U.S. State of Florida Issues Arrest Warrant for Former Cuban President Raul Castro

The U.S. state of Florida announced on Monday the issuance of an arrest warrant against former Cuban President Raúl Castro on charges of murder, aligning with a federal indictment disclosed earlier this year.

The charges against 95-year-old Raúl Castro relate to the downing of two civilian aircraft in 1996 belonging to the organization Brothers to the Rescue, which assists Cubans in fleeing to the United States by sea.

In a statement, Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier said, “Raúl Castro ordered the cold-blooded killing of four people from Florida, and Florida will never stop seeking to hold those responsible for that communist conspiracy accountable.”

Federal charges related to the same incident were previously brought against Castro, brother of the late Cuban leader Fidel Castro, last May.

This move comes as the administration of President Donald Trump continues to intensify economic, political, and legal pressure on the communist government in Cuba.

In a statement supporting Florida’s actions, U.S. Attorney General Jason A. Redding said, “We are committed to pursuing every available legal avenue for prosecution to ensure accountability, including parallel federal and state proceedings.”

The federal prosecutor added, “We are proud to stand with Florida in its pursuit of justice for the four Americans killed in the downing of the Brothers to the Rescue planes nearly 30 years ago.”

Trump had previously cited a U.S. indictment to justify a military operation in Venezuela last January that led to the arrest of its president, Nicolás Maduro, a close ally of the Cuban authorities.

For his part, current Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel stated that the U.S. federal indictment against Castro “has no legal basis,” describing it as an attempt “to justify the folly of launching a military aggression against Cuba.”