Juan Pablo Roque González infiltrated the organization in Miami and returned to Cuba just before the attack
14ymedio, Madrid, November 28, 2025 — Juan Pablo Roque González, alias “Germán,” one of the Cuban spies involved in the shoot-down of Brothers to the Rescue planes in 1996, has died in Havana at the age of 70. This was confirmed this Friday from Miami by his ex-wife, Ana Margarita Martínez, who stated that his death occurred on November 25.
In an interview with Mario Vallejola, a Cuban journalist living in the US, the woman explained that he died from “a virus, one of those that is going around Cuba now.” He had undergone a heart operation and was in “delicate” condition.
“In an ironic turn of events, his death occurred on the same date that Fidel Castro died, the same dictator he served,” said Martínez, who has always maintained that Roque hid his true job from her during the marriage. She referred to this again in a social media post: “Although our marriage was later annulled in court, the consequences of his deception were profound and personal. He never faced earthly justice for his actions.”
Martínez states that, before the death of her ex-husband, she felt “obliged to address a chapter that left a deep mark on my life and in our Cuban-American community.” Roque González — recalls his ex-wife — was a member of the so-called Wasp Network, “and his betrayal caused immense damage,” not only to her and her family, “but also to the brave volunteers of Brothers to the Rescue and all those who have fought tirelessly for freedom, truth and human dignity.”
The woman explained that “he died from a virus, one of those going around Cuba now.” He had undergone a heart operation and was in “delicate” condition.
In her post she mentions the four victims of that attack — Mario de la Peña, Carlos Costa, Pablo Morales and Armando Alejandre Jr. — volunteers from the Brothers to the Rescue organization, which helped exiled Cubans and promoted freedom on the island. On February 24 almost 30 years ago, they flew in three small planes to track the rafters in the Florida Straits.
Only one returned to the Opa Locka airfield in north Miami. The other two were pulverized by missiles fired from two MiG fighters of the Cuban Air Force. Havana — then with Fidel Castro still in full power — claimed that the aircraft violated the airspace of the country, but both the US and the exile community maintained that the attack took place over international waters.
Roque González himself, a lieutenant colonel of the Cuban Revolutionary Armed Forces, served as a pilot for Brothers to the Rescue, which he infiltrated after simulating his desertion from the island in 1992, swimming to the US naval base at Guantánamo. He returned to Cuba one day before the attack and never faced justice.
His story was different from that of the five Cuban spies convicted in 2001 by the US for conspiracy to commit murder and espionage, as well as being unregistered agents of a foreign government. Arrested in 1998 in Florida while carrying out intelligence work for Cuba, the regime deployed an intense and costly propaganda campaign for their release, elevating them to the status of heroes.
The figure of Roque González gained prominence five years ago, when Netflix aired the controversial film “The WASP Network,” where he was played by actor Wagner Moura
One of them, René González, was released in 2011, and three years later, Fernando González completed his sentence, after which both returned to Cuba. In December 2014, as part of the thaw initiated by President Barack Obama, with Raúl Castro succeeding his brother Fidel in the Plaza de la Revolución, the three who remained serving sentences in the US — Ramón Labañino, Antonio Guerrero and Gerardo Hernández Nordelo — were released and deported to Cuba. In return, the Cuban government handed over Alan Gross, a contractor imprisoned on the Island for trying to deliver satellite connection devices to the Jewish community.
The figure of Roque González gained prominence five years ago, when Netflix aired the controversial film “The WASP Network,” where he was played by actor Wagner Moura. Ana Margarita Martínez, who was played by Ana de Armas, filed a lawsuit against Netflix, claiming that the film distorted reality. It was not the only lawsuit over the film: José Basulto, founder of Brothers to the Rescue, also sued for presenting him as a terrorist, although he finally settled with Netflix.
The attack on the planes took place at a time when the US administration was considering lifting the embargo on the island. In response to the shoot-down, the opposite happened: then-President Bill Clinton signed the Helms-Burton Act and intensified the economic sanctions against Cuba.
Translated by Regina Anavy
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