The Cuban government was accused of executing Howard Anderson for a crime that carried a maximum nine-year prison sentence under Cuban law, his son Gary Anderson said. No evidence was presented against him during his trial, according to the family's lawsuit. The Andersons, and others, hope to tap a fund holding an estimated $150 million of Cuban assets frozen in U.S. bank accounts after Fidel Castro took control. The United States seized the funds after President Kennedy severed economic ties with the country.
So far, $99 million of that money has been doled out to the families of three pilots the Cuban military shot down. The pilots were volunteers for Brothers to the Rescue, a group that searches for Cuban rafters off the coast of Florida. The U.S. government condemned the attack as an act of terrorism, and the families of the victims later won a judgment against Cuba. However, even after that judgment, the money was still frozen because the U.S. government planned to continue to use it as a bargaining chip in dealings with the island nation.
While many exiles have filed claims against Cuba, the families of the three pilots are the only ones to ever receive compensation for their losses. Each family received $33 million. The Andersons could be the next family to be compensated. "If you want to hurt terrorism, let's hurt Fidel and hit him in the pocket," said Gary Anderson, a 57-year-old owner of a power equipment business in Houston.***