Luis Raúl González-Pardo is the only detained defendant among the six accused in a case that also includes Raúl Castro.
14ymedio/EFE, Miami, August 21, 2026 – The trial in the United States against Cuban pilot Luis Raúl González-Pardo over the 1996 downing of two Brothers to the Rescue aircraft has been postponed until at least September. The proceedings, which were scheduled to begin next Monday in Miami, are part of a case in which former Cuban ruler Raúl Castro is also accused.
Court documents available this Friday indicate that federal Judge Darrin Gayles of the Southern District of Florida scheduled a status conference for September 2, a meeting between the defense and the prosecution to determine the next steps in the proceedings.
The trial was initially scheduled for Monday, August 24, but both sides requested that it be postponed because of the volume and complexity of the evidence. González-Pardo is the only detained defendant among the six Cubans indicted in May by the U.S. Department of Justice.
In addition to González-Pardo and Raúl Castro, the Department of Justice indicted four other Cubans on charges of conspiracy to kill U.S. citizens and murder
“The Government has informed the defense that this case involves a significant volume of evidence, including classified material, obsolete media storage and physical evidence from three decades ago, as well as reports that were not previously preserved in electronic format,” one of the court documents states.
The indictment is related to the February 24, 1996, downing of two Brothers to the Rescue aircraft by Cuban Air Force fighter jets. Carlos Costa, Armando Alejandre, Mario Manuel de la Peña and Pablo Morales were killed in the attack, three U.S. citizens and one legal U.S. resident, all of Cuban origin.
Brothers to the Rescue conducted flights over the Florida Straits from Florida to locate and assist rafters leaving Cuba.
In addition to González-Pardo and Raúl Castro, the Department of Justice indicted four other Cubans on charges of conspiracy to kill U.S. citizens and murder.
The pilot arrived in the United States in April 2024 through the humanitarian parole program created during the Joe Biden administration
González-Pardo had been detained since last November on a separate case related to immigration fraud. In May, he was sentenced to seven months in prison for providing U.S. authorities with false information about his career in the Cuban Armed Forces.
The pilot arrived in the United States in April 2024 through the humanitarian parole program created during the Joe Biden administration. According to the Department of Justice, he omitted or falsified information about his membership in the Cuban Air Force between 1980 and 2009 when he filed Form I-485 to apply for adjustment of his immigration status.
In the Brothers to the Rescue case, Judge Enjolique A. Lett ordered on June 23 that he remain in custody after the prosecution argued that there was “a serious risk” that he would not appear for trial.
The case was formally opened on May 20, when the Department of Justice announced the indictment of Raúl Castro and five other Cubans over the deaths of the four members of Brothers to the Rescue.
The charges could carry sentences of life imprisonment or even the death penalty. The indictment against 95-year-old Castro came amid Washington’s hardening policy toward Havana under the administration of Donald Trump.
Translated by Regina Anavy
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