Florida judge signs arrest warrant for Raúl Castro in 1996 plane shootdown case

 Caption: Editorial concept illustration; it does not depict the 1996 shootdown or the people involved. Florida authorities say a Miami judge signed an arrest warrant for former Cuban leader Raúl Castro on Monday, October 19, on a state charge of conspiracy to commit first-degree murder. The warrant concerns the 1996 shootdown of two civilian aircraft operated by Brothers to the Rescue. It adds a Florida case to a separate federal prosecution announced in May; it is an accusation, not a conviction. [Florida’s Department of Law Enforcement announced the warrant](https://www.fdle.state.fl.us/news/2026/october/icymi-attorney-general-james-uthmeier-secures-state-arrest-warrant-for-raul-castro); the signing by Chief Judge Ariana Fajardo Orshan was also reported by [AP](https://apnews.com/article/2575bf98dcceb57d9f806d4d7a91b023) and [El País](https://elpais.com/us/2026-10-19/una-jueza-de-miami-firma-una-orden-de-arresto-contra-raul-castro-por-el-derribo-de-las-avionetas-de-hermanos-al-rescate.html). On February 24, 1996, Cuban MiG fighters shot down two of three unarmed aircraft flown by the Miami-based exile group over international waters. Four people were killed: Carlos Costa, Armando Alejandre Jr., Mario de la Peña and Pablo Morales. The Justice Department says three were U.S. citizens. Florida’s affidavit alleges Castro, then Cuba’s minister of the Revolutionary Armed Forces and first vice president, was a final decision-maker in the chain of command that authorized the attack. That account remains an allegation to be tested in court. A federal superseding indictment unsealed on May 20 charged Castro and five co-defendants over their alleged roles. The [Justice Department’s filing](https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/united-states-unseals-superseding-indictment-charging-raul-castro-and-five-castro-regime-co) lists charges including conspiracy to kill U.S. nationals, destruction of aircraft and four counts of murder, and says all defendants are presumed innocent unless proven guilty. The state warrant is a separate legal development, not a new finding on the federal charges. The warrant does not mean Castro has been arrested. Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier told AP that it could constrain Castro’s travel, but officials have not announced that he is in custody or described a timeline for enforcing the warrant outside the United States. That leaves the immediate next step uncertain: the public record so far establishes the charge and warrant, not an arrest or extradition process. ~worldnews