Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava Statement on indictment of Raul Castro and pursuit of justice for Brothers to the Rescue families

Today, I stand with the families of Carlos Costa, Armando Alejandre Jr., Mario de la Peña, and Pablo Morales, four sons of our community who were murdered in cold blood on February 24, 1996, when Cuban military jets shot down their unarmed humanitarian aircraft over international waters.

For nearly thirty years, those families have carried an unbearable weight: the grief of sudden, violent loss, compounded by the indignity of watching those responsible evade accountability. Today, with the indictment of Raúl Castro, the wheels of justice — however long they have turned — have begun to move.

The deaths of these four men are inseparable from the larger story of Miami-Dade’s Cuban exile community and the enduring call for a free Cuba that has shaped this community.

Miami-Dade is home to one of the largest Cuban exile communities in the world. Our neighbors, our colleagues, and our friends are among the hundreds of thousands who fled tyranny, built new lives here, and never stopped pursuing the freedom and dignity that was stripped from them and their families. This community has known pain that most Americans cannot imagine: the pain of exile, of separation, and watching a homeland suffer under dictatorship for generations.

The Brothers to the Rescue were heroes. They flew unarmed, over open water, searching for Cuban refugees clinging to makeshift rafts in the Florida Straits, — men, women, and children risking their lives for the chance at freedom. The four men killed that February day died while carrying out an act of profound humanity. They deserved justice then. Their families deserve it now.

No indictment can return those four lives. No legal proceeding can undo thirty years of pain. But accountability matters. Truth matters. And for a community that has been told, again and again, to wait, today carries profound meaning.

To the Alejandre, Costa, de la Peña, and Morales families: Miami-Dade County stands with you. We have always stood with you. We will not rest until justice is fully served. We honor the memory of your loved ones and we remain dedicated to the pursuit of justice alongside the pursuit of freedom for the Cuban people.