Neither Brothers Nor Rescue: A Confessed Terrorist and An Organization that Violated Cuban Sovereignty
(FILE) Hernández Nordelo considered that Cuba acted sovereignly in the face of the provocations of an organization that repeatedly offended and that was headed by a terrorist with an extensive criminal record. Photo: Alma Mater.
May 22, 2026 Hour: 8:00 pm
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The “Brothers to the Rescue” organization, led by a CIA agent and known terrorist, repeatedly violated Cuban airspace and the White House did nothing to prevent it. Three decades later, Gerardo Hernández Nordelo reveals to Jorge Gestoso, from teleSUR, the historical truth that the U.S. is trying to silence.
Gerardo Hernández Nordelo, one of the Five Cuban Heroes and national coordinator of the Committees for the Defense of the Revolution, stated from Havana that the accusation presented this week by the U.S. Department of Justice against revolutionary leader and Army General Raúl Castro lacks all legal and moral foundation, while warning that it could constitute the pretext for Washington to launch a military aggression against the Caribbean island.
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Hernández Nordelo is a deputy and member of the Cuban Council of State. He holds the title of Hero and his compatriots regard him as such one: he was part of a group of five agents who infiltrated anti-Cuban groups attempting to overthrow the Havana Government. For years they monitored those groups in order to inform Cuba about their terrorist plans, until their arrest in September 1998.
He spent 16 years in U.S. prisons and was able to return to Cuba thanks to a prisoner exchange organized by Army General Raúl Castro Ruz -who led the Caribbean country between 2008 and 2018- and the Barack Obama Administration.
Hernández Nordelo knows better than most people the history of the “Brothers to the Rescue” organization and of its founder, José Basulto, whose links to terrorism are extensive. That circumstance allows him to rigorously address what happened on February 24, 1996, when two Brothers to the Rescue’s planes were shot down by Cuban fighter jets after violating the country’s sovereign airspace on several occasions and having been warned of the danger this implied.
This Wednesday, May 20, the U.S. Department of Justice accused Army General Raúl Castro Ruz of the downing of those aircraft. Three decades later, Gerardo Hernández Nordelo reveals to Jorge Gestoso, from teleSUR, the historical truth that the U.S. is trying to silence, dismantles myths and holds the White House responsible for this incident and for manipulating it to fuel hatred against Cuba.
José Basulto Has An Extensive History of Terrorism Against Cuba
Hernández Nordelo asserted that the leader of “Brothers to the Rescue” organization, José Basulto, has an extensive history of terrorism and was trained by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).
He is a person who “has never been ashamed of his terrorist past”, explained the interviewee, who detailed that the CIA trained him to infiltrate Cuba with the purpose of committing sabotage while the Bay of Pigs invasion was taking place in April 1961. Basulto had the mission of diverting attention from the place where the mercenary landing occurred.
Text reads: “In the trial, the Cuban Five asked for satellite images to know if the shooting was in Cuban waters – as Cuba says – or international, as they say. Until now, the U.S. has refused to show them. Why? ¡Show the pictures!”
The military aggression prepared by the CIA was defeated. Basulto escaped and in 1962 returned to Cuba in a speedboat, approached the coasts of Havana and fired a cannon at a hotel then known as “Paquita de Hornedo“, where foreign technicians, particularly from the ex-Soviet Union, were staying. Upon returning to the U.S. he gave a press conference in which he acknowledged that he had done it and boasted about his terrorist past.
In statements to teleSUR, Hernández Nordelo dismantled numerous myths surrounding the February 24, 1996 incident, fabricated so that the truth would not be known.
The Cuban Foreign Ministry warned on 25 occasions about the danger represented by those flights and requested that U.S. authorities revoke the flight licenses of the group’s pilots. Cuba’s request fell on deaf ears.
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From Providing Assistance to Committing Provocations
Hernández Nordelo pointed out that José Basulto created the “Brothers to the Rescue” organization with the declared objective of rescuing the so-called “rafters” (Cubans who during the economic crisis of the early ’90s tried to reach the U.S. in makeshift boats to benefit from the Cuban Adjustment Act).
He explained that they flew over the Florida Straits and, after spotting rafters, contacted the U.S. Coast Guard and gave them their position so they could pick them up and take them to U.S. territory. He said that thanks to that work the group began receiving money donations and were even given airplanes.
“There was a lot of money flowing at that time and Basulto became quite a figure. But that changed at the beginning of 1995, when new migration agreements were signed between Havana and the Clinton Administration and what is known as the “Wet foot, dry foot policy” began to be applied. If the rafter was detected at sea, he was not taken to the U.S. and was returned to Cuba.”
According to Hernández Nordelo, from that moment the perception of “Brothers to the Rescue” organization changed and people began to question why they should give them funds. “The donors stopped giving money. In Miami, Basulto’s tax records became public and at that time his income was much lower,” revealed the interviewee, in order to place the moment when this CIA agent changed the group’s mission and conceived “a new tactic: starting to enter Cuba with the planes.”
He assured that Basulto took journalists from Miami’s Spanish-language channels aboard the planes, even from English-language channels, violated Cuban airspace and flew over Havana dropping propaganda pamphlets, medals and other objects. In this sense, he stated that, patiently, the Mig fighters of the Cuban air force would take off, warn him of the violation and afterwards the Foreign Ministry would issue the corresponding diplomatic note asking U.S. authorities not to allow further violations of Cuban laws, U.S. laws and international aviation laws.
“I remember 16 diplomatic notes issued by the Ministry of Foreign Relations of the Republic of Cuba to the U.S. In one of the last ones, the withdrawal of those pilots’ licenses was requested”, Hernández Nordelo said. Today it is known that there were 25 warnings from the Foreign Ministry to the Clinton Administration.
He specified that on February 24, 1996, “Brothers to the Rescue” organization once again violated the airspace despite the fact that one month earlier Cuba warned through a diplomatic note and a public notice -published in media outlets of the time- that it would tolerate no more violations and that it would protect its population. Following this, he considered that Cuba acted sovereignly in the face of the provocations of an organization that repeatedly offended and that was headed by a terrorist with an extensive criminal record.
Dismantling Myths
Gerardo Hernández Nordelo considered that there are several myths surrounding the issue in order to hide the truth. “For example, it is said that Basulto that day was saving rafters, but that is absolutely false, because by that date the migration agreements had already been signed. Although there could have been some at sea, the number was insignificant and Basulto was not carrying out regular missions rescuing rafters.”
He added that that day a group promoted by the U.S. was going to meet in order to oppose the Government of Cuba, and Basulto announced at a press conference that he would fly on February 24, 1996 in support of that group. “Although it is public, it is not mentioned. They have tried to hide this part of the story in order to say that that day they were rescuing rafters”, but “during the press conference they acknowledged that they would go out to cause a provocation.”
Hernández Nordelo mentions another detail that is often overlooked: that day, with the permission of the International Civil Aviation Organization, Cuba activated below the 24th parallel (which is an air zone under Cuba’s responsibility) a military zone in order to carry out military exercises, for which reason it requested that all commercial flights be diverted.
He stated that Basulto deviated from the flight plan he submitted in Florida. “Recordings are preserved when he heads directly toward Cuba. The control tower warns him that he crossed the 24th parallel, there is an activated military zone and he is running a risk, but he replies: ‘I know, but we are free Cubans and we are willing to take the risk.’”
Nor did they respond to the warning passes by the Cuban fighters and the outcome we all know occurred, lamented Hernández Nordelo, who held Basulto responsible for the death of four aviators.
He recalled that Cuban radars show that the incident happened in jurisdictional waters, but the U.S. lies in order not to acknowledge its responsibility and that Basulto violated Cuba’s sovereign airspace. It should be remembered that Washington has refused to reveal the satellite images locating the position of the Cuban fighters.
He pointed out that the International Civil Aviation Organization said that the incident occurred in international waters. In order to do so it relied on statements from the crew of a cruise ship, the so-called Majesty of the Seas, which that day approached Cuban waters and saw some aircraft movements. He recalled that one of the directors of the Cuban American National Foundation -one of the main organizations against the Cuban Revolution- is also one of the owners of the company to which that vessel belongs, for which reason he considered that this is not valid evidence.
According to Hernández Nordelo, portraying the planes as harmless because they were civilian aircraft lacks foundation. “The U.S. people know very well how much damage an unarmed civilian plane can cause”, he said in reference to the September 11, 2021 attacks, when New York’s World Trade Center and the Pentagon building were attacked with passenger planes by terrorists connected to the Al Qaeda network.
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Accusation Against Raul Castro Lacks All Foundation
Hernández Nordelo referred to the accusation presented in Florida against Army General Raúl Castro Ruz. He drew attention to the fact that the main promoters of this act, lacking all legal and moral foundation, are the so-called Cuban-American congressmen.
He asserted that “the Republican Party is going through a difficult situation” ahead of next November’s midterm elections due to the wear caused by the Epstein scandal and internal policies such as the hunt for migrants, and the effects of external actions such as tariffs -struck down by the Supreme Court- the criminal military attack against Venezuela, the strategic defeat against Iran -in a war launched without Congressional authorization- and the rejection of complicity with Zionism and the genocide in Palestine.
“These Cuban-American alleged politicians have always profited from the suffering of the Cuban people and have built careers by fueling conflicts and hostility between the American people and the Cuban people. They are worried about their reelection and about that Cuban-American vote in Florida, to whom they promised ‘the freedom of Cuba.’ Meanwhile, Cuba has resisted the tightening of the blockade and now the energy siege. They cannot explain how this people continues resisting and, of course, they become desperate.”
In Hernández Nordelo’s opinion, two scenarios would emerge: that “they are preparing the ground for a military intervention against Cuba, and a second, exclusively domestic in nature, that they want to keep their voters entertained so that November arrives and they can say ‘we, this Administration, are the ones who have done the most for the freedom of Cuba.’”
This “is an unpredictable Administration and, therefore, Cubans must be prepared for any scenario”, he asserted.
“I would ask whom of them are going to prosecute in the U.S. for the boats that have been blown to pieces in the Pacific, in the Caribbean, with people on board whose identities are unknown, whom they suspect are drug traffickers and simply, without due process, without the benefit of the doubt, they murder in international waters many miles from the U.S. With what moral authority is the U.S. going to prosecute Cuba?”, he asked. Today it is known that Washington bombed 57 vessels and extrajudicially killed nearly 200 people.
Having Getting Involved Against Raul, A Very Dangerous Move
“We, the Cubans, have resisted for more than 60 years a blockade that is unique in the history of humanity, which in recent times has intensified and practically we are living without electricity. The people suffer, feel the effects of that blockade and discontent and discomfort are generated. That reaction from the people is normal.“
“But in Cuba there are elements, facts of our history and above all people with whom Cubans do not tolerate games being played. They are sacred people from a patriotic standpoint and because of the admiration and respect Cubans feel for our founding fathers, for the leaders of the Revolution. Even those Cubans who may not agree 100% with our process, who may criticize certain realities in our society, recognize Fidel Castro, Raúl Castro and that generation as people of exceptional importance in our history who are greatly admired.“
“I would say that it is a very dangerous and badly calculated move on the part of the empire to have getting involved against Raúl. I think they were very badly advised in that strategy. Very soon they will realize how serious it is and how many negative feelings it awakens toward this Administration. The vast majority of Cubans admire or love the Army General and do not tolerate his physical integrity being put at risk, much less his moral integrity”, he asserted.
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The CIA Has Always Looked To The Other Way
Hernández Nordelo recounted that during his work as an agent of Cuban Security in the U.S., he directed another agent and also Hero, René González Sehwerert, who was precisely a pilot for “Brothers to the Rescue” organization. He revealed that the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) paid some informants to spy on the group. “Now that they want to sell the idea that “Brothers to the Rescue” is a humanitarian organization that has never done anything wrong, why did the FBI pay informants? Why did the FBI have spies infiltrated within that group? Because it knew it was planning terrorist acts against Cuba, introducing personal weapons into the country and attacking electrical towers.“
“When it became public that that organization was being spied on, it generated a lot of tension between the FBI and the groups of reactionary Cubans in Florida. We are talking about “Brothers to the Rescue”, but there are many groups like Alpha-66, the L Commandos, the PUM and others, even with training camps there in Florida, which systematically organize terrorist actions against Cuba. None of them has ever faced justice in the U.S. A couple of years ago a person of Cuban origin fired an AKM rifle at the Cuban Embassy in Washington and that person is today living quietly in his home”, he commented.
He stressed that the CIA taught José Basulto how to act, work with explosives, place bombs; it trained him in action and sabotage. “He acknowledges it and it is public. Although they openly said that they stopped financing anti-Cuban terrorist groups, the truth is that they have always looked the other way and those who act against Cuba have always enjoyed total impunity.”
“We must observe the situation very closely, because the accusation against Raúl may be the justification for a military aggression against Cuba. Furthermore, the accusation has no legal or moral basis whatsoever”, Hernández Nordelo warned.
Author: Jorge Gestoso
Source: teleSUR
