Revealing a steely yet erratic contempt of the law, the US Department of Justice is showing, again, how it became the spear carrier for kooky ideas and vengeful projects. No leader is seemingly safe from an indictment if the personal interest ofPresident Donald Trumpis invested. It need not matter if the legal foundations are shoddy to the point of sheer absurdity – the more absurd, the more likely the paperwork will be filed.

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The May 20 unsealing of asuperseding indictmentby the DOJ againstRaúl Castrobulks that pile. As brother to the lateFidel Castroand Cuban president from 2008 to 2019, participant in the legendary assault on the Moncada Barracks in July 1953 and founding member of the M-26-7 guerrilla outfit, he has been a persistent reminder of failures by the United States to subjugate the island and its government since the revolutionary overthrow of the blood basted regime ofFulgencio Batista. In April 1961, for instance, the Castro brothers ensured the survival of the revolution by defeating the CIA-backed attack at the Bay of Pigs, consisting of 1,400 Cuban exiles. The ill-conceived, error-plagued operation took much lustre off the Camelot that was the Kennedy administration.

The indictment, which also nets five Cuban air force pilots, alleges that aircraft of the ostensibly humanitarian organisation BTTR (Brothers to the Rescue) were fired upon by Cuban MiG aircraft on February 24, 1996. Three had taken off from South Florida heading to Cuba that day. Two unarmed civilian Cessna aircraft were destroyed, allegedly flying outside Cuban territory. Three American citizens and one resident of the US were killed.

The charges include one count of conspiracy to kill US nationals, two counts of destruction of an aircraft and four counts of murder. At the time, Castro was the Minister of Defence overseeing the Cuban Revolutionary Air and Air Defence Force (DAAFAR). He is said to have ordered the five pilots to follow and eliminate the three BTTR aircraft.

The indictment does a superb job in making glaring omissions. There is no mention of the nervous mood of US officials at the time, notably those at the Federal Aviation Administration, State Department and White House. No mention, either, of the compounding recklessness of the BTTR missions. The flights were intended to seek and assist Cubans sailing to the US and imperilled at sea. They were, however, unauthorised and deemed provocative to the Cuban government, not least because they also pursued a propaganda campaign in Cuban airspace. FAA recordsmade availableby the invaluable offices of the National Security Archive and used in William LeoGrande and Peter Kornbluh’sBack Channel to Cuba: The Hidden History of Negotiations Between Washington and Havana(2014) are not exactly glowing about the BTTR, led by its obstinate founder,José Basulto.

The book usefully, and rather damningly, reveals the backchannel efforts by the Cuban government, including Fidel Castro, to convince the Clinton administration to ground the BTTR flights. In 1995,protests had been filedby the Civil Aeronautics Institute of Cuba claiming that BTTR aircraft had violated Cuban airspace by overflying populated zones and dropping propaganda material inciting an overthrow of the government. (Hardly a humanitarian enterprise.) The FAA commenced an investigation into the matter,warningBasulto numerous times to cease these “taunting” provocations. On January 11, 1995, for instance, representatives of the Miami Flight Standards District Office (FSDO) met with Basulto,advising himof the consequences arising from the unauthorised penetration of Cuban airspace. He was also warned that any violation of the Federal Aviation Regulations (FAR) or any pertinent international regulations would be investigated, prosecuted and adjudicated. Despite taking steps to suspend his flying license, the agency showed a sufficient degree of weak will in permitting him to fly, despite his persistent habit of filing false flight plans.

On January 22, 1996, FAA official Cecelia Capestanyinformedher superiors of yet another unauthorised flight that took place two days prior. The State Department was “increasingly concerned about Cuban reactions to these flagrant violations. They are also asking from the FAA what is this agency doing to prevent/deter these actions.” She notes a call made the previous week byUndersecretary of State Peter TarnofftoTransportation Secretary Federico Peña“to check on our case against Basulto. Worse case scenario is that one of these days the Cubans will shoot down one of these planes and the FAA better have all its ducks in a row.”

That same month, Fidel Castroreached an agreement, or so he thought, with DemocraticRep. Bill Richardsonof New Mexico for the release of certain political prisoners in exchange of a promise fromPresident Bill Clintonthat the BTTR planes would cease their operations. Richardson’s superficially rich offering, however, was not based on executive fiat but conservations with White House aides who then pressured Secretary Peña to chase up the FAA.

Source: Global Research