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2h ago

Florida Secures No‑Bond Arrest Warrant for Raúl Castro

The warrant creates a separate state case that could limit his travel or permit extradition if he is detained in a country that will cooperate.

FILE - Cuba's acting President Raul Castro waves to journalists in front the Museum of the Revolution in Havana on March 13, 2007. (AP Photo/Javier Galeano, File)
The state affidavit alleges that Cuban intelligence agents who infiltrated the Miami-based group relayed flight information to Cuba. It also alleges Castro, then Cuba’s defense minister and first vice president, was a senior decision-maker in the chain of command that authorized the attack. (Getty Images)
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Overview

  • Florida prosecutors obtained a no-bond arrest warrant signed by a Miami‑Dade judge on Monday charging Raúl Castro with conspiracy to commit first‑degree murder for the 1996 Brothers to the Rescue shootdown.
  • A probable‑cause affidavit alleges Castro, then Cuba’s defense minister, gave standing orders to shoot the planes at sea and that Cuban intelligence agents in South Florida relayed flight data to Havana.
  • The state action builds on a federal superseding indictment unsealed in May and will be pursued by the Florida Office of Statewide Prosecution and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement as a parallel case.
  • Practical limits make a U.S. courtroom appearance uncertain because Castro is 95 years old, Cuba rejects the charges and extradition would require detention in a cooperating country.
  • Victims’ families and Miami’s Cuban‑American community welcomed the warrant while critics questioned the timing and the move sharpens U.S. pressure on Havana as the investigation remains active and further charges are possible.