Cuba officials react angrily to Raul Castro US charges

已複製連結

Cuban officials reacted angrily on Wednesday after U.S. prosecutors charged former Cuban leader Raúl Castro over the 1996 shootdown of two civilian planes operated by the Miami-based exile group Brothers to the Rescue.

The indictment accuses Castro, who was Cuba's defense minister at the time, of ordering the attack that killed four men when Cuban fighter jets shot down two small aircraft north of Havana.

The charges, which were secretly filed in April, include murder and destruction of an aircraft.

Cuban authorities rejected the case and defended the actions taken by the military nearly three decades ago.

President Miguel Díaz-Canel accused the United States of manipulating the events surrounding the shootdown and called the indictment a political move with no legal basis.

Cuba has long argued that the planes violated the country's airspace despite repeated warnings from officials.

The incident dates back to Feb. 24, 1996, when Cuban MiG fighter jets fired missiles at two unarmed Cessna planes operated by Brothers to the Rescue, a Miami-based group known for searching for Cubans attempting to flee the island by sea.

The group had also carried out flights over Havana dropping anti-government leaflets, prompting protests from Cuban authorities.