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MIAMI - In the biggest indictment ever brought by the United States against Cuban government officials, federal prosecutors Thursday indicted the former head of the Cuban air force and two senior fighter pilots for the alleged murder of four Cuban exiles shot down 71/2 years ago over the Straits of Florida.
The indictment comes in the midst of a growing rebellion in Cuban-American political ranks over the perceived failure of the Bush administration to deliver on campaign promises.
The indictment was welcomed by exile leaders who have long campaigned for charges to be brought in the shooting down of the two planes. The incident caused a major diplomatic row at the time, and prompted President Bill Clinton to sign into law tougher economic sanctions against the island.
Charges against the men include seven counts of murder, conspiracy to kill U.S. nationals and destruction of aircraft. If convicted, they could be sentenced to life in prison or the death penalty.
But the three men - one general and two lieutenant colonels - are decorated war heroes in Cuba and are unlikely to face trial in the United States. Gen. Ruben Martinez Puente was head of the air force for about nine years and retired shortly after the incident. The pilots, Lorenzo Alberto Perez-Perez and Francisco Perez-Perez, are twins.
The two small Cessna planes flown by members of the exile group Brothers to the Rescue were shot down by two Cuban air force MiGs on Feb. 24, 1996. Cuba says the planes violated Cuban government air space on a hostile mission carrying weapons. But at a news conference Thursday to announce the charges, U.S. District Attorney Marcos Jimenez described the four men - Carlos Costa, Pablo Morales, Mario de la Pena and Armando Alejandre - as "defenseless U.S. nationals on a peaceful mission over international waters."
An investigation by the United Nations concluded that the planes were over international waters, flying away from the Cuban coast when they were shot down.
The Perez-Perez twins are accused of firing two air-to-air missiles without trying to warn the exile planes to land, or trying to force them to land, as required by international aviation regulations.
Thursday's indictment described the incident as "part of a conspiracy" by the Cuban government - dubbed Operation Scorpion - involving a team of Cuban spies in the United States who arranged "to lure the Brothers to the Rescue aircraft into flying on the day of the shoot-down."
One of the spies, Juan Pablo Roque, had infiltrated Brothers to the Rescue and also was working at the time as a confidential informant for the FBI, providing information on the activities of the group. Prosecutors allege that Roque deliberately misled the FBI by informing agents that the group had no plans to fly on that day, "ensuring that the FBI would not stop the flights."
Despite being pleased by news of the charges, some Cuban exile leaders were not entirely satisfied. "I'm pleased, but I'm puzzled," said Tampa lawyer Ralph Fernandez, who lobbied the government for several years over the case. "It's a good move, but the timing is suspect," he added, referring to the recent threats by exile leaders to abandon the Republican Party.
Cuban exile leaders began voicing strong criticism of Bush's Cuba policy after the repatriation last month of a group of Cubans who hijacked a boat to flee the island. They were backed by Gov. Jeb Bush, who said, "It's just not right."
Fernandez and others were disappointed about the Justice Department's decision not to include Cuban leader Fidel Castro as one of the conspirators. "It's a great day, but it's tempered by the very noticeable omission of the person who should be the lead defendant, the comandante en jefe himself," he said.
- Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.