Family Still Seeking Justice for Miami Citizens Shotdown by Cuban Planes

A. ENRIQUE VALENTIN / EL NUEVO HERALD FILE, 1997

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/06/04/3431391/the-saga-of-the-shootdown-of-the.html#storylink=cpy

On February 245, 1996, two small aircraft flying over Miami were shot down by Cuban MiG fighter jets.  Four Miami citizens were killed.  While five men were investigated and one man convicted for the murder, one family member is still hoping for justice to be brought against the responsible parties: Raul and Fidel Castro, of the Cuban government.

  The planes were piloted by volunteers of the group Brothers to the Rescue, a group of Cuban nationals that seek refugees trying to swim the Florida straights from Cuba to the United States.  The group started in 1991 after a man floating on raft to Florida died of dehydration after being picked up by the U.S. Coast Guard. 

Kendall Coffey has called for prosecution against the Castro brothers over this case multiple times since the incident.  Most recently in 2010, when Mr. Coffey met with U.S. Attorneys in Florida to ask that the evidence against Fidel and Raul Castro be brought to grand jury for the murder of the pilots.  The U.S. Attorney office told parties involved that the request would be taken under advisement, but no action was taken.

This month the brother of one of the victims, Nelson Morales, has filed a legal demand for courts to see evidence against the Castros regarding the crime.  Attorney Juan Zorilla is representing Morales, whose brother Pablo was among the murdered men.  U.S. attorney Eduardo Sanchez has already asked for the judge to throw out the complaint as he does not see evidence that Morales' "Writ of Mandamaus" does not prove his personal hardship, nor is the evidence against the Castros sufficient for an indictment.