Unfinished business between Cuba and the United States

[Judi Lynn]

Unfinished business between Cuba and the United States


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Carmelo Ruiz

A memorial erected in recognition of the 73 passengers and 5 crew killed in the crash of Cubana Flight 455 in October, 6. 1976. Photo by BCF.
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Even with the resumption of diplomatic relations between Washington and Havana, the two countries have unfinished business to take care of. There is the issue of terrorism — the terrorism that U.S.-based exile extremist outfits perpetrated against Cuba.

These groups sought for decades through violence and terror to prevent a rapprochement between Cuba and the United States. Their attacks included arson, bombings and targeted assassinations and claimed many Cuban lives. Declassified documents show the CIA trained a lot of these terrorists in the early 1960s as part of the failed Bay of Pigs landing and the violent Operation Mongoose directed toward regime change in Cuba.

Cuban exiles participated in the infamous Operation Condor, set up by South American dictatorships to eliminate their foes abroad. It included the 1976 murder of Chilean diplomat Orlando Letelier in the streets of Washington, D.C., a crime that Cuban expatriates carried out.

The vilest of all acts that these U.S.-based extremists committed was the 1976 bombing of a Cuban passenger airliner in Barbados, in which all 73 occupants were killed. Exile militant Luis Posada Carriles has been directly linked to this crime in declassified CIA and FBI documents. He is currently free and living in Miami, and the Cuban government is requesting his extradition.

More:
http://www.progressive.org/news/2015/08/188276/unfinished-business-between-cuba-and-united-states#sthash.iYOOtuRI.dpuf

[Darb]

1. Turn him over.

No need to cover for that murderer, let's move on.

[Judi Lynn]

2. Latino Voices: U.S. was State Sponsor of Terror Against Cuba

Latino Voices: U.S. was State Sponsor of Terror Against Cuba

Louis A. Perez Jr.

On May 29, the United States removed Cuba from the list of “state sponsors of terrorism” as one more step toward normalization of relations between the two countries. But, historically, it is the United States that has sponsored terrorism against Cuba.

The U.S. designation of Cuba as a state sponsor of terror dates back to the early 1980s due to Cuban support of guerrilla movements in Central America. The label was ironic, since the United States engaged in a program of extralegal paramilitary operations as part of failed attempts at Cuban regime change all through the early 1960s. These efforts included the Bay of Pigs invasion, scores of assassination attempts against Cuban leaders and years of covert operations.

The intent was to bring about the collapse of the Cuban government, the CIA explained in 1963, through a “strategy of economic strangulation to weaken and undermine the regime.”

One planned operation, the CIA detailed, was designed to “conduct major sabotage operations targets against Cuban industry and public utilities.” Another CIA project included “the contamination of fuels and lubricants,” as well as “the introduction of foreign material into moving parts of machinery.” The Department of Defense similarly designed projects to “accomplish the objective of economic harassment.” One plan specifically directed that “fuel and food supplies should be sabotaged,” while another directive prescribed “major acts of sabotage on shipping destined for Cuba and on key installations in Cuba.”

More:
http://www.progressive.org/news/2015/06/188163/latino-voices-us-was-state-sponsor-terror-against-cuba#sthash.uCRMDosi.dpuf

[awoke_in_2003]

3. Off to the greatest. nt