Cuban Exile Group’s Flights Targeted

The FBI intercepted messages between Cuba and alleged spies in Florida that show the Havana government warned its operatives not to fly on an exile group’s aircraft on specific days, the Miami Herald reported. The dates included Feb. 24, 1996, when Cuban fighter planes shot down two unarmed aircraft belonging to the exile group Brothers to the Rescue, killing four people. The shortwave radio messages were released during the trial of five men accused of spying for Cuba. The paper said that, according to one message, the Cuban government approved Operation Scorpion, an effort to challenge Brothers to the Rescue flights, which seek to intercept refugees fleeing the Communist island. In the messages, Cuba repeatedly warned its Miami-based agents not to fly on the group’s planes on specific dates, the Herald said.