cuba’s 1996 shoot-down of two civilian planes from Miami
Here are 10 key allegations contained in the indictment.
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The shoot-down was a conspiracy. The indictment accuses Raúl Castro and several Cuban military officers of participating in a conspiracy to kill U.S. nationals by targeting Brothers to the Rescue aircraft in February 1996.
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The operation was ordered at the highest levels of the Cuban government. According to prosecutors, all orders flowed through the Cuban military chain of command with Raul and Fidel Castro “as the final decision makers.”
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Cuban intelligence infiltrated Brothers to the Rescue. The indictment says Cuban spies operating in South Florida penetrated exile organizations and gathered intelligence on Brothers to the Rescue flight plans and activities.
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Cuba created “Operation Scorpion” to confront Brothers to the Rescue. The indictment describes a coordinated intelligence and military operation designed to monitor, track and confront Brothers to the Rescue flights.
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Cuban intelligence agents were warned not to fly on the planes. According to prosecutors, Cuban intelligence operatives infiltrating exile groups were instructed not to board Brothers to the Rescue aircraft during the Feb. 24, 1996 missions, suggesting prior knowledge of the attack.
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Cuban MiG pilots trained for the mission beforehand. The indictment says Cuban Air Force pilots conducted exercises in January 1996 to practice intercepting slow-moving civilian aircraft similar to the Cessna planes used by Brothers to the Rescue.
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The planes that were shot down were unarmed civilian aircraft. The indictment repeatedly describes the Brothers to the Rescue planes as unarmed civilian aircraft carrying humanitarian volunteers and activists.
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The planes were shot down over international waters. Federal prosecutors say the aircraft were outside Cuban territorial airspace when they were destroyed by air-to-air missiles fired from Cuban MiGs.
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A third Brothers to the Rescue aircraft was also targeted. According to the indictment, Cuban fighter jets pursued a third plane with the intention of destroying it, but the aircraft escaped.
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The objective of the shoot-down was to intimidate the exile community. Prosecutors say the operation aimed not only to destroy the aircraft but also to “terrorize, intimidate and retaliate” against Cuban exiles and pro-democracy activists opposed to the Cuban government.
The Washington Times, February 23, 2026
Is a Cuba libre on the horizon?
On anniversary of 1996 rescue plane downing, change is on the way
By John Suarez – Monday, February 23, 2026
Change is in the air in Cuba, but it is not because of an internal uprising. The totalitarian dictatorship built by brothers Fidel and Raul Castro with the aid of the Soviet KGB, East German Stasi and former Waffen-SS members has built through terror and murder the perfect prison to contain the Cuban people in misery.
Despite this, Cubans risked everything standing up for freedom in Cuba through citizen initiatives such as the Varela Project and paid the ultimate price.
Some sought to begin new lives abroad and freedom, only to be massacred by Cuban government agents in the Florida Straits. Others died because of the elements and the lack of fresh water.
Brothers to the Rescue, an initiative by volunteer pilots, came into existence in 1991 after the death of 15-year-old refugee Gregorio Perez Ricardo because of a lack of water.
They sought to save refugees in the Florida Straits and succeeded in saving more than 4,200 lives.
Brothers to the Rescue also connected with the Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change in Atlanta and held teach-ins on nonviolence in South Florida.
On Jan. 13, 1996, from international airspace, they successfully leafleted Havana with a message of empowerment and solidarity, along with excerpts from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
The Cuban dictatorship, outraged by this legal act of resistance, initiated Operation Scorpion, using its spy network in the United States to gather information, sow division and plan the downing of the Brothers to the Rescue planes.
The terrorist attack was carried out by Cuban MiGs on the afternoon of Feb. 24, 1996, and killed Armando Alejandre Jr., 45, Carlos Alberto Costa, 29, Mario Manuel de la Pena, 24, and Pablo Morales, 29, over international airspace.
It also led to the passage of the Helms-Burton Act (Cuban Liberty and Democratic Solidarity Act) on March 12, 1996, which codified sanctions and their lifting on the following three conditions: the liberation of all political prisoners; the legalization of all political parties, labor unions and the press; and the scheduling of free, multiparty elections for the Cuban people.
Change is underway because of the United States. The Trump administration’s National Security Strategy states that it will not tolerate hostile actors in the Western Hemisphere.
“After years of neglect, the United States will reassert and enforce the Monroe Doctrine to restore American preeminence in the Western Hemisphere, and to protect our homeland and our access to key geographies throughout the region. We will deny non-Hemispheric competitors the ability to position forces or other threatening capabilities, or to own or control strategically vital assets, in our Hemisphere. This ‘Trump Corollary’ to the Monroe Doctrine is a commonsense and potent restoration of American power and priorities, consistent with American security interests.”
This is bad news for the dictatorships in Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela that are hostile to the United States and allied with Beijing, Moscow and Tehran.
The Cuban dictatorship is the oldest of these dictatorships. It exported and successfully implanted its model in Caracas and Managua, visiting misery and terror on millions more in those nations. On Jan. 24, the Trump administration issued an executive order describing Cuba as a malign influence undermining U.S. national interests in the region and provided some specific examples.
The Cuban regime aligns itself with numerous hostile countries and malign actors, hosting their military and intelligence capabilities. For example, Cuba hosts Russia’s largest overseas signals intelligence facility focused on stealing sensitive national security information from the United States.
Cuba provides a haven for transnational terrorist groups, such as Hezbollah and Hamas, and supports adversaries in the Western Hemisphere, undermining U.S. sanctions and regional stability.
The regime persecutes and tortures political opponents, denies free speech and press, profits corruptly from the Cuban people’s misery and incites chaos by spreading communist ideology across the region.
These actions constitute an unusual and extraordinary threat to U.S. national security and foreign policy, requiring immediate response to protect American citizens and interests.
Havana also has visited terrorism on innocents throughout the region, including the United States, and continues to harbor terrorist fugitives who murdered Americans, such as bomb maker Guillermo Morales, to the present day.
The United States entered the Spanish-American War after the explosion of the USS Maine on Feb. 15, 1898, and Cuba’s independence was declared in April 1898 by the Teller Amendment, which became law.
Today, thanks to the Cuban Liberty and Democratic Solidarity Act, passed because of the Brothers to the Rescue plane downing 30 years ago, and U.S. national security interests in the region, history may be rhyming to a similar tune: that of a Cuba libre with a clear path to democratic, multiparty elections and freedom for all political prisoners in exchange for all sanctions being lifted.
• John Suarez is a human rights activist, the executive director of the Center for a Free Cuba and a former program officer for Latin America programs at Freedom House.
From the archives
Miami Herald, March 16, 2023
Cuban terrorists killed four U.S. human–rights activists. Biden should bring them to justice
By Frank Calzon and John Suarez
March 16, 2023 1:18 PM
On a sunny afternoon 27 years ago — Feb 24, 1996 — four human–rights activists searching for rafters on the Florida Straits were murdered by Cuban warplanes. Madeleine Albright, then secretary of state, presented irrefutable evidence to the international community of Cuba’s responsibility for this terrorist act.
After the murders, the White House promised that justice would be done. The Miami Herald reported several indictments, but the trial was never held because of prosecutorial discretion.
Mario de la Peña, 24; Carlos Costa and Pablo Morales, both 30; and Armando Alejandro Jr., 45, were members of the humanitarian organization Brothers to the Rescue. Their two small Cessna aircraft were pulverized by Cuban missiles. Their bodies were never recovered. Fidel and Raúl Castro were responsible for the crime. Raúl was then minister of the armed forces and has acknowledged he gave the order. It was a premeditated act of state terrorism.
Fidel died in 2016, 10 years after relinquishing power to his brother. Raúl Castro had been acting president since 2006, formally becoming president on Feb. 24, 2008. He no longer is president, but a member of Cuba’s parliament. No international law provides sovereign immunity to parliamentarians.
The statute of limitations does not apply to terrorist acts, yet, today, some lawmakers in the U.S. Congress support Cuba’s demand that it be removed from the State Department’s terrorist list.
In 2000, Cuban spymaster Gerardo Hernandez was sentenced to a double life sentence for espionage and murder conspiracy, for the information he provided Havana that contributed to the shootdown. His sentence was commuted in December 2014, during President Obama’s thaw with Raúl Castro. Hernandez now is charged with overseeing surveillance activities over the entire Cuban populace and is rumored to be Miguel Diaz-Canel’s successor.
Federal prosecutors in 2003 indicted Gen. Ruben Martinez Puente, the head of Cuba’s Air Force, and Lorenzo Alberto Perez-Perez and Francisco Perez-Perez, the two pilots involved in the shootdown. But the three have not been brought to justice, even after 20 years. Puente died on July 24, 2021 at age 79.
“The Cuban government has not demonstrated that it will refrain from the use of excessive force against United States vessels or aircraft that may engage in memorial activities or peaceful protest north of Cuba,” the Biden administration states in its Feb. 17 “Notice on the Continuation of the National Emergency with Respect to Cuba and of the Emergency Authority Relating to the Regulation of the Anchorage and Movement of Vessels.”
Raúl Castro should follow his subordinates who executed his directive and were charged with this crime. He should be indicted. Failure to hold them accountable encourages Cuba to commit other egregious acts of state terror.
Frank Calzon is former executive director of Center for a Free Cuba. John Suarez is executive director of Center for a Free Cuba.
https://www.miamiherald.com/
Sun Sentinel, March 1, 2020
Bernie Sanders gets facts wrong about Castro’s literacy, health care programs. Let’s set the record straight.
By JOHN SUAREZ AND FRANK CALZÓN
SPECIAL TO THE SUN SENTINEL
On the 24th anniversary of the February 24, 1996, Brothers to the Rescue shootdown when Fidel Castro’s MIG’s destroyed two civilian aircraft in international airspace engaged in the search for Cuban refugees killing four Americans, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, argued in a CBS 60 Minutes interview that there were good things about the Castro regime: “It is unfair to simply say everything is bad. When Fidel Castro came into office you know what he did? He had a massive literacy program.”
He was doubling down on statements that he had made in the 1980s when he claimed in recorded interviews that Cubans did not rise up and help the U.S. overthrow Cuba’s dictatorship because he “educated the kids, gave them healthcare, and totally transformed the society.”
The facts indicate otherwise. In 1959, the island already had decent educational and healthcare systems, according to U.N. statistics, and its rising literacy rates tracked with the rest of Latin America. Costa Rica achieved the same results without dictatorship and firing squads.
“According to the 1953 Cuba census, out of 4,376,529 inhabitants 10 years of age or older 23.6% were illiterate, a percentage lower than all other Latin American countries except Argentina (13.6%), Chile (19.6%), & Costa Rica (20.6%) … Factoring only population 15 years of age or older, the rate is lowered to 22.1%.”
This means that 77.9% of Cubans fifteen years and older were literate six years prior to the Communist takeover.
An appraisal of Castro’s literacy efforts should Include the politicization of Cuban education. To this day, teachers and students continue to be expelled from universities due to their ideas. Cubans have been sentenced to prison for reading George Orwell’s Animal Farm and many books are banned. Writers, gays and religious believers were sent to concentration camps until Jean Paul Sartre and other intellectuals denounced the situation.
Paul Hollander’s “Political Pilgrims: Western Intellectuals in Search of the Good Society” cites Professor Maurice Halperin, a Castro supporter who came across a “confidential public opinion poll made by the Communist Party in 1987” in Holguin province. “Of those polled (over ten thousand) 87 percent had unfavorable views of the health care they received. Most of the complaints “as summed up in the report concerned ‘lack of attention, negligence and abuse of patients.’”
There were also many complaints “about the chronic absenteeism of both doctors and nurses and about favoritism in the treatment of well-connected patients.”
These were not the reasons Cubans did not overthrow Fidel Castro.
The regime broadcast firing squad executions in a campaign of political terror to consolidate its rule. With the help of the KGB and East Germany’s Stasi, Castro quickly built an effective police state. In the days prior to the 1961 Bay of Pigs Invasion, he rounded up 200,000 disaffected Cubans in Havana alone.
Sanders, also ignores the thousands of peasants killed by Castro and Soviet counter insurgency forces between 1959 and 1965. Their rebellion, took place over six years in the Escambray Mountains, with many guerillas who had fought alongside Castro against Batista, now fighting against the new regime. They had supported him to restore democracy, but when the new leader turned to Communism, they revolted.
Unlike Fulgencio Batista, who had to endure an arms embargo from the United States, and its ambassador telling him to leave power in 1958, Castro had the full backing of the Soviet Union and its counter-insurgency forces.
The argument that Sanders made, even if wrong, is morally objectionable. Apologists for Augusto Pinochet credit him for a dynamic economy that lifted millions out of poverty in Chile, but one cannot say that he was “not all bad,” because his regime summarily executed and tortured thousands of political opponents.
John Suarez is the executive director of the Center for a Free Cuba. Frank Calzón is a former executive director of the Center for a Free Cuba.
https://www.sun-sentinel.com/opinion/commentary/fl-op-com-suarez-calzon-bernie-sanders-cuba-literacy-health-care-20200301-p3igaqislzh53esd66p5ymqcpq-story.html