{"id":8539,"date":"2026-05-21T20:01:43","date_gmt":"2026-05-21T20:01:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=8539"},"modified":"2026-05-21T20:01:43","modified_gmt":"2026-05-21T20:01:43","slug":"indictment-of-former-cuban-president-includes-5-fighter-jet-pilots-involved-in-1996-plane-downings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=8539","title":{"rendered":"Indictment of former Cuban president includes 5 fighter jet pilots involved in 1996 plane downings"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

By REGINA GARCIA CANO<\/strong><\/p>\n

MEXICO CITY (AP) \u2014 Federal authorities in the United States have charged former Cuban President Ra\u00fal Castro and five fighter pilots in the 1996 downing of small civilian planes operated by Miami-based exiles.<\/p>\n

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The indictment announced Wednesday emerged as the Trump administration continues its pressure campaign to topple the island\u2019s socialist government. The charges accuse Castro and the military pilots of conspiring to terrorize, intimidate and retaliate against Cubans and the country\u2019s exile community by shooting down the aircraft flown by the Brothers to the Rescue group.<\/p>\n

Castro, now 94, was defense minister when MiG fighters targeted the group\u2019s planes.<\/p>\n

Authorities allege that Castro\u2019s five co-conspirators, all part of the Cuban Revolutionary Air and Air Defense Force, engaged in training missions around February 1996 \u201cto find, track, pursue and intercept\u201d aircraft off the Cuban coast in anticipation of flights by Brothers to the Rescue.<\/p>\n

The indictment states that they underwent training at Castro\u2019s \u201ccommand and with direction from\u201d a co-conspirator who was not indicted.<\/p>\n

Here is what is known about the five pilots, who were identified as Lt. Col. Lorenzo Alberto P\u00e9rez-P\u00e9rez, Jos\u00e9 Fidel Gual Barzaga, Lt. Col. Luis Ra\u00fal Gonz\u00e1lez-Pardo Rodr\u00edguez, Emilio Jos\u00e9 Palacio Blanco and Ra\u00fal Simanca C\u00e1rdenas.<\/p>\n

Lt. Col. Lorenzo Alberto P\u00e9rez-P\u00e9rez<\/h4>\n

The indictment alleges that P\u00e9rez-P\u00e9rez and a pilot who was not charged shot down two planes on Feb. 24, 1996, in international airspace, killing four Americans.<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

P\u00e9rez-P\u00e9rez told Cuban state television days after the shooting that he intercepted the first aircraft and warned it based on orders from controllers. He said the plane ignored his warnings.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe tried to dissuade their crew members, but they continued to dangerously approach the Cuban coast, and then we received the order to interrupt the flight of the first aircraft,\u201d P\u00e9rez-P\u00e9rez said at the time. \u201cAfterward, we conducted the same operation with the second plane, which also refused to change its direction.\u201d<\/p>\n

Castro is accused in the indictment of authorizing the use of deadly force after Brothers to the Rescue flew planes that dropped pro-democracy leaflets over Cuba in January 1996. U.S. prosecutors said Castro and his older brother, Fidel Castro, who was president at the time, were the final decision-makers on orders to kill.<\/p>\n

P\u00e9rez-P\u00e9rez was previously indicted in the U.S. in August 2003 and accused of murder, aircraft destruction and conspiracy.<\/p>\n

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\n<\/div>\n

Lt. Col. Luis Ra\u00fal Gonz\u00e1lez-Pardo Rodr\u00edguez<\/h4>\n

The indictment alleges that on the same day of the deadly attacks, Gual Barzaga, Simanca C\u00e1rdenas and Gonz\u00e1lez-Pardo Rodr\u00edguez followed but did not destroy a third plane.<\/p>\n

Gonz\u00e1lez-Pardo Rodr\u00edguez, 65, is the only defendant in U.S. custody. He was indicted in November for allegedly making false statements in an immigration document.<\/p>\n

The U.S. Department of Justice at the time said that he falsely stated he never received any weapons or military training, never participated in any group that used weapons or threatened to use weapons, and never served in a military or police unit. In reality, prosecutors said, \u201che received such training and served in the Cuban military as part of the Air Defense Force.\u201d<\/p>\n

He is scheduled to be sentenced later this month after pleading guilty in February.<\/p>\n

The five pilots and Castro face one count of conspiracy to kill U.S. nationals. Castro and P\u00e9rez-P\u00e9rez were also indicted on counts of murder and destruction of aircraft.<\/p>\n

Three other pilots<\/h4>\n

Little is known about Gual Barzaga, Palacio Blanco and Simanca C\u00e1rdenas.<\/p>\n

The indictment alleges that P\u00e9rez-P\u00e9rez and Palacio Blanco took off from the San Antonio de los Ba\u00f1os airfield, near Havana, in separate jets. P\u00e9rez-P\u00e9rez requested authorization to shoot down the civilian aircraft some 20 minutes later.<\/p>\n

While P\u00e9rez-P\u00e9rez attacked the two planes, according to the indictment, Gual Barzaga and Simanca C\u00e1rdenas sat together in a third fighter jet, and Gonz\u00e1lez-Pardo Rodr\u00edguez was in a fourth one ready to deploy. Authorities allege the waiting pilots listened to P\u00e9rez-P\u00e9rez\u2019s radio requests for authorization to attack the planes, and they eventually joined him in the pursuit of the third civilian aircraft.<\/p>\n

The federal indictment includes an undated photo of Gonz\u00e1lez-Pardo Rodr\u00edguez and P\u00e9rez-P\u00e9rez looking at a document next to a fighter jet.<\/p>\n

Associated Press writer D\u00e1nica Coto in San Juan, Puerto Rico, contributed to this report.<\/em><\/p>\n

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