Florida Issues Arrest Warrant for Cuba’s Ex-Leader Raul Castro

Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier announced an arrest warrant for 95-year-old Raul Castro on charges relating to the deaths of four Floridians when two civilian aircraft belonging to Brothers to the Rescue were shot down on February 24, 1996. Castro was also federally indicted over the incident in May, and US officials said they would pursue parallel state and federal prosecutions. Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez denounced Florida’s move as a political maneuver, while President Miguel Diaz-Canel said the federal indictment had no legal basis.