MIAMI (AP) — A Cuban general and two fighter pilots have been indicted in the shooting down of two civilian planes in 1996 over the Florida straits, federal prosecutors announced Thursday. The four men aboard the planes were killed.
The three accused men are in Cuba, and extradition is impossible since no diplomatic relations exist between Cuba and the United States.
Gen. Ruben Martinez Puente, who was then head of the Cuban air force, and pilots Lorenzo Alberto Perez-Perez and Francisco Perez-Perez were named in the indictment.
The charges against the men include murder, conspiracy to kill U.S. citizens and destruction of aircraft. The penalties include up to life in prison or the death penalty.
The planes of the group Brothers to the Rescue were shot down by two Cuban MiGs in Feb. 24, 1996, over international waters as three aircraft searched for migrant rafters trying to flee Cuba.