CUBANEWS FROM RADIO HAVANA CUBA E-mail: rhc@radiohc.org http://www.radiohc.org SPECIAL REPORT ON TERRORIST ACTIONS AGAINST CUBA THURSDAY, OCTOBER 29, 1998. ** GRANMA ** HAVANA, CUBA RADIO HAVANA CUBA In its Thursday edition, the Cuban daily newspaper Granma publishes a press release from the Ministry of the Interior, giving a detailed account of terrorist actions against Cuba and revealing the arrest of several perpetrators. The Cuban Interior Ministry announced that a judicial process is currently underway against five persons involved in terrorist actions against Cuba. The Ministry says that after a thorough and rigorous investigation, Salvadoran citizens Raul Ernesto Cruz Leon and Otto Rene Rodriguez Llerena will be tried by Cuban courts. Also to be tried are Guatemalan citizens Maria Elena Gonzalez Mesa, Nader Kamal Musalam Bakarat and Jazid Ivan Fernandez Mendoza. The five defendants, who were apprehended while participating in terrorist acts, were members of a Central American-based terrorist ring -- according to the Interior Ministry statement -- led and supported by the Miami terrorist organization, the Cuban-American National Foundation (CANF). As was disclosed earlier, Raul Ernesto Cruz Leon -- 27 years of age -- captured on September 4, 1997, is the confessed author of six terrorist actions in which he used explosive devises against the "Capri," "Nacional," "Copacabana," "Triton," and "Chateau" hotels, and the "Bodeguita del Medio" restaurant, all located in Havana. Due to Cruz Leon's actions, Italian Fabio Di Celmo -- 32 years old -- was killed and seven other people were injured. The Interior Ministry note adds that as a result of a careful and rigorous investigation, which was aided by Cruz Leon's own statements and information gathered from other sources, including U.S. and Central American media, Cruz Leon's membership in a Salvadoran ring of mercenaries, organized and funded by the Cuban-American National Foundation was confirmed. Similarly, the connection to acts of terrorism in Cuba of renowned terrorist Luis Posada Carriles, mastermind of the mid-flight bombing of a Cubana Airliner in 1976 and of other leaders of CANF, is well-established. Cruz Leon, reveals the document, was recruited by Salvadoran Francisco Chavez Abarca, who confided to Cruz Leon that he had previously set bombs off in Cuba following the orders of third parties who were financing the operation. Subsequent investigations ratified the link between Chavez Abarca and Posada Carriles and others of Cuban origin currently residing in the United States. Research also confirmed that Chavez Abarca placed two bombs in tourist facilities on the island in April of 1997. The Interior Ministry communique published in the October 29th edition of the Cuban newspaper Granma informs readers that Salvadoran citizen Otto Rene Rodriguez Llerena, 40, has also been detained by Cuban authorities. He was caught on June 10th this year in Havana's Jose Marti International Airport as he attempted to smuggle into Cuba one kilogram, 519 grams of high-powered plastic explosives, two bomb fuses and other means to be used in terrorist actions. The investigation and Rodriguez's own statements determined that he had been responsible for the explosion that occurred in the lobby of Havana's Melia-Cohiba Hotel on August 4, 1997. The defendant also acknowledged that the organizer and supplier of the resources for his actions, the person who trained him in the use of the explosives, the individual who told him to place the bombs in hotels and museums and who financed and arranged all his trips to Cuba was Luis Posada Carriles, who was identifying himself under one of his many aliases: Ignacio Medina. Cuban authorities also revealed in the communique the detention of Guatemalan citizens Maria Elena Gonzalez Mesa (54) and Nader Kamal Musalam (28) on March 4, 1998. The two were arrested while posing as tourists, attempting to place four bombs in crowded public places. According to the Interior Ministry statement, the two Guatemalans had arrived in Cuba that same day, on board Flight 950 of Aviateca Airlines, covering the Guatemala City-Cancun-Havana route. The statement accuses them of having brought with them into the country 432 grams of explosives hidden in four bottles of shampoo and a stick deodorant. The defendants also brought with them other materials to be used in their operations. Cuban authorities charge that on March 20th, Jazid Ivan Fernandez Mendoza, Maria Elena's husband, arrived in Havana with the purpose of helping his wife leave the country. In subsequent questioning, he acknowledged that he knew about his wife and her partner's terrorist plans and that he had participated in hiding the explosives in the shampoo bottles. During the investigation, Nader Kamal and Maria Elena admitted that they had committed other crimes related to assassinations, assaults, hijacking operations and robberies in Guatemala. They also said that Francisco Chavez Abarca had participated in some of the actions. The three Guatemalan detainees -- continues the Cuban Interior Ministry communique -- have confirmed the participation of Chavez Abarca in organizing their operation and they point to Arnaldo Monzon Plasencia, a leader of the Cuban-American National Foundation, "Ramon Medina" -- one of Luis Posada Carriles' many aliases -- and an individual whom they identified as the "Man from New Jersey," as their leaders and financial supporters. Maria Elena and Nader Kamal have given a detailed account of the role played by Posada Carriles and Monzon Plasencia in the preparation and organization of their terrorist operations. They have also helped determine that Monzon Plasencia of the Cuban-American National Foundation is the designated member to lead actions against Cuba organized in El Salvador and Guatemala. The communique in Thursday's Granma newspaper charges that the CANF executive organized, arranged and financed the first planting of a bomb in a Cuban hotel, detected in March 1995 at the Varadero Beach resort. That action marked the launching of a CANF terrorist campaign against the island. According to Cuban authorities, the action was carried out by Santos Armando Martinez Rueda and Jorge Enrique Ramirez Oro, terrorists of Cuban origin who resided in the United States. They were recruited by Monzon Plasencia to infiltrate Cuba by sea, backed by air and sea support provided by CANF. The two terrorists were given the mission of hiding 51 pounds of C-4 explosives. They later would travel as Costa Ricans with false passports. These individuals were caught before the bomb exploded. Throughout the investigation -- stresses the communique -- there has been a similarity in the modus operandi of the detainees; the same type of explosives used and the recruitment of four of the five people involved by Chavez Abarca, who was identified as the main Central American link operating under the orders of Luis Posada Carriles. All these mercenaries would be paid between one and four thousand dollars for each bomb they detonated in Cuba. The Cuban Interior Ministry then states: Since its birth in 1981, the Cuban-American National Foundation has provided financial resources and other means to terrorist groups so that they carry out actions aimed at encouraging internal subversion in Cuba and destabilizing the country through the use of violence. Since 1994, top executives of the organization began recruiting people to send to Central America with the idea of increasing the number of people there who were hostile to Cuba or to use the region as a logistic base for their violent actions against Cuba. Hence, it did not come as a surprise in l995 to see an escalation of terrorist actions against Cuban tourist resorts and economic targets. Since 1990 -- notes the press release -- more than five sea infiltrations were intercepted by Cuban state security forces and five pirate attacks took place between 1990 to 1994. In a climax of the violence on August 11, 1997, CANF published a declaration, known as a "Message of the CANF Board of Directors," which was signed by its 28 directors, expressing support for the bomb explosions that were taking place in hotels of Havana. The Cuban Interior Minister statement declares that the capture of Rodriguez Llerena, the three Guatemalans and other cases still under investigation, reveal the cynicism and cowardliness of CANF leaders, whose terrorist actions against Cuba, through the use of Central American mercenaries, continued despite the denunciations made by the Cuban government in the wake of the arrest of Salvadoran Raul Ernesto Cruz Leon. The Cuban Ministry of the Interior press release adds that the efficiency of the island's defense mechanisms and the active struggle of the country, with the participation and the support of the people, is making such repugnant and criminal acts more difficult. Likewise, CANF-sponsored plans against the life of Cuban President Fidel Castro have not abated, says the release -- citing as an example the seizure of a boat last year near Puerto Rico, owned by Jose Antonio Llama, member of the Board of Directors of the organization. The boat was seized as it headed towards Margarita island near Venezuela. Its passengers admitted that they planned to assassinate the Cuban leader while he attended the 7th Iberoamerican Summit on Margarita island. A high-caliber rifle was found on board, worth seven thousand dollars. It was registered to Francisco "Pepe" Hernandez, Chairman of the Cuban-American National Foundation. The press release of the Interior Ministry, published in Thursday's edition of Granma newspaper, asserts that Cuban State Security is still receiving information on the continuation of illegal, anti-Cuba actions designed by citizens of Cuban origin, seeking to carry out terrorist acts against Cuban facilities and individuals on the island and targeting Cuban citizens or interests abroad. The terrorist organizations proceed with this plan, based on the impunity they have historically enjoyed in the United States. Cuba -- adds the communique -- was forced to keep the information about most of these cases secret, due to the complexity of the investigation and the innumerable connections, persons, places and facts that have been consulted. The specialized agencies of the Ministry of the Interior have ample information, testimony, criminal evidence, documents, weapons, explosives and other evidence to prove the participation in criminal actions against Cuba of members of the Board of Directors of CANF and of other counterrevolutionary organizations that either support or subordinate themselves to the Foundation. This information has been shared with the special services of other countries. In conclusion, the press release reveals that the investigation carried out by Cuban State Security, in coordination with the Attorney General's Office, has produced sufficient evidence connecting the five arrested suspects to the crimes so that court proceedings will be instituted against them for their criminal acts, in accordance with the island's laws. Finally, the Ministry of the Interior of the Republic of Cuba states that it is closely watching all the criminal activity of the Cuban-American National Foundation in the United States and the acts of its mercenary agents in other countries of the area, with the assurance that the Cuban Revolution will deal firmly with the enemies of the Cuban people and with those who attempt to disrupt their tranquility. - end - [c] 1998, Radio Habana Cuba All rights reserved Articles cannot be reproduced, reprinted or published in any system without the consent of RHC. 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