Cuba Archive - Case 8567

Case ID: 8567

Title: N/A

First name: Mario Manuel

Last name: De la Peña

Suffix: N/A

Aliases: N/A

Name also reported as: N/A

Age: 24

Gender: Male

Date of Birth: Day:28 / Month:12 / Year:1971

Civil Status: Unknown

Date of death/disappearance: Day:24 / Month:2 / Year:1996

Citizenship: United States

Last known address: 10016 SW 25th St

Last known city: Miami, Florida

Last known province-TOD: N/A

Last known province current: N/A

Last known country: United States

Location death-address: International airspace over the Florida Straits

Location of death - city: N/A

Location of death province - at TOD: N/A

Location of death province - current: N/A

Location of death - country: N/A

Trial held?: N/A

Docket Number: N/A

Sentence details: N/A

Arrest or detention at time of death: No

Date of arrest: N/A

Imprisoned/Detained: Location: N/A

How long imprisoned/detained: N/A

Death attributed to: Castro regime

Death attribution detail: Cuban Armed Forces (Air Force)

Associated Event: N/A

Case description:

U.S. citizen, pilot of a civilian airplane (Cessna 337) shot down by Cuban MIGs over international waters while flying a humanitarian search and rescue mission for the non-profit organization “Brothers to the Rescue.” Passenger and volunteer spotter, Armando Alejandre, also perished. No remains were recovered. A second aircraft out of the three unarmed civilian planes flying together was also shot down, its two occupants also perishing.  Brothers to the Rescue flew thousands of volunteer missions to spot rafters at sea fleeing Cuba, notifying the U.S. Coast Guard of their location so they would be rescued. The organization also took food, water and clothing to rafters held in detention centers in nearby countries. Mario had flown close to one hundred such missions. The Cuban government's actions were denounced by the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Cuba and condemned by the International Civil Aviation Organization, which issued a report on June 27, 1996 confirming the shoot down had occurred in international airspace.  The families of the victims obtained a judgment in U.S. Superior Court against the Cuban government for premeditated murder. In July 1996, then Cuban President Fidel Castro told U.S. reporter Dan Rather, of CBS, that he had ordered the action. But, a recording (made by the official national radio station Radio Rebelde) obtained in 2006 has Raúl Castro, then Minister of Defense, telling government officials on June 21, 1996 that he had designed the plan and personally ordered the shoot down of the two planes the day it occurred.
================================================
Ciudadano estadounidense piloto de un avión civil (Cessna 337) derribado por MIG 29 cubanos sobre aguas internacionales mientras volaba en una misión humanitaria de búsqueda y rescate para la organización sin fines de lucro “Hermanos al Rescate”.  Armando Alejandre también iba en el avión ayudando a encontrar balseros. Ambos fallecieron y no se recuperaron restos. También fue derribado un segundo avión de los tres aviones civiles desarmados que volaban juntos y sus dos ocupantes murieron. Brothers to the Rescue realizó miles de misiones para detectar balseros que huían de Cuba por mar, notificando a la Guardia Costera de Estados Unidos su ubicación para que fueran rescatados. La organización también llevó comida, agua y ropa a los balseros que se encuentran en centros de detención en países cercanos como Bahamas. Las acciones del gobierno cubano fueron denunciadas por el Relator Especial de Naciones Unidas sobre Cuba y condenadas por la Organización de Aviación Civil Internacional, que emitió un informe el 27 de junio de 1996 confirmando que el derribo se había producido en el espacio aéreo internacional. Los familiares de las víctimas obtuvieron una sentencia en la Corte Superior de Estados Unidos contra el gobierno cubano por asesinato premeditado.. En julio de 1996, el entonces presidente cubano Fidel Castro le dijo al reportero estadounidense Dan Rather, de CBS, que había ordenado la acción. Pero, una grabación (realizada por la emisora oficial Radio Rebelde) obtenida en 2006 muestra a Raúl Castro, entonces ministro de Defensa, contándole a funcionarios del gobierno en la sede provincial del Partido Comunista de Cuba (PCC) en Holguín el 21 de junio de 1996 que él había diseñado el plan y personalmente ordenó el derribo de los dos aviones en la fecha en que ocurrió.

Sources: Conflict of Evidence:

Violation Status: Confirmed with primary source(s)

Cause of Death: - Terrorism/Attack on civilian

Occupations: - Transportation and Material Moving Occupations

External Files: N/A

Relatives in Archive: N/A

Victim Type: - Political opponent: member of opposition group

Affiliations: - Brothers to the Rescue

Other Victims Same Event: - Case 8565: Armando Alejandre - Case 8566: Carlos Alberto Costa Pino - Case 8568: Pablo Morales

Case Record - Mario Manuel De la Peña