MIAMI — Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel released a statement on Wednesday reacting to the U.S. indictment of Raúl Castro, whom he referred to as “a hero,” a “stateman,” and a “guerrilla fighter.”

For the fatal 1996 shootdown of two Brothers to the Rescue planes, the indictment charged Castro, 94, with conspiracy to kill U.S. nationals, two counts of destruction of aircraft, and four counts of murder.

“The purported accusation against Army General Raúl Castro Ruz, just announced by the U.S. government, only reveals the arrogance and frustration that the representatives of the empire feel toward the unyielding resolve of the Cuban Revolution and the unity and moral strength of its leadership,” Díaz-Canel wrote, according to the statement in Spanish released on his X account.

Acting U.S. Attorney General of the United States Todd Blanch and FBI Deputy Director Christopher Raia were among the U.S. officials who announced the charges on Wednesday at the Freedom Tower in downtown Miami.

“This is a political maneuver, devoid of any legal foundation, aimed solely at padding the fabricated dossier they use to justify the folly of a military aggression against Cuba,” Díaz-Canel wrote.

Carlos Costa, Pablo Morales, Mario De La Peña and Armando Alejandre died after the Cuban Air Force shootdown of two Brothers to the Rescue Cessna 337 Skymasters that had departed from the Opa Locka Executive Airport at about 3:20 p.m. on Feb. 24, 1996.

“The U.S. lies and distorts the events surrounding the downing of the planes belonging to the narco-terrorist organization Brothers to the Rescue in 1996,” Díaz-Canel wrote. “It knows full well — given the abundance of documentary evidence — that no imprudent action was taken nor was international law violated.“

Brothers to the Rescue has been known for decades as a Miami-based nonprofit organization that counted on volunteers to help spot Cuban migrants, who needed to be rescued in the Florida Straits.

“Cuba acted in legitimate self-defense within its jurisdictional waters, following repeated and dangerous violations of our airspace by notorious terrorists — a fact of which the U.S. administration at the time was alerted on more than a dozen occasions, yet it ignored the warnings and allowed those violations to continue,“ Díaz-Canel wrote.

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Andrea Torres