The U.S. Terrorized Cuba, Not the Other Way Around
Published on
Monday, March 21, 2016
by
TruthDig
The U.S. Terrorized Cuba, Not the Other Way Around
by
Robert Scheer
After many years of strained relations, the U.S. and Cuba in 2014 came to a
new agreement in what President Obama called the "most significant changes
in U.S. policy towards Cuba in 50 years." (Photo: Shutterstock)
Truthdig editor's note: As President Obama begins his historic visit to
Cuba, we are posting some of Truthdig Editor in Chief Robert Scheer's past
writings about the U.S.' relations with and actions toward Cuba. This
article was originally published in the Los Angeles Times on July 14, 1998.
When is it all right to blow up restaurants and kill tourists? Anytime,
according to Luis Posada Carriles, who masterminded last year's attacks on
Cuba's booming tourist industry, terrorizing disco dancers and diners alike.
In a startling revelation this week, the 70-year-old Posada revealed that
key Cuban American lobbyists in this country financed his activities, in
apparent violation of U.S. law, while the FBI and CIA looked the other way.
Once again, history won't keep its mouth shut. Little by little, the truth
comes out, and our policy in Cuba gets exposed for the sham it is. For
almost 40 years, we have isolated Cuba on the assumption that the tiny
island is a center of terrorism in the hemisphere, and year after year we
gain new evidence that it is the U.S. that has terrorized Cuba and not the
other way around.
It's obvious from the Posada interview that terrorism is morally acceptable
not only to Posada, who confessed to many of the bloody details of his 35
years of sabotage of civilian targets inside Cuba in a New York Times
interview, but also to high U.S. government officials who trained this
international killer and employed him in many nefarious operations.
The FBI and CIA also suppressed evidence of Posada's connection to the late
Jorge Mas Canosa, the powerful Miami-based anti-Castro lobbyist whose
campaign contributions and political clout with U.S. presidents has shaped
U.S.-Cuba policy for decades.
Mas Canosa died last year, but his organization, the tax-exempt Cuban
American National Foundation, begun in 1981 at the suggestion of the Reagan
administration, continues to be one of the nation's most powerful lobbying
organizations. His replacement as chairman of the foundation is also named
by Posada in the Times interview as having financially supported his
activities.
Posada first met Mas Canosa when the two men spent seven months being
trained by the CIA in guerrilla warfare and explosives back in the 1960s.
While Mas Canosa later concentrated on business activities and political
organizing in Miami, Posada became a full-time terrorist. He has admitted to
many acts of sabotage in Cuba and was arrested by the Venezuelan government
in connection with the 1976 bombing of a Cubana Airlines civilian flight in
which 73 people, including teenage members of the Cuban fencing team, were
killed.
He protested that he did not order the attack and blamed it on a Cuban
colleague but was held for nine years until a spectacular escape in 1985 in
which prison officials admitted being bribed. Posada told the Times that Mas
Canosa and other leaders of the Cuban American National Foundation paid to
get him out of Venezuela.
In any case, soon after the jailbreak, Posada was hired to work on the
illegal Nicaraguan Contra supply operation run out of the White House by
Oliver North. The plot, in violation of a congressional ban on such
activities, was exposed when one of the planes carrying arms was shot down
over Nicaragua and the pilot ended up identifying Posada as a key link with
the Reagan White House.
It was revealed previously that Posada has long been a dangerous terrorist
backed by both official and unofficial sources in the U.S. Last month, the
Miami Herald ran a detailed expose of Posada's operations and connections
with the anti-Castro element in this country. The Herald revealed that a
Cuban American businessman, Antonio Jorge Alvarez, who knew Posada in
Guatemala, contacted the FBI office in Miami last year concerning Posada's
role in the hotel and restaurant bombings, but the FBI does not seem to have
followed up.
Posada alleged in the interview that the FBI agent contacted by Alvarez was
"a very good friend." He added that the FBI never investigated his operation
and added, "As you can see, the FBI and the CIA don't bother me, and I am
neutral with them. Whenever I can help them I do."
When Posada was asked why he is talking so freely for the first time, the
terrorist reflected on his advanced age and his desire, after the death of
Mas Canosa, to revitalize what he views as a flagging movement. Whatever his
motives, his story, a key piece in this most unsavory chapter of U.S.
history, is too well documented by supporting evidence-released under the
Freedom of Information Act from the files of the FBI and the CIA-to be
ignored.
Ironically, the point of Posada's attacks on tourist targets was to prevent
Western businesses from opening Cuba to foreign investment. Despite the
visit of the pope last year and increasing presence of joint venture
capitalism, we continue to treat Cuba as a pariah state because embittered
exiles in Miami have a death hold on U.S. foreign policy toward the island.
C 2015 TruthDig
Robert Scheer
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The U.S. Terrorized Cuba, Not the Other Way Around
Published on
Monday, March 21, 2016
by
TruthDig
The U.S. Terrorized Cuba, Not the Other Way Around
by
Robert Scheer
. 8 Comments
.
. After many years of strained relations, the U.S. and Cuba in 2014
came to a new agreement in what President Obama called the "most significant
changes in U.S. policy towards Cuba in 50 years." (Photo: Shutterstock)
. Truthdig editor's note: As President Obama begins his historic visit
to Cuba, we are posting some of Truthdig Editor in Chief Robert Scheer's
past writings about the U.S.' relations with and actions toward Cuba. This
article was originally published in the Los Angeles Times on July 14, 1998.
. When is it all right to blow up restaurants and kill tourists?
Anytime, according to Luis Posada Carriles, who masterminded last year's
attacks on Cuba's booming tourist industry, terrorizing disco dancers and
diners alike.
. In a startling revelation this week, the 70-year-old Posada revealed
that key Cuban American lobbyists in this country financed his activities,
in apparent violation of U.S. law, while the FBI and CIA looked the other
way.
. Once again, history won't keep its mouth shut. Little by little, the
truth comes out, and our policy in Cuba gets exposed for the sham it is. For
almost 40 years, we have isolated Cuba on the assumption that the tiny
island is a center of terrorism in the hemisphere, and year after year we
gain new evidence that it is the U.S. that has terrorized Cuba and not the
other way around.
It's obvious from the Posada interview that terrorism is morally acceptable
not only to Posada, who confessed to many of the bloody details of his 35
years of sabotage of civilian targets inside Cuba in a New York Times
interview, but also to high U.S. government officials who trained this
international killer and employed him in many nefarious operations.
The FBI and CIA also suppressed evidence of Posada's connection to the late
Jorge Mas Canosa, the powerful Miami-based anti-Castro lobbyist whose
campaign contributions and political clout with U.S. presidents has shaped
U.S.-Cuba policy for decades.
Mas Canosa died last year, but his organization, the tax-exempt Cuban
American National Foundation, begun in 1981 at the suggestion of the Reagan
administration, continues to be one of the nation's most powerful lobbying
organizations. His replacement as chairman of the foundation is also named
by Posada in the Times interview as having financially supported his
activities.
Posada first met Mas Canosa when the two men spent seven months being
trained by the CIA in guerrilla warfare and explosives back in the 1960s.
While Mas Canosa later concentrated on business activities and political
organizing in Miami, Posada became a full-time terrorist. He has admitted to
many acts of sabotage in Cuba and was arrested by the Venezuelan government
in connection with the 1976 bombing of a Cubana Airlines civilian flight in
which 73 people, including teenage members of the Cuban fencing team, were
killed.
He protested that he did not order the attack and blamed it on a Cuban
colleague but was held for nine years until a spectacular escape in 1985 in
which prison officials admitted being bribed. Posada told the Times that Mas
Canosa and other leaders of the Cuban American National Foundation paid to
get him out of Venezuela.
In any case, soon after the jailbreak, Posada was hired to work on the
illegal Nicaraguan Contra supply operation run out of the White House by
Oliver North. The plot, in violation of a congressional ban on such
activities, was exposed when one of the planes carrying arms was shot down
over Nicaragua and the pilot ended up identifying Posada as a key link with
the Reagan White House.
It was revealed previously that Posada has long been a dangerous terrorist
backed by both official and unofficial sources in the U.S. Last month, the
Miami Herald ran a detailed expose of Posada's operations and connections
with the anti-Castro element in this country. The Herald revealed that a
Cuban American businessman, Antonio Jorge Alvarez, who knew Posada in
Guatemala, contacted the FBI office in Miami last year concerning Posada's
role in the hotel and restaurant bombings, but the FBI does not seem to have
followed up.
Posada alleged in the interview that the FBI agent contacted by Alvarez was
"a very good friend." He added that the FBI never investigated his operation
and added, "As you can see, the FBI and the CIA don't bother me, and I am
neutral with them. Whenever I can help them I do."
When Posada was asked why he is talking so freely for the first time, the
terrorist reflected on his advanced age and his desire, after the death of
Mas Canosa, to revitalize what he views as a flagging movement. Whatever his
motives, his story, a key piece in this most unsavory chapter of U.S.
history, is too well documented by supporting evidence-released under the
Freedom of Information Act from the files of the FBI and the CIA-to be
ignored.
Ironically, the point of Posada's attacks on tourist targets was to prevent
Western businesses from opening Cuba to foreign investment. Despite the
visit of the pope last year and increasing presence of joint venture
capitalism, we continue to treat Cuba as a pariah state because embittered
exiles in Miami have a death hold on U.S. foreign policy toward the island.
C 2015 TruthDig
