Brothers To The Rescue - Juan Pablo Roque

Juan Pablo Roque

One of the group's pilots, Cuban Juan Pablo Roque (a former Cuban MiG pilot), unexpectedly left on February 23, 1996, the day before the two planes were shot down, and turned up in Havana where he condemned Brothers to the Rescue. Roque, a former major in the Cuban air force, had left Cuba four years earlier and was soon after recruited by Brothers to the Rescue where he flew several missions. Despite being dismissed as a Cuban agent by U.S. officials, Roque denied working for the Cuban government. He said he returned home because he had become disillusioned with the methods of the Brothers, including what he said were its plans to carry out attacks on military bases in Cuba and to disrupt its defense communications. Roque appeared on Cuban television on February 26, 1996, where he denounced Brothers to the Rescue as an illegal and anti-Cuban organization the fundamental purpose of which is to provoke incidents that aggravated relations between Cuba and United States. In an interview with the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), he stated that the group had planned to introduce anti-personnel weapons into Cuba and blow up high tension pylons to interrupt the energy supply.

While in Miami, Roque had contacts with and was paid by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). Roque's declarations brought questions about the role of agencies such as the FBI and Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in the activities of the exile community. However, White House spokesperson David Johnson said that "there does not exist, nor has there existed, any tie between the North American intelligence services and Hermanos al Rescate," adding that the organization is "not a front" for those services, nor is it financed by them.