What to know about Brothers to the Rescue and Cuba’s 1996 shootdown of two planes

This is what brought Cuba to its breaking point. For decades, Venezuela had been Havana's biggest oil supplier. Then overnight its president Nicolas Maduro was out of power. The dictator and terrors Maduro. is finally gone in Venezuela. People are free. Under US pressure, Caracas pulled the plug on its closest ally, which already had *** troubled economy. We would love to see the regime change. We would like to. That doesn't mean that we're going to make *** change, but we would love to see *** change. Once the Trump administration threatened tariffs on countries that send oil to the communist-run government, no one dared to come to its rescue. The impact on this island nation of 10 million people has been devastating. Blackouts stretching past 20 hours *** day became the new normal in many areas. And while at first there were endless lines at gas stations. They eventually cleared because there's no longer any gas. Food prices spiked and shortages soon followed. Everywhere you look there are piles of trash, breeding grounds for diseases and despair. That's less than $1. Add to that tourism grinding to *** halt and you have *** perfect storm. Cubans are no strangers to economic hardship. Following Fidel Castro's 1959 revolution, they have endured America's embargo and their own government's disastrous economic missteps. But in my 14 years as *** foreign correspondent in this country, I've never seen Cubans suffering to such *** degree. The And that is something I'm hearing again and again from residents, with some unleashing their anger into the streets. Now US officials say they are seeking *** federal indictment against 94 year old former leader Raul Castro, still believed to wield great power. His handpicked successor says Cuba is preparing to defend against any US attack. It's the closest that Washington and Havana have come to outright confrontation since the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis. Donald Trump has said he may put *** US aircraft carrier right here off Cuba's coast and tell the island's leadership to leave power, that the mere sight of America's military might would be enough to take Cuba without firing *** shot. Cuba's officials though have said that any US military action would lead to *** loss of both Cuban and US lives. Over the years Cubans have told me they just want *** normal life, to live in *** country where things work and where they have the opportunity to prosper and live in peace, at least for the moment that simple dream seems farther away than ever. Patrick Oppmann, CNN Havana.

Updated: 2:02 PM EDT May 20, 2026

Editorial Standards ⓘ

Updated: 2:02 PM EDT May 20, 2026

Editorial Standards ⓘ

Former Cuban leader Raul Castro has been indicted for his alleged role in the shooting down of two civilian planes 30 years ago that killed three Americans and sent U.S.-Cuba relations plunging.Here’s what you need to know about the deadly incident.What happened?In the 1990s, a Miami-based volunteer organization called Brothers to the Rescue carried out regular flights attempting to find and assist Cubans trying to sail to the U.S.On one such mission, on Feb. 24, 1996, Cuban forces shot down two of their planes near to the Cuban coast, destroying them with heat-seeking missiles, according to Congress documents. Three American citizens and one resident of the U.S. were killed. A third Brothers aircraft escaped.In the immediate aftermath of the incident, the Cuban government accused Brothers to the Rescue of engaging in covert operations against the regime – allegations the U.S. swiftly denied.According to the U.S. government, the Brothers to the Rescue planes were unarmed and the volunteers aboard posed no threat to the Cuban government, military or population.On Tuesday, Cuba’s embassy in the U.S. took to X saying the “violations of Cuban airspace” were not isolated incidents but among “more than 25 serious, deliberate and systematic violations.”“These were not miscalculations, but rather a continuous campaign that jeopardized international aeronautical safety,” the embassy said.Who are Brothers to the Rescue?Brothers to the Rescue, which is no longer active, has in the past described itself as a pro-democracy humanitarian group dedicated to helping Cuban people free themselves from dictatorship, using nonviolent means.The volunteer activist group was founded in May 1991 by anti-regime Cuban exile Jose Basulto, who was on the plane that escaped, and made up of Cuban American pilots flying out of Miami area airports. Its inception came after Cuban teenager Gregoria Perez Ricardo, who fled the communist-run island, died of severe dehydration while crossing the Florida Straits, according to the group.They also dropped leaflets over Cuba criticizing the communist government of Fidel Castro, the country’s former revolutionary leader who made Cuba the first Communist country in the Western Hemisphere – and played a central role in the Cold War.During the Fidel Castro dictatorship, arbitrary arrests, brutal crackdowns on dissent, beatings, intimidation, and surveillance were common. Many of those trying to flee the island – some on makeshift rafts – wouldn’t survive the perilous journey across the Florida Straits.How did the US respond?The U.S. government swiftly condemned the shooting down of the two planes and just days later, President Bill Clinton signed the Cuban Liberty and Democratic Solidarity (LIBERTAD) Act, also known as the Helms-Burton Act.The act tightened sanctions on Cuba and remains the basis of U.S. embargos on the country. The law called for an act of Congress to lift any part of the embargo against Cuba. Visas would be denied to anyone using or profiting from Cuban property – and to Cuban government employees and communist party members, under the law.The act also prohibited the U.S. president from removing trade restrictions on the Caribbean nation until it legalizes political activity and commits to free and fair elections. It also prevented the US from lifting sanctions while Fidel Castro or his brother and successor Raul Castro were part of Cuba’s government.“The response chosen by Fidel Castro, the use of lethal force, was completely inappropriate to the situation presented to the Cuban government, making such actions a blatant and barbaric violation of international law and tantamount to cold-blooded murder,” Congress said at the time, calling it a “premeditated act” that came after a major crackdown on a coalition of pro-democracy rights groups on the island.The 1996 act also enabled the U.S. president – under certain conditions – to support and assist NGOs and individuals in democracy-building efforts.U.S. Ambassador to the UN Madeleine Albright condemned the Cuban pilots who had used the Spanish word for testicles on their radios to congratulate themselves after shooting down the planes. “Frankly, this is not cojones,” she said. “This is cowardice.”What was the fallout in Cuba?Fidel Castro took responsibility for the incident, saying he gave orders to his military to shoot down planes violating Cuba airspace. The U.S. insists the planes were downed in international airspace.Cuban representative to the UN Security Council at the time Bruno Rodriguez Parilla, asserted that Cuba had proof the two aircraft were in the country’s airspace and that prior to shooting them down, Cuban authorities had issued warnings to them, such as rocking their wings, which he said were ignored.Days after the shootdown, then-Cuban Foreign Minister Roberto Robaina Gonzalez told the UN General Assembly that Brothers to the Rescue had plans to harm Cuba including sabotaging an oil refinery and targeting Cuban leaders.“Today we are asking this assembly if the sovereign right to defend the borders and national security of countries is only a prerogative of the powerful and not of poor and small countries,” he said.The FBI later found that Cuban agents had infiltrated exile groups and fed information back to the Cuban government, including about the Brothers to the Rescue’s ill-fated Feb. 24 mission. Five Cuban spies were arrested in 1998 and later convicted on charges they had spied on prominent Cuban-American exile leaders and U.S. military bases.During his presidency, U.S. President Barack Obama released them in a deal to restore relations with Cuba, with Havana releasing State Department contractor Alan Gross.Claims of a warning ignoredOne member of the so-called “Wasp Network” of Cuban spies was never caught, however. Juan Pablo Roque, a former Cuban defector, left Florida for Havana one day before the shootdown. Soon after the incident, Roque reappeared in Cuba on CNN, insisting that he had infiltrated anti-Castro groups – including Brothers to the Rescue – on behalf of the FBI.He insisted he had nothing to do with the shootdown, but claimed he had in fact attempted to warn Basulto and U.S. authorities that the pilots were in danger.“I warned the U.S. government they were going to shoot them down,” Roque told CNN. “It was madness. I did everything to avoid the deaths of my four comrades but nobody paid attention.”But the FBI denied that Roque warned them of plans for the attack.Roque indeed had been an FBI informant. Yet U.S. authorities alleged that he was also a double agent for Cuba, feeding information to Havana in addition to his work for the federal government.Roque was later indicted for failing to register as a foreign agent of Cuba and conspiring to defraud the U.S. government. He died, unapprehended, in Havana in November 2025.How is it remembered?Cuban exiles and regime critics like Basulto were quick to call for justice, demanding Fidel Castro be indicted following the incident. That sentiment among many Cuban-Americans hasn’t changed, though Fidel Castro died in 2016.Cuban-American Republican lawmakers have since pushed the Justice Department to bring charges against Raul Castro. In a February letter to then-Attorney General Pam Bondi, lawmakers including Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart urged the Justice Department to prosecute Raul Castro, citing evidence including reports that there is a recording of radio traffic that indicates he ordered the shoot-down.But some Cubans stand behind their government’s actions from decades ago, insisting it was a matter of safeguarding national security – and that Raul Castro shouldn’t be punished for it.“I believe that was an invasion, however you look at it, and we have to defend ourselves because if any plane had flown past the Twin Towers, and they’d known it was going to be sabotaged, they would have shot it down,” Havana resident Eliecer Diaz told Reuters. “I think that’s only logical. Cuba did the right thing.”

Former Cuban leader Raul Castro has been indicted for his alleged role in the shooting down of two civilian planes 30 years ago that killed three Americans and sent U.S.-Cuba relations plunging.

Here’s what you need to know about the deadly incident.

What happened?

In the 1990s, a Miami-based volunteer organization called Brothers to the Rescue carried out regular flights attempting to find and assist Cubans trying to sail to the U.S.

On one such mission, on Feb. 24, 1996, Cuban forces shot down two of their planes near to the Cuban coast, destroying them with heat-seeking missiles, according to Congress documents. Three American citizens and one resident of the U.S. were killed. A third Brothers aircraft escaped.

In the immediate aftermath of the incident, the Cuban government accused Brothers to the Rescue of engaging in covert operations against the regime – allegations the U.S. swiftly denied.

According to the U.S. government, the Brothers to the Rescue planes were unarmed and the volunteers aboard posed no threat to the Cuban government, military or population.

On Tuesday, Cuba’s embassy in the U.S. took to X saying the “violations of Cuban airspace” were not isolated incidents but among “more than 25 serious, deliberate and systematic violations.”

“These were not miscalculations, but rather a continuous campaign that jeopardized international aeronautical safety,” the embassy said.

Who are Brothers to the Rescue?

Brothers to the Rescue, which is no longer active, has in the past described itself as a pro-democracy humanitarian group dedicated to helping Cuban people free themselves from dictatorship, using nonviolent means.

The volunteer activist group was founded in May 1991 by anti-regime Cuban exile Jose Basulto, who was on the plane that escaped, and made up of Cuban American pilots flying out of Miami area airports. Its inception came after Cuban teenager Gregoria Perez Ricardo, who fled the communist-run island, died of severe dehydration while crossing the Florida Straits, according to the group.

They also dropped leaflets over Cuba criticizing the communist government of Fidel Castro, the country’s former revolutionary leader who made Cuba the first Communist country in the Western Hemisphere – and played a central role in the Cold War.

During the Fidel Castro dictatorship, arbitrary arrests, brutal crackdowns on dissent, beatings, intimidation, and surveillance were common. Many of those trying to flee the island – some on makeshift rafts – wouldn’t survive the perilous journey across the Florida Straits.

How did the US respond?

The U.S. government swiftly condemned the shooting down of the two planes and just days later, President Bill Clinton signed the Cuban Liberty and Democratic Solidarity (LIBERTAD) Act, also known as the Helms-Burton Act.

The act tightened sanctions on Cuba and remains the basis of U.S. embargos on the country. The law called for an act of Congress to lift any part of the embargo against Cuba. Visas would be denied to anyone using or profiting from Cuban property – and to Cuban government employees and communist party members, under the law.

The act also prohibited the U.S. president from removing trade restrictions on the Caribbean nation until it legalizes political activity and commits to free and fair elections. It also prevented the US from lifting sanctions while Fidel Castro or his brother and successor Raul Castro were part of Cuba’s government.

“The response chosen by Fidel Castro, the use of lethal force, was completely inappropriate to the situation presented to the Cuban government, making such actions a blatant and barbaric violation of international law and tantamount to cold-blooded murder,” Congress said at the time, calling it a “premeditated act” that came after a major crackdown on a coalition of pro-democracy rights groups on the island.

The 1996 act also enabled the U.S. president – under certain conditions – to support and assist NGOs and individuals in democracy-building efforts.

U.S. Ambassador to the UN Madeleine Albright condemned the Cuban pilots who had used the Spanish word for testicles on their radios to congratulate themselves after shooting down the planes. “Frankly, this is not cojones,” she said. “This is cowardice.”

What was the fallout in Cuba?

Fidel Castro took responsibility for the incident, saying he gave orders to his military to shoot down planes violating Cuba airspace. The U.S. insists the planes were downed in international airspace.

Cuban representative to the UN Security Council at the time Bruno Rodriguez Parilla, asserted that Cuba had proof the two aircraft were in the country’s airspace and that prior to shooting them down, Cuban authorities had issued warnings to them, such as rocking their wings, which he said were ignored.

Days after the shootdown, then-Cuban Foreign Minister Roberto Robaina Gonzalez told the UN General Assembly that Brothers to the Rescue had plans to harm Cuba including sabotaging an oil refinery and targeting Cuban leaders.

“Today we are asking this assembly if the sovereign right to defend the borders and national security of countries is only a prerogative of the powerful and not of poor and small countries,” he said.

The FBI later found that Cuban agents had infiltrated exile groups and fed information back to the Cuban government, including about the Brothers to the Rescue’s ill-fated Feb. 24 mission. Five Cuban spies were arrested in 1998 and later convicted on charges they had spied on prominent Cuban-American exile leaders and U.S. military bases.

During his presidency, U.S. President Barack Obama released them in a deal to restore relations with Cuba, with Havana releasing State Department contractor Alan Gross.

Claims of a warning ignored

One member of the so-called “Wasp Network” of Cuban spies was never caught, however. Juan Pablo Roque, a former Cuban defector, left Florida for Havana one day before the shootdown. Soon after the incident, Roque reappeared in Cuba on CNN, insisting that he had infiltrated anti-Castro groups – including Brothers to the Rescue – on behalf of the FBI.

He insisted he had nothing to do with the shootdown, but claimed he had in fact attempted to warn Basulto and U.S. authorities that the pilots were in danger.

“I warned the U.S. government they were going to shoot them down,” Roque told CNN. “It was madness. I did everything to avoid the deaths of my four comrades but nobody paid attention.”

But the FBI denied that Roque warned them of plans for the attack.

Roque indeed had been an FBI informant. Yet U.S. authorities alleged that he was also a double agent for Cuba, feeding information to Havana in addition to his work for the federal government.

Roque was later indicted for failing to register as a foreign agent of Cuba and conspiring to defraud the U.S. government. He died, unapprehended, in Havana in November 2025.

How is it remembered?

Cuban exiles and regime critics like Basulto were quick to call for justice, demanding Fidel Castro be indicted following the incident. That sentiment among many Cuban-Americans hasn’t changed, though Fidel Castro died in 2016.

Cuban-American Republican lawmakers have since pushed the Justice Department to bring charges against Raul Castro. In a February letter to then-Attorney General Pam Bondi, lawmakers including Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart urged the Justice Department to prosecute Raul Castro, citing evidence including reports that there is a recording of radio traffic that indicates he ordered the shoot-down.

But some Cubans stand behind their government’s actions from decades ago, insisting it was a matter of safeguarding national security – and that Raul Castro shouldn’t be punished for it.

“I believe that was an invasion, however you look at it, and we have to defend ourselves because if any plane had flown past the Twin Towers, and they’d known it was going to be sabotaged, they would have shot it down,” Havana resident Eliecer Diaz told Reuters. “I think that’s only logical. Cuba did the right thing.”