United Nations Press Statement on the 1996 Opa-Locka Shootdown, (7 March 1996) New York, NY

Context

A Cuban-born humanitarian, José Jesús Basulto León was known for his continual fight to restore democracy in Cuba and his passion for saving and preserving the lives of Cuban exiles. Basulto was born in Santiago de Cuba Oriente on August 8, 1940 to parents José and Lidia Basulto. When Basulto was two, his family moved to Havana to be closer to the American sugarcane company where his father worked. Shortly after, his mother passed away.1 He lived a full and happy childhood in Havana, and developed an interest in math and physics. In 1959, Basulto moved to the United States right after Fidel Castro’s revolution successfully overthrew the Cuban President Fulgencio Batista. He was able to study physics at Boston College for almost a year before the trajectory of his life changed completely.2

Basulto’s family had come to understand and even fear the outcome of the Cuban revolution. During his first year at Boston College, Basulto decided to take action against the Castro regime. In 1960, he went back to Cuba, and was recruited by the U.S. intelligence community to participate in what eventually became the Bay of Pigs invasion that occurred in April of 1961.3 In preparation for this mission, Basulto trained for several months in the island of Useppa to be a radio operator. He then received advanced training in Panama, Guatemala, and in Virginia at a CIA base to prepare for the U.S.-backed confrontations against Cuba. When he re-entered Cuba, he was disguised as a Boston College dropout returning home to study in Oriente. Once there, he began sending information back to the U.S. government about internal Cuban affairs.4 Basulto also worked with the CIA to set up a “resistance network” in Cuba to try to “tap into a surging sentiment for freedom” amongst the Cuban people.5

As Basulto carried out other intelligence missions in Cuba, he came to realize the lack of humanitarian care the U.S. government expressed towards the Cuban people in the aftermath of the Bay of Pigs offensive. In November of 1961, Basulto and the rest of his team entered Havana in an attempt to locate and destroy a missile base where the team would have died had not a U.S. gunboat rescued them. During this period, Basulto became convinced “there was no serious purpose on the part of the Government of the United States to assist the freedom fighting people of Cuba.”6 Basulto’s epiphany would shape the rest of his life.

Basulto went on to develop his career and his commitment to the Cuban people. He pursued an engineering degree at the University of Miami and developed his skills as a pilot. He also settled down in the Miami area with his wife and five children.7 And of most importance to unit, Basulto pursued his activist work by supporting Cuban exiles.

In 1991, Basulto and his long-time friend, Billy Schultz, took the lead on launching the humanitarian organization, “Brothers to the Rescue” (or “Hermanos al Rescate”) in Miami, Florida. Both felt more U.S. aid was needed to help Cuban rafters make it safely to the banks of the Florida coast. Basulto and Schultz decided that they would fly planes to locate Cuban rafters, contact the Coast Guard, and drop life-saving supplies to those fleeing Cuba.8 Over time, Basulto recruited an entire team of pilots and volunteers who would tag-team flights; the pilots could fly through international air space while the co-pilot scouted the horizon for refugees.

Along with preserving the lives of those trying to make it to the United States, Basulto and his fellow pilots used nonviolent means inspired by Ghandi and Martin Luther King Jr. to encourage civil disobedience in Cuba.9 During his flights over Cuban air space, Basulto and his colleagues dropped leaflets printed in Spanish with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and with various democratic calls-to-action.10 Such leaflets would find their way into Havana, greatly upsetting Castro’s administration and his supporters.11

The speech featured in this unit marks one of the most climactic moments involving Brothers to the Rescue (BttR). On February 24, 1996, three Brothers to the Rescue planes set off from Opa Locka airport on a routine flyover to the Florida Straits. Basulto was in one plane and the other two planes carried two pilots and two volunteers split between them, including: Armando Alejandre Jr., Carlos Costa, Pablo Morales, and Mario de la Peña. As they entered the 24th parallel, two Cuban MiG planes shot down the two planes carrying Alejandre, Costa, Morales, and Peña. Basulto made it back to Opa Locka airport safely but the other four were killed.12

On March 7, 1996, Basulto, Armando Alejandre’s father, and Mario de la Peña’s mother were invited to speak at a United Nations press conference in New York to detail what would become an international incident with criminal implications.13 Basulto, already frustrated with the lack of U.S. intervention, called for Cuba to be held accountable for the unprovoked attack on Americans.14 The downing attracted press attention for weeks as the international incident was debated and investigated.15

In response, the Cuban government claimed the attack was provoked. The Castro regime justified its actions on allegations that the planes were armed and intended to drop bombs across Cuba. Government officials also treated the BttR’s leaflets dropped into Cuban waters as “propaganda” and a threat to Cuban leaders and citizens.16 This information reportedly came from Cuban double-agent Juan Pablo Roque, who pretended to work for Brothers to the Rescue while spying on them for the FBI and sending information back to the Cuban government.17

Basulto later learned that the U.S. Department of State purportedly received word through their intelligence sources that the Cuban government would likely engage in hostility toward any planes that entered Cuban airspace.18 In spite of this alleged forewarning, Brothers to the Rescue pilots were not alerted of the dangers and were not prevented from taking off. Though the Clinton administration condemned the Cuban government’s actions, Basulto’s pilot license was revoked by the FAA. The FAA maintained that Basulto “ignored numerous warnings” issued by both the FAA and U.S. Department of State. Brothers to the Rescue disbanded shortly thereafter.19

José Basulto dedicated the next several years of his life to the well-being of Cubans in South Florida. He helped write a book named after his plane, Seagull One, to preserve his story and the history of Brothers to the Rescue. He actively attends ceremonies that keep the memory of the deceased pilots alive and commemorates their bravery in trying to help Cuban refugees seek greater freedom.20 As of this writing, Basulto is still alive today and living in Miami.

Endnotes

  1. Gonzalo Porcel, “IPH Transcript – Jose Basulto (7/5/1999),” Oral History Collections, Institute of Public History, University of Miami, Miami, FL.
  2. Julio Estorino and José Gastón, “Interview with José Basulto (1/8/2009),” Luis J. Botifoll Oral History Project, University of Miami Digital Collections, University of Miami, Miami, FL.
  3. Bill Kress, “‘Brothers to the Rescue’ Leader Honored by South Miami Commission with Street-Sign Dedication,” South Miami Community News, January 10, 2018, https://communitynewspapers.com/south-miami-featured/brothers-to-the-rescue-leader-honored-by-south-miami-commission-at-street-sign-dedication/.
  4. “Jose Basulto, Cuban Exile and Bay of Pigs Veteran,” 2010 Sunday Miami Book Fair International Live Coverage, C-Span, November 21, 2010, https://www.c-span.org/video/?c4960024/jose-basulto-cuban-exile-bay-pigs-veteran.
  5. Bill Newcott, “After 60 Years, Bay of Pigs Disaster Still Haunts Veterans Who Fought,” National Geographic, April 16, 2021, www.nationalgeographic.com/history/article/bay-of-pigs-disaster-still-haunts-veterans-who-faught-60th-anniversary?loggedin=true&rnd=1688571260910.
  6. Porcel, “IPH Transcript – Jose Basulto.”
  7. Porcel, “IPH Transcript – Jose Basulto.”
  8. Robert C. Jones Jr., “Cuban Heritage Collection Acquires Brothers to the Rescue Archives,” News@TheU, January 10, 2014, news.miami.edu/stories/2014/01/cuban-heritage-collection-acquires-brothers-to-the-rescue-archives.html.
  9. Mireya Navarro, “Nonviolence of Castro’s Foes Still Wears a Very Tough Face,” New York Times, February 28, 1996, www.nytimes.com/1996/02/28/world/nonviolence-of-castro-s-foes-still-wears-a-very-tough-face.html.
  10. “Universal Declaration of Human Rights,” United Nations, December 10, 1948, https://www.un.org/en/about-us/universal-declaration-of-human-rights.
  11. After Basulto’s speech, there was a question and answer portion. While we did not include the Q&A in our speech text, this note is credited to page 5 of the Q&A located at the end of the Basulto text found in the Cuban Heritage Papers at the University of Miami archives. See: José Basulto, “United Nations Press Statement on the 1996 Opa-Locka Shootdown,” 5.
  12. José Basulto,1st Dossier 6th Month Superseded Binder, Box 41 (13), Shootdown FOIA Dossier, Hermanos al Rescate Papers, Cuban Heritage Collection, University of Miami, Miami, FL, 2-3.
  13. We assume that this speech was given at the United Nations headquarters in New York, although we have not been able to confirm this information.
  14. Basulto, “United Nations Press Statement on the 1996 Opa-Locka Shootdown,” para. 5.
  15. Rene Sanchez and Catherine Skipp, “Two Exile Planes Shot Down Near Cuba,” Washington Post, February 25, 1996, https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1996/02/25/two-exile-planes-shot-down-near-cuba/f5c76c05-677b-4f55-9a62-67873660d992/.
  16. John Ward Anderson, “Cuba Says It Has Proof U.S. Planes Crossed Line,” Washington Post, February 27, 1996, www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1996/02/27/cuba-says-it-has-proof-us-planes-crossed-line/fef7a635-1024-417a-b472-4dff5daffedd/.
  17. Roque, who had left for Cuba the day before the shooting occurred, claimed that BttR engaged in “terrorist” actions – one of those being a plan to assassinate Cuban leaders. Roque also claimed that the BttR pilots left for a flight on the 24th of February knowing that they weren’t allowed to enter Cuban airspace. See: Tracy Eaton, “Retired Spy in Brothers to the Rescue Case Lives in Obscurity,” Florida Center for Investigative Reporting, October 2, 2012, fcir.org/2012/10/02/retired-spy-in-brothers-to-the-rescue-case-lives-in-obscurity/.; “Cuba/Roque Interview,” Box 41 (13), Shootdown FOIA Dossier, Shootdown: Roque Interview Folder, Hermanos al Rescate Papers, Cuban Heritage Collection, University of Miami, Miami, FL, 1-3.
  18. Basulto, 1st Dossier 6th Month Superseded, 1.
  19. William Branigin, “FAA Revokes Cuban Exile’s Pilot’s Permit,” Washington Post, May 17, 1996, www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1996/05/17/faa-revokes-cuban-exiles-pilots-permit/3f06af2e-0c1c-449d-a6db-405d4724e4e8/.
  20. Kress, “‘Brothers to the Rescue’ Leader Honored by South Miami Commission with Street-Sign Dedication.”