--- title: ‘A Slap in the Face’: Pilots’ Families Balk at Cuban Prisoner Swap description: Cuban MiGs shot down their two small, private planes in February 1996 canonical: https://time.com/3639509/a-slap-in-the-face-pilots-families-balk-at-cuban-prisoner-swap/ author: NBC News article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-12-18T08:17:38.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T02:58:08.133Z article:section: Politics og:title: 'A Slap in the Face' og:description: Families of pilots fatally shot down by Cuba in 1996 are slamming a prisoner swap. og:url: https://time.com/3639509/a-slap-in-the-face-pilots-families-balk-at-cuban-prisoner-swap/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2da5f69c38a377d5/69876fb555a859597ba84db7/460606868.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Cuba Releases Alan Gross, Held In Prison For 5 Years og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: 'A Slap in the Face' twitter:description: Families of pilots fatally shot down by Cuba in 1996 are slamming a prisoner swap. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2da5f69c38a377d5/69876fb555a859597ba84db7/460606868.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # 'A Slap in the Face': Pilots' Families Balk at Cuban Prisoner Swap by [NBC News](https://time.com/author/nbc-news/) ## NBC News Dec 18, 2014 8:17 AM UTC  People stand outside the Little Havana restaurant Versailles, as they absorb the news that Alan Gross was released from a Cuban prison and that U.S. President Barack Obama wants to change the United States Cuba policy on Dec. 17, 2014 in Miami, United States People stand outside the Little Havana restaurant Versailles, as they absorb the news that Alan Gross was released from a Cuban prison and that U.S. President Barack Obama wants to change the United States Cuba policy on Dec. 17, 2014 in Miami, United StatesJoe Raedle—Getty Images by [NBC News](https://time.com/author/nbc-news/) ## NBC News Dec 18, 2014 8:17 AM UTC The South Florida families of pilots fatally shot down by Cuba in 1996 are speaking out against the Wednesday release of three members of the convicted spies known as the “Cuban Five” in a prisoner swap — among them one who had been convicted of conspiracy to commit murder over the shootdown. “For the only person that we had responsible for what happened to be let go — it’s a slap in the face to my dad,” Marlene Alejandre-Triana said at a news conference. Alejandre-Triana’s father Armando Alejandre, a Vietnam veteran, was one of four pilots killed when Cuban MiGs shot down their two small, private planes in February 1996 in international waters… [Read the rest of the story from our partners at NBC News](http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/u-s-cuba-relations/slap-face-downed-pilots-families-slam-cuba-prisoner-swap-n270631?cid=par-time-article%5F20141218) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3639509/a-slap-in-the-face-pilots-families-balk-at-cuban-prisoner-swap/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3639509/a-slap-in-the-face-pilots-families-balk-at-cuban-prisoner-swap/"},"headline":"'A Slap in the Face': Pilots' Families Balk at Cuban Prisoner Swap","datePublished":"2014-12-18T08:17:38.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T02:58:08.133Z","description":"Cuban MiGs shot down their two small, private planes in February 1996","url":"https://time.com/3639509/a-slap-in-the-face-pilots-families-balk-at-cuban-prisoner-swap/","keywords":["Foreign Policy","Cuba topic","international relations"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2da5f69c38a377d5/69876fb555a859597ba84db7/460606868.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"NBC News","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/nbc-news/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2da5f69c38a377d5/69876fb555a859597ba84db7/460606868.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Cuba Releases Alan Gross, Held In Prison For 5 Years","caption":"Cuba Releases Alan Gross, Held In Prison For 5 Years","creditText":"Joe Raedle—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/foreign-policy/","name":"Foreign Policy"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3639509/a-slap-in-the-face-pilots-families-balk-at-cuban-prisoner-swap/","name":"'A Slap in the Face': Pilots' Families Balk at Cuban Prisoner Swap"}}]}] ```