PRESS RELEASE

For Immediate Release

February 24, 2012

Congressman Rivera Calls for Justice for Victims of Brothers to the Rescue Shootdown

Miami, Fla.- Congressman David Rivera (FL-25) released the following statement calling for justice for the victims of the 1996 Brothers to the Rescue shootdown that took the life of three American citizens and one American resident.

“Sixteen years ago Armando Alejandre, Jr., Carlos Costa, Mario de la Peña and Pablo Morales were killed over international waters while on a humanitarian mission.  Their shootdown was ordered by Raul Castro and ruthlessly carried out by members of the Cuban Air Force.  Three of them, Cuban General Ruben Martinez Puente, Lorenzo Perez and Francisco Perez were indicted in U.S. courts in 2003, but more than a decade and a half after their crime, these murderers have not been brought to justice.

“These men’s whereabouts are known and documented.  It is time for the U.S. Justice Department and international law enforcement organizations to take action and hold them accountable for their actions that cost the lives of three American citizens and a U.S. resident.

“Instead of extending olive branches, the Obama administration should be exerting pressure on the Castro regime, a designated State Sponsor of Terrorism, for their role in the Brothers to the Rescue shootdown, for their abhorrent record on human rights, and for their support of other dictatorial regimes.”

###