Raúl Castro Arrest Warrant: Florida Charges Him Over 1996 Shootdown

Florida has issued a state arrest warrant for Raúl Castro, charging the 95-year-old former Cuban leader with conspiracy to commit first-degree murder over the 1996 shootdown of two Brothers to the Rescue planes. Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier announced the Raúl Castro arrest warrant on Monday, Oct. 19, 2026, at a news conference at Florida International University in Miami.

The state case adds to a federal indictment unsealed in May. Cuba’s government quickly rejected it as a political stunt. Castro lives in Cuba, and the warrant can only be served if he leaves the island.

What the Raúl Castro arrest warrant charges

According to a release from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, the warrant charges Castro with one count of conspiracy to commit first-degree murder, a first-degree felony. The court ordered no bond. Chief Judge Ariana Fajardo Orshan of Florida’s Eleventh Judicial Circuit signed it. CiberCuba reported that the order was signed on Oct. 16, three days before the announcement.

The Office of Statewide Prosecution and FDLE secured the warrant after Uthmeier had the case reopened last year. Officials said the investigation remains active and that more charges are possible.

The 1996 shootdown, as the affidavit describes it

The state’s affidavit lays out the prosecution’s account, which has not been tested in court:

• Castro was Cuba’s minister of the Revolutionary Armed Forces and first vice president in 1996. The affidavit calls him a “final decision-maker” in the chain of command that approved the shootdown.
• It quotes standing orders it attributes to Castro: “Fine, shoot them down at sea when they show up, and those who have the authority are not to consult anyone.”
• Cuban intelligence agents in the so-called Wasp Network, working in Miami-Dade and Monroe counties, infiltrated Brothers to the Rescue and passed along flight plans.
• On Feb. 24, 1996, three unarmed Cessnas left Opa-Locka Airport. After they crossed the 24th parallel, Cuban MiGs destroyed two with air-to-air missiles, killing all four people aboard.

The four men killed were Carlos Costa, Pablo Morales, Mario de la Peña and Armando Alejandre Jr. The affidavit says both planes were flying away from Cuba and got no warning. Cuba’s government has long maintained that the exile group’s flights violated Cuban airspace.

Florida says it has jurisdiction because parts of the alleged conspiracy, including spies collecting and sending flight data, took place in Miami-Dade and Monroe counties.

How the state case fits with the federal indictment

A federal grand jury indicted Castro and five others on May 20, 2026, NBC 6 South Florida reported. The federal charges include four counts of murder, two counts of destroying aircraft and conspiracy to kill U.S. nationals. The five co-defendants are pilots allegedly involved in the operation.

Uthmeier argued that a state case carries one key difference. A president cannot pardon state crimes. “If a communist supporter were to return to the White House, he cannot forgive, he cannot commute, he cannot immunize these dictators from our state procedures,” he said, CiberCuba reported. He also warned that Castro could be arrested if he travels to a country with extradition ties to the United States, “even to receive medical treatment.”

U.S. Attorney Jason A. Reding Quiñones backed the move. “Our historic federal indictment laid the groundwork,” he said in the FDLE release, describing a commitment to “parallel federal and state prosecutions.”

Cuba calls the warrant a political ploy

Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel condemned the warrant on X. He called the announcement “a pathetic Miami circus, with an electoral backdrop” that has no legal or practical meaning, Xinhua reported. He said the move reflects Washington’s difficulty in justifying what Havana calls the U.S. blockade of the island.

The case lands amid sustained U.S. pressure on Havana, described in our explainer on the U.S.-Cuba pressure campaign. It also follows U.S. moves elsewhere in the region, including the talks covered in our report on Venezuela’s reconciliation talks.

What happens next

Practically, little changes while Castro stays in Cuba. The legal weight lies in limiting his travel and in creating a state case that a future president cannot pardon. Watch for any new state charges against other figures in the shootdown, further action on the federal case, and Cuba’s diplomatic response.

Featured photo: Raúl Castro in July 2012, by Government.ru, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (cropped; license). File photo.

Sources

• Florida Department of Law Enforcement: Attorney General James Uthmeier secures state arrest warrant for Raúl Castro
• NBC 6 South Florida: Miami judge signs arrest warrant for Raúl Castro in Brothers to the Rescue shootdown
• CiberCuba: Florida Attorney General warns Raúl Castro of the risk of extradition
• Xinhua: Daily World Briefing, Oct. 20 (Cuba condemns U.S. arrest warrant for Raúl Castro)
• AP: Raúl Castro charged with conspiracy to commit murder in 1996 plane downing