Democratic Florida Gov. Candidate Says Trump DOJ’s Indictment of Raúl Castro Is ‘Right Thing to Do’ and ‘Long Overdue’

AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa, File

Florida Democratic gubernatorial candidate David Jolly has frequently criticized President Donald Trump and his administration during the course of his campaign, but he lauded Wednesday’s news that the Department of Justice had indicted Cuba’s Raúl Castro as “the right thing to do” and “long overdue.”

Jolly, who previously represented a Pinellas County, Florida congressional district as a Republican, left the GOP in 2018 in the wake of Trump’s takeover of the party, and then officially registered as a Democrat to run for governor. It’s an open seat; the current officeholder, Gov. Ron DeSantis (R), is term-limited. Jolly is the frontrunner in the upcoming August 18 primary and is expected to face Rep. Byron Donalds (R-FL), who has been endorsed by Trump.

The Trump administration has been escalating its rhetoric against the communist government in Cuba, including Castro, the 94-year-old brother of the late dictator Fidel Castro, current leader Miguel Díaz-Canel, and other regime leaders. Raúl Castro led Cuba after his brother became ill and then turned over the position to Díaz-Canel in 2021.

On Wednesday, the DOJ unsealed a superseding indictment against Castro and five other members of the Castro regime for their alleged roles in shooting down two unarmed rescue planes in 1996, killing four U.S. nationals. The defendants are charged with conspiracy to kill U.S. nationals, two counts of destruction of aircraft, and four counts of murder, and face a maximum penalty of death or life imprisonment on the murder and conspiracy to kill U.S. nationals counts,” plus up to five years in prison for each of the destruction of aircraft counts.

Jolly reacted to the DOJ’s announcement by first honoring the families of the four men who died, and expressly praised the indictment as “the right thing to do—and it is long overdue.”

The full text of Jolly’s statement is below:

This moment belongs to four families.

It belongs to the families of Carlos Costa, Armando Alejandre Jr., Mario de la Peña, and Pablo Morales—the four men murdered on February 24, 1996, when the Cuban regime ordered the shootdown of unarmed Brothers to the Rescue humanitarian aircraft over international waters. Their bodies were never recovered. Their families have never had justice. Now, at long last, they can.

This was not an accident. It was not a misunderstanding. It was an act of state terrorism carried out by the Cuban Air Force against civilians whose only mission was humanitarian rescue.

The indictment of Raúl Castro is the right thing to do—and it is long overdue.

For decades, the families of these men and the Cuban exile community never stopped demanding accountability. They marched, they testified, they held vigils, they kept this memory alive when too many in positions of power were willing to let it fade. They were right to do so.

This is what accountability looks like. This is what the rule of law, applied without fear or political favor, is supposed to look like. And if it took too long to get here, that is a failing we should all reckon with honestly—not a reason to withhold recognition now that justice is finally being pursued.

Florida is home to a community that knows this history not as a headline, but as lived memory. This is not abstract. This is part of our state’s story.

As a candidate for governor of Florida, I want every Cuban American family—and every Floridian—to know: I see this history. I honor the sacrifice of these four men. And as governor, I will ensure that Florida never stops standing on the side of those who demand accountability for the crimes of the Cuban regime.

Justice delayed is still justice.

Today is a good day.

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