A group founded by Cuban exiles known as Brothers to the Rescue is at the center of the U.S. Justice Department's decision to seek an indictment against Cuban leader Raúl Castro, a move that would revive one of the lowest points in the bitter decades-long bilateral relationship.
One person familiar with the investigation told The Associated Press that the potential indictment is connected to Castro’s alleged role in the 1996 shootdown of two planes operated by the Miami-based exile group. Castro was defense minister at the time, making him the nation's highest authority after his brother Fidel.
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FILE - Cuba's President Raul Castro listens to the Cuban and Venezuelan national anthems during his welcome ceremony at the Miraflores presidential palace, March 17, 2015, in Caracas, Venezuela. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos, File)
FILE - Some of the boats from the flotilla head for open waters March 2, 1996 off Key West, Fla., carrying Cuban Americans to the site of the downing of two Brothers to the Rescue planes by Cuban fighters. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer, File)
FILE - A Brothers to the Rescue plane flies over The Democracy Movement flotilla at the twelve-mile limit north of Havana, Cuba, July 10, 1999. (AP Photo/Alan Diaz, File)
FILE - Former Cuban President Raul Castro looks at the Cuban flag during his speech at the event celebrating the 65th anniversary of the triumph of the revolution in Santiago, Cuba, Jan. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Ismael Francisco, File)
The person spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to discuss an ongoing investigation.
Brothers to the Rescue began operating in 1980 during 125,000 Cubans' unexpected emigration to the United States. Founded by emigré José Basulto, it aimed to help Cuban refugees in the Florida straits by dropping supplies from small planes and alerting the U.S. Coast Guard.
The monthslong crisis began after some Cubans protested the travel restrictions imposed by President Fidel Castro's communist government and Castro opened the port of Mariel to anyone who wanted to leave, filling the Florida straits with desperate people.
The Clinton administration changed immigration rules to discourage Cubans from heading north on rickety, makeshift boats. Meanwhile, Brothers to the Rescue, which is also known by its Spanish name Hermanos al Rescate, continued flying toward Cuban airspace and provoking Havana.
On Feb. 24, 1996, three planes carrying members of Brothers to the Rescue entered a zone close to the 24th parallel, a short distance north of Havana and some of Cuba's highest-value targets.
Cuban fighter planes shot down two of the exiles' unarmed civilian Cessnas, killing all four men aboard. A third plane, carrying the organization’s leader, narrowly escaped.
In a story fictionalized in the movie “The Wasp Network,” U.S. counterintelligence caught five Cuban intelligence agents who had infiltrated Brothers to the Rescue. Two Cuban agents served long sentences and three were only released from custody in the prisoner exchange that came before former President Barack Obama's detente with Raúl Castro.
Two Cuban fighter jet pilots and their commanding officer have also been indicted in the shootdown— but have remained outside the reach of U.S. law enforcement — while living in Cuba.
Castro has been under U.S. criminal investigation before. In 1993, federal prosecutors in Miami considered charging him and several other senior Cuban military officials with cocaine trafficking based on testimony from Colombian traffickers that emerged in the drug trial of former Panamanian leader Manuel Noriega, the AP reported in 2006.
But an indictment never followed amid concerns about the witness’ credibility as well as fears that it could risk U.S. intelligence operations and derail a possible outreach to Cuba then under consideration by President Bill Clinton.
Associated Press reporters Eric Tucker and Alanna Durkin Richer in Washington, D.C. contributed.
This story was first published on May 18, 2026. It was updated on May 19, 2026 to correct that two planes operated by Brothers to the Rescue were shot down, not four.
FILE - Cuba's President Raul Castro listens to the Cuban and Venezuelan national anthems during his welcome ceremony at the Miraflores presidential palace, March 17, 2015, in Caracas, Venezuela. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos, File)
FILE - Some of the boats from the flotilla head for open waters March 2, 1996 off Key West, Fla., carrying Cuban Americans to the site of the downing of two Brothers to the Rescue planes by Cuban fighters. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer, File)
FILE - A Brothers to the Rescue plane flies over The Democracy Movement flotilla at the twelve-mile limit north of Havana, Cuba, July 10, 1999. (AP Photo/Alan Diaz, File)
FILE - Former Cuban President Raul Castro looks at the Cuban flag during his speech at the event celebrating the 65th anniversary of the triumph of the revolution in Santiago, Cuba, Jan. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Ismael Francisco, File)
MADRID (AP) — More than a million people poured into a central Madrid plaza on Sunday for Pope Leo XIV ’s main Mass and a procession highlighting one of the most iconic expressions of Spanish popular piety: flower carpets.
They cheered and shouted “This is the youth of the pope!” as Leo arrived for the Mass, looping around the plaza and surrounding streets in his popemobile to a crowd packed several rows deep behind barricades.
Sunday’s Mass falls on the Catholic Corpus Domini feast day, which often features processions of faithful through towns and cities led by a priest carrying the Eucharist. In Spain as in other predominantly Catholic countries, the processions often feature elaborate floral carpets arranged along the route.
Leo, who arrived in Spain on Saturday at the start of his weeklong visit, has been keen to highlight the long tradition of Catholic devotion here to encourage especially young generations to find their faith.
At a vigil service Saturday night, an estimated 600,000 young Spaniards knelt for several minutes in silent prayer alongside Leo, suggesting that there is indeed interest among young people despite Spain’s heavily secularized society.
“Let me take the opportunity to tell all of you: Don't ever be afraid of thinking about a vocation to the priesthood or religious life, or other services in the church!” Leo told the crowd.
Irati Valda and Javier Hormazal, a young couple, held up a cardboard sign announcing they are going to get married on June 13 and were ushered up close to receive Leo's blessing during the vigil.
“To see so many young people together, it's incredible. Half a million people in silence, this is something you will only live once," Valda said.
For Sunday's Mass and procession, local organizers said 1.2 million people had turned out on a brilliant spring morning at the central Plaza Cibeles and surrounding streets, with more trying to get in.
The tradition of laying flower carpets — and destroying them when the procession tramples them — dates back two centuries and is popular also in Latin America, where elaborate sand designs are also made. The painstaking displays are considered an offering to the Eucharist.
Poland has already had its tradition of Corpus Domini flower carpets recognized by UNESCO, and Spain's Galicia region is trying to have its tradition listed along with other countries as part of the world’s intangible cultural heritage.
According to Spanish organizers, the 16 flower carpets decorating the half-kilometer (mile) procession route were prepared by a Spanish florists association from Galicia. Florists used more than 30,000 flowers, most the yellow and white colors of the Holy See flag, for the carpets that feature decorations such as the Holy See keys.
Wildly popular religious processions, pilgrimages and feasts continue to be held in most Spanish regions. The most recognizable are Holy Week processions during the final week of Lent where brotherhoods and robed penitents parade ornate statues of Christ and the Virgin Mary through cities, towns and villages alongside marching bands. Such processions draw the faithful as well as droves of non-believers and tourists.
Spanish towns and cities also regularly honor local patron saints with fiestas. Religious pilgrimages to local shrines mix piety with communal festivities and music. In Andalusia, the El Rocío pilgrimage fetches a million people that make a long, dusty journey over the Pentecost weekend on horseback and decorated covered wagons to venerate an icon of the Virgin Mary.
Leo arrived in Spain on Saturday and urged its people to put an end to polarization and work for unity. Later Sunday he is to meet privately with members of his Augustinian religious order and address cultural leaders.
AP visual journalist Helena Alves contributed.
Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.
Pope Leo XIV arrives in the popemobile at Plaza de Lima in Madrid, Saturday, June 6, 2026, for a prayer vigil with young people on the first day of a seven-day apostolic journey to mainland Spain and the Canary Islands. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)
Pope Leo XIV is welcomed by Spain's King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia, as he arrives at the Royal Palace in Madrid, Saturday, June 6, 2026, on the first day of his seven-day apostolic journey to mainland Spain and the Canary Islands. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)
People wait for the arrival of Pope Leo XIV ahead of a Holy Mass and Corpus Christi procession at Plaza de Cibeles in Madrid, Spain, Sunday, June 7, 2026, on the second day of his seven-day apostolic visit to mainland Spain and the Canary Islands. (AP Photo/Andrea Comas)
People wait for the arrival of Pope Leo XIV ahead of a Holy Mass and Corpus Christi procession at Plaza de Cibeles in Madrid, Spain, Sunday, June 7, 2026, on the second day of his seven-day apostolic visit to mainland Spain and the Canary Islands. (AP Photo/Andrea Comas)
People wait for the arrival of Pope Leo XIV ahead of a Holy Mass and Corpus Christi procession at Plaza de Cibeles in Madrid, Spain, Sunday, June 7, 2026, on the second day of his seven-day apostolic visit to mainland Spain and the Canary Islands. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)
