Demonization of
the 'Cuban Five' Proves U.S. is the Real Terror Threat (Opera Mundi, Brazil)
"In 1997,
Cuba proposed a discrete collaboration with the United States in the fight
against terrorism. Colombian writer Gabriel GarcíaMárquez, who maintained friendly relations with both Fidel
Castro and Bill Clinton, served as messenger. The island's government invited
two FBI officials to Havana to give them a report on the criminal actions of
organizations based in Florida. In fact, the Cuban intelligence services had
infiltrated several of their agents in Florida. But instead of neutralizing
those responsible for terrorist activities, the U.S. government decided to
arrest five Cuban agents in 1998, ordering up summarily harsh prison sentences
for them ranging from two life sentences to 15 years behind bars in a trial
denounced by various international organizations."
Former Cuban officer and CIA operative Luis Posada Carriles: the convicted terrorist who continues to walk free on U.S. soil now appears to be training a new generation of anti-Cuba terrorists, and with the consent of U.S. authorities. What crediblity does Washington have to prosecute its fabled 'war against terrorism' when it so blatently sponsers terrorism itself?
When you listen to mainstream media coverage today of
the release of U.S. citizen Alan Gross from Cuban custody in exchange for
members of the 'Cuban Five,' it might come in handy to understand the Cuban
side of the story, which you will not hear on CNN, MSNBC, Fox News or the rest.
This column Worldmeets.US posted on May 14 outlines why, according to the
Cuba government, the 'Cuban Five' infiltrated the Cuban community in South
Florida. For Brazil's Opera Mundi, Dr. SalimLamrani of the University of La Réunion
lays out how the United States has repeatedly sponsored terrorists and
terrorist attacks on Cuba, and how the 'Cuban five' were seeking to prevent yet
another such operation - sponsored by Washington - against the island.
On May 6, 2014, Cuban authorities announced the arrest of
four Miami-based Cubans suspected of preparing terrorist attacks against the
island. José Ortega Amador, ObdulioRodríguezGonzález, Raibel Pacheco Santos and FélixMonzónÁlvarez left Florida, and
“acknowledge that they intended to attack military installations with the goal
of promoting violent actions.”
The Havana government charged three other Miami residents
with long criminal histories of having been the masterminds behind the attempt:
“[The other four prisoners] also stated that the plans were organized under the
direction of the terrorists Santiago ÁlvarezFernándezMagriñá, OsvaldoMitat and Manuel Alzugaray, who lived in Miami and had direct ties to
notorious terrorist Luis
Posada Carriles.”
Since 1959, Cuba has been the victim of an intense campaign
of terror orchestrated from the United States by the CIA and Cuban exiles.
Altogether since the triumph of the Revolution, there have been 7,000 attacks
on the island that have claimed the lives of 3,478 people, and caused lasting
harm to another 2,099.
In the early 1990s after the collapse of the Soviet Union
and opening of Cuba to tourism, there was an increase in terrorist attacks
against Havana's hotel infrastructure executed by Miami's Cuban extreme right
with the goal of dissuading tourists from traveling to the island, thus
sabotaging a vital sector for the moribund Cuban economy. The violent acts have
caused the deaths of dozens of victims and claimed the life of an Italian
tourist, Fabio diCelmo.
The perpetrators of these terrorist attacks remain in Miami
where they enjoy total impunity. The case of Luis Posada Carriles
[pictured at right] is a perfect example. A former police officer in the Batista dictatorship,
he was a CIA agent after 1959 and participated in the Bay of Pigs Invasion.
He is responsible for more than 100 assassinations, among them the October 6,
1976 attack
against a civilian aircraft of Cubana Airlines
which claimed the lives of 73 people - among them the entire Cuban youth
fencing team which had just won the Pan American Games.
The guilt of Posada Carriles is
beyond doubt: he openly claimed his terrorist career in his autobiography
titled The
Path of the Warrior, and in an interview with The
New York Times on July 12, 1998, he publicly acknowledged being the
mastermind behind the 1997 attacks on the Cuban tourism industry. Moreover, FBI
and CIA files were revealed in 2005 and 2006, respectively, showing his
involvement in terrorism against Cuba.
Posada Carriles was never tried
for his crimes. On the contrary. Washington always
protected him, refusing to prosecute him for his acts or extradite him to Cuba
or Venezuela (where he also committed crimes). This reality belies the
statements made by the White House on the battle against terrorism.
In 1997, Cuba proposed a discrete collaboration with the
United States in the fight against terrorism. Colombian writer Gabriel GarcíaMárquez, recently
deceased, who maintained friendly relations with both Fidel Castro and Bill
Clinton, served as messenger. The island's government invited two FBI officials
to Havana to give them a report on the criminal actions of organizations based
in Florida. In fact, the Cuban intelligence services had infiltrated several of
their agents in Florida. But instead of neutralizing those responsible for
terrorist activities, the U.S. government decided to arrest five Cuban agents
in 1998, ordering up summarily harsh prison sentences for them ranging from two
life sentences to 15 years behind bars in a trial denounced by various
international organizations. Three of the condemned - Gerardo Hernández, Antonio Guerrero and Ramón Labañino,
remain behind bars [aka/The Cuban Five. video below].
At the same time, to justify its hostile policy of
anachronistic and cruel economic sanctions which affect every strata of the
Cuban population and prevent any normalization of bilateral relations,
Washington doesn't hesitate to place Cuba on the list of state sponsors of
global terrorism. And this, under the pretext that members of
the Basque separatist organization ETA, and FARC
guerrillas from Colombia, are in Cuba ... at the specific request of the
Spanish and Colombian governments. In its [2013 global terrorism]
report, Washington
clearly recognizes this: “The Government of Cuba supported and hosted
negotiations between the FARC and the Government of
Colombia aimed at brokering a peace agreement between the two.” The United
States recognizes that “There was no indication that the Cuban government
provided weapons or paramilitary training to terrorist groups” and admits that
“ETA members in Cuba were relocated with the cooperation of the Spanish
government.”
[Editor's Note: This is the entire entry from the State Sponsors of
Terror Overview on Cuba: Cuba was designated as a State Sponsor of
Terrorism in 1982. Cuba has long provided safe haven to members of Basque
Fatherland and Liberty (ETA) and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). Reports continued to indicate that Cuba’s ties to
ETA have become more distant, and that about eight of the two dozen ETA members
in Cuba were relocated with the cooperation of the Spanish government.
Throughout 2013, the Government of Cuba supported and hosted negotiations
between the FARC and the Government of Colombia aimed
at brokering a peace agreement between the two.The Government of Cuba has facilitated the travel of FARC
representatives to Cuba to participate in these negotiations, in coordination
with representatives of the Governments of Colombia, Venezuela, and Norway, as
well as the Red Cross.There was no
indication that the Cuban government provided weapons or paramilitary training
to terrorist groups. ... The Cuban government continued to harbor fugitives
wanted in the United States.The Cuban
government also provided support such as housing, food ration books, and
medical care for these individuals.]
Washington also justifies the inclusion of Cuba on the list
of terrorist countries because of the presence on the island of political
refugees sought by U.S. courts since the 1970s and 1980s. Nevertheless, none of
these people have been accused of terrorism.
The 33 countries of the CELAC [Community of Latin American and Caribbean
States] unanimously rejected the inclusion of Cuba on the list of terrorist
states, indicating a serious setback for Washington. In a statement published
May 7, 2014, CELAC expressed “its total opposition to
the development of unilateral lists that accuse states of allegedly supporting
and co-sponsoring terrorism, and urges the government of the United States of
America to put an end to this practice” which incites “the disapproval” of the
“international community and public opinion on the United States.”
For over half a century, Cuba has suffered from terrorist
violence orchestrated by the United States - first by the CIA, and now by the
Cuban extreme right. The impunity afforded violent groups and the drastic
imprisonment of Cuban agents who managed to prevent at least 170 attacks
against the island show the two faces of the United States in the battle
against terrorism, and casts a shadow on Washington’s credibility on the issue.
Posted By Worldmeets.US
*With a PhD in Iberian
and Latin American studies from the Paris-Sorbonne Paris IV University, SalimLamrani is a professor at
the Universidade de la Reunión
and a journalist, specializing in relations between Cuba and the United States.
His last book is titled: Cuba, the Media, and the Challenge of Impartiality,
Paris, Editions Estrella, 2013, with a prologue by
Eduardo Galeano.
