Cuban airmen indicted for shooting down civilian U.S. aircraft

? 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 because 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 an indictment to be released later Thursday, the U.S. attorney’s office announced.

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.

Cuba’s intent was “to terrorize the Cuban population” on the island and in Miami, U.S. Attorney Marcos Jimenez said at a news conference announcing the indictment. “These were defenseless U.S. nationals who were carrying out a humanitarian mission over international waters.”

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.

A third plane, carrying Brothers to the Rescue leader Jose Basulto and two observers, was not hit. On several flights before that day, members of the group had violated Cuba’s airspace and dropped leaflets over the island supporting human rights.

Basulto called the indictment “a step in the right direction.” Cuban-American activists have been lobbying for the indictment of Cuban President Fidel Castro in the attack.

“The fact that the indictment is taking place is a good measure because it’s sending a signal to Cuba,” Basulto said Thursday. “I expect the indictment of Castro takes place shortly because he’s the one that ordered the shootdown and that is well-documented.”

There was no immediate comment from the Cuban government about the indictment.

Some Cuban-Americans, including several Congress members and state lawmakers, have recently been critical of President Bush’s administration for not taking a tougher stance against Castro. A group of 13 Florida state legislators told Bush in a letter that his steadfast support in the Cuban-American community could be endangered in the 2004 presidential election. Losing that support could be critical in carrying Florida, which Bush did by 537 votes in 2000, giving him the White House.

Spy ring chief Gerardo Hernandez is appealing his murder conspiracy conviction and life sentence in the deaths.

The spy ring conspired to lure the “aircraft into flying on the day of the shootdown by ensuring that the FBI would not stop the flights,” Jimenez said.