26 October 2026 Baku —
media.az
World

Arrest Warrant Issued in Florida for Former Cuban Leader Raúl Castro

A South Florida court has issued an arrest warrant for former Cuban leader Raúl Castro. He is accused of involvement in the shootdown of two humanitarian aircraft in 1996.

Yulduz Salimov1 min read
Text size
Arrest Warrant Issued in Florida for Former Cuban Leader Raúl Castro
World — F4Media
No time to read?Listen to the article — voiced by F4Media

A judge in South Florida has signed an arrest warrant for former Cuban leader Raúl Castro. According to NBC News, he is accused of involvement in the 1996 shootdown of two humanitarian aircraft.

The warrant was signed by Judge Ariana Fajardo Orshan of the Eleventh Judicial Circuit of Florida in Miami.

Charges and Defendants

The case concerns the “Brothers to the Rescue” aircraft. In the indictment, in addition to 95-year-old Raúl Castro, five other people are named: Lorenzo Alberto Pérez-Pérez, Emilio José Palacio Blanco, José Fidel Gual Barsaga, Raúl Simanca Cárdenas and Luis Raúl González-Pardo Rodríguez.

At the time of the aircraft incident, Castro was serving as Cuba’s defense minister. The other five defendants were pilots who were presumably involved in the operation.

Political Context

In September, US President Donald Trump ruled out the possibility of a military operation against Cuba.

Earlier, Russian President Vladimir Putin called US sanctions against Cuba unacceptable. He stressed that Russia and Cuba are linked by special relations that have developed historically.

Share

Related stories

View all
Arrest Warrant Issued in Florida for Former Cuban Leader Raúl Castrovoiced by F4Media