DOJ to Announce Charges Against Raúl Castro Tomorrow, NBC News Sources Say
· Telemundo McAllen (KTLM)
A day before the press conference regarding the Brothers to the Rescue case, two NBC News sources reported that the Department of Justice would announce formal charges against former Cuban leader Raúl Castro in Miami during the event scheduled for May 20. Congressional and federal leaders indicated on Tuesday that they would make significant announcements regarding the downing of the planes during Cuba's Independence Day. The Cuban regime reacted, stating that the incident was not an isolated violation of airspace. In a statement, the Cuban Embassy in the United States called the incident, in which four pilots died—three of them American citizens on February 24, 1996—a 'myth' and a 'deception.' They argued that between 1994 and 1996, the Cuban Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cuban civil aviation authorities documented over 25 serious, deliberate, and systematic violations of Cuban airspace. They claimed these were not miscalculations but a continuous campaign that endangered international aviation security. The exact location of the downing is crucial in the ongoing legal and political battle since 1996. According to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), the attack occurred in international waters, not within Cuban airspace, as the Cuban government contends. This detail is essential as the case could be considered a crime against American citizens outside Cuba, potentially leading to legal actions against the 94-year-old Raúl Castro, who was the Minister of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Cuba. This week, two press conferences were scheduled in Washington, D.C. and Miami, respectively, related to the Brothers to the Rescue case. At 9 a.m., the group of Cuban-American congress members will hold their event in the capital, while at 1 p.m., the Department of Justice will hold its event at the Tower of Liberty. Both events will take place on May 20, known in Cuba as Independence Day. On Wednesday, two federal sources familiar with the investigation and the press conference scheduled for tomorrow in Miami indicated that the Department of Justice and the FBI are expected to announce formal charges against Raúl Castro. On May 15, Telemundo 51 reported that the Department of Justice already had a date for the formal charges, confirmed by a source familiar with the matter to our sister network NBC. That same source linked the charges to the case of the downed planes. The victims were Carlos Costa, Mario de la Peña, Armando Alejandre Jr., and Pablo Morales, members of Brothers to the Rescue, a group primarily dedicated to locating and assisting Cuban rafters in the Florida Straits. Notably, the statement does not directly mention the downing of the planes or the deaths for which the United States plans to present criminal charges against the Cuban leader.
AI summary · Source: Telemundo McAllen (KTLM) →
