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CUBA
NEWS
The
Miami Herald
Pardoned Cuban exile faces death, if
captured
By Nancy San Martin, nsanmartin@herald.com.
Posted on Sat, Sep. 04, 2004 in The Miami
Herald.
Honduran authorities said Friday they continue
to believe Cuban exile Luis Posada Carriles
is no longer in the country, but that, if
he's captured, they would consider Cuba's
extradition request.
There, the explosives expert would face
a firing squad.
''We still believe that he left the country,
but we can't determine how he did that,''
Armando Calidonio, Honduras' vice minister
of security told The Herald. "The investigation
continues.''
Leónidas Rosa Bautista, Honduras'
minister of foreign relations, told reporters
on Thursday that an extradition request
had been submitted by Cuba and that, if
Posada is apprehended, he would be "immediately
deported.''
Cuba, meanwhile, has said that Posada would
be condemned to death.
WANTED
Posada -- who is wanted by Cuba on numerous
terrorism and assassination charges -- was
among four exiles pardoned last month by
Panama's former President Mireya Moscoso.
They had been imprisoned four years ago
on convictions tied to an assassination
plot against Cuban President Fidel Castro.
Three of the exiles, Gaspar Jiménez,
Pedro Remón and Guillermo Novo --
all of whom are U.S. citizens -- returned
to their homes in Miami. Posada, 76, who
is not a U.S. citizen, is believed to have
fled to Honduras where he went into hiding.
Authorities in that country said they have
information indicating Posada fled to the
Bahamas or another Caribbean country but
could not be absolutely certain.
Branded by Castro as ''the worst terrorist
in the hemisphere,'' Posada is wanted in
connection with the 1976 midair bombing
of a Cuban jetliner in which 73 people were
killed. The former CIA operative also is
accused of orchestrating a dozen terror
bombings of Havana tourist spots in 1997,
and numerous plots to assassinate Castro.
DENIED ANY ROLE
Posada and the three Miami exiles have
denied any role in the alleged assassination
plot in Panama during a heads-of-state summit
in 2000, where Castro made the accusations.
A Panamanian court dropped initial charges
of conspiracy to murder and possession of
explosives, but convicted them in April
of endangering public safety and sentenced
them to up to eight years.
In the terror bombings in Havana, Posada
first admitted, then denied, responsibility.
Responding to reports by Cuba that Posada
could have gone to Costa Rica, authorities
there announced they would not provide refuge
to Posada.
Feds say hospital worker hid Cuban link
Posted on Sat, Sep. 04,
2004.
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - (AP) -- A hospital
translator faces an immigration hearing
after federal agents arrested him on allegations
he failed to disclose he once worked for
Cuba's intelligence service.
Juan Manuel Reyes-Alonso, 36, who lives
in Chatham County, was held without bond
in the Forsyth County jail while awaiting
a meeting with an immigration judge in Atlanta.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents
led him away in handcuffs Thursday outside
UNC Hospitals, where Reyes-Alonso works
in the pediatrics department.
Reyes-Alonso, who was born in Cuba, failed
to disclose he had ''intelligence office
training in June 1994 under the command
of the Cuban Directorate of Intelligence,''
said Sue Brown, a spokeswoman for the Immigration
and Customs Enforcement office. He failed
to disclose that training as required by
the Foreign Agent Registration Act, Brown
said in a news release.
''This man had extensive training and a
long career as a Cuban intelligence officer,''
Ken Smith, Atlanta special agent in charge
of the Raleigh office, said in the statement.
"Failing to disclose foreign intelligence
activities is a violation of the law. It's
that simple.''
The law describes ''agents'' as people
who continue to act at the order or request
of a foreign government, organization or
individual.
Reyes-Alonso's wife, Amber Harmon, a horticulture
student at North Carolina State University,
called the arrest "insane.''
''He has been honest about his background
since Day One of his visa application,''
she said.
Reyes-Alonso entered the United States
in August four years ago on a visa he obtained
because of his plans to marry Harmon. They
married in September 2000.
Her husband quit working for the Cuban
government in November 1997, Harmon said.
After that, he tried to win permission from
Cuba to leave but was unable to, she said.
Reyes-Alonso ultimately ended up in the
United States after fleeing to Nicaragua
and Harmon asking for assistance from the
offices of North Carolina's two U.S. senators.
Harmon said her husband has tried to follow
immigration procedures but added he was
not aware he had to register with the Justice
Department.
''My husband is not a spy,'' Harmon said.
"The Cuban government is not his friend.''
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