The Brothers to the Rescue Shootdown: 17 years later

"The history of man is the history of crimes, and history can repeat. So information is a defense. Through this we can build, we must build, a defense against repetition." - Simon Wiesenthal

Today marks seventeen years since that terrible day when Armando, Carlos, Mario and Pablo were murdered. Family members held a Eucharistic celebration in memory of the four men on Sunday, February 24, 2013, at 3:00pm at St. John the Apostle Catholic Church located at 475 East Fourth Street Hialeah. The Mass was presided over by Rev. Msgr. Oscar F. Castañeda.

Mass for Four Brothers to the Rescue shoot down vicctims

The regime, their apologists and agents of influence have attempted to cover-up the facts surrounding the shoot down of two Brothers to the Rescue planes on February 24, 1996 in international airspace since the first day.

Therefore it is necessary to remind others of what happened on that day.

Seventeen years ago over the Florida Straits a brutal crime was committed by the Cuban government against civilians aboard three planes who were hunted by Cuban MiGs and in the case of two of the planes were blown to bits by air-to-air missiles fired by a Cuban MiG-29 at 3:21 p.m. and 3:27 p.m., respectively, in international airspace destroying two civilian light aircraft.

This led to the extra-judicial killings of Armando Alejandre Jr. (age 45), Carlos Alberto Costa (age 29), Mario Manuel de la Peña (age 24), and Pablo Morales (age 29).  

Documents revealed in a 2009 CBS4 investigative report demonstrate that two other Cuban MIG's pursued Brothers to the Rescue founder Jose Basulto's small plane to within three minutes of Key West before breaking off pursuit. 

This was an act of state terrorism carried out by a regime with a long history of such practices.