Kin of Cuban MIG Victims Seek $79 Million

MIAMI —  Families of three Americans killed when Cuban military jets shot down two private planes asked for $79 million in damages Thursday as the first trial under a new anti-terrorism law opened.

Cuban MIGs shot down the Brothers to the Rescue planes Feb. 24, 1996, as the Americans patrolled the Florida Straits, looking for refugees trying to escape Cuba in rafts and small boats.

Cuba, which has claimed that the planes violated its airspace, has refused to recognize U.S. jurisdiction and didn’t attend the trial. The U.S. District Court earlier found the island nation in default for not responding.

Despite the default, the law requires the plaintiffs to prove that the shoot-down was a terrorist act. The money the families seek is in frozen Cuban accounts in the United States.

A year ago, the families received $300,000 each that the U.S. government plucked from frozen accounts after a United Nations aviation panel ruled that Cuba shot down the planes over international waters in violation of international law.