Cuban Resistance General Assembly Calls for Action Against Raúl Castro
The Cuban Resistance General Assembly (ARC) has announced a vigil in Miami, Florida, demanding the criminal prosecution of Raúl Castro, the 90-year-old communist dictator of Cuba, for his involvement in the murders of four Americans in February 1996.
February 24 marks the 30th anniversary of the tragic event where members of Brothers to the Rescue, an anti-communist charity organization based in Miami, were killed. In the 1990s, this group organized humanitarian missions to rescue Cubans who were attempting to flee their country and reach the United States amidst the migration crisis known as the “barceló,” or “Rafter” crisis.
On that fateful day in 1996, the organization dispatched three planes over international waters. The Cuban government shot down two of these aircraft, resulting in the deaths of American citizens Carlos Costa, Armando Alejandre, Mario de la Peña, and Pablo Morales. The third plane narrowly escaped after being pursued by a Cuban fighter jet.
In a recent interview with Cubanet, ARC coordinator Orlando Gutiérrez-Boronatto, who also contributes to Breitbart News, called for accountability for Raúl Castro, citing a pattern of atrocities committed by the Cuban Communist Party to sustain its regime. He emphasized that the massacre of the four Americans is ingrained in U.S. law, suggesting that it is possible to indict Castro for his role in this crime.
“This year marks the 30th anniversary of the Brothers to the Rescue massacre, when these four idealistic young men took to international airspace to save the lives of Cubans trying to escape the oppressive regime in our homeland,” Gutiérrez-Boronatto remarked during the video interview.
He further remarked how these young men dedicated their time and skills to rescue efforts, only to be met with violence from the Cuban government. “They killed them,” he said, highlighting the tragedy of the situation.
Gutiérrez-Boronatto has invited Cubans, as well as communities from Colombia, Venezuela, and Nicaragua, to take part in the vigil and stand against the Castro regime. He asserted that the Cuban Communist Party should not have a place in the future of Cuba, which is on the verge of freedom.
“For these martyrs who sacrificed their lives to liberate Cuba, we must act,” he concluded.
The Cuban regime, currently led nominally by President Miguel Diaz-Canel but effectively controlled by Raúl Castro, faces significant challenges. Decades of communist rule have led to dire economic circumstances, exacerbated by a halt in oil shipments from Venezuela following political shifts there.
Recently, former President Donald Trump commented on Cuba’s dire state, highlighting a lack of essential resources such as jet fuel. He mentioned ongoing discussions involving U.S. officials and deemed the situation a humanitarian crisis.
Currently, one Cuban man, linked to the 1996 murders, is attempting to hide his past and mislead authorities while living in the U.S. Luis Raul González-Pardo Rodriguez, a Cuban pilot previously implicated, was indicted on immigration fraud charges. Prosecutors found he had concealed his affiliations with the Cuban military when he entered the United States through a now-defunct humanitarian parole program, which allowed thousands of individuals to immigrate under specific terms.
