Published Friday, November 2, 2001 in
The Miami Herald
3 express regret for bomb plot
By Anita Snow . Associated Press
HAVANA -- Three Guatemalans accused of plotting to bring bomb-making
materials into Cuba expressed regret Thursday as they went on trial for
terrorism charges.
"This whole time has been a nightmare,'' defendant María Elena
González Meza de Fernández, 57, told a five-member tribunal.
"I am ashamed to have been involved in this plan,'' she said, dabbing
her eyes with a paper tissue. "I humbly ask for forgiveness.''
Fernández, her husband, Jazid Iván Fernandez Mendoza, 31, and
fellow Guatemalan Nadel Musalam, 31, are accused of working for a Central
American terrorist network that planted a series of bombs in Cuba in 1997 and
1998.
They have all confessed to the crimes and face charges ranging from 20 to 30
years.
Communist officials have said that the network was funded by Cuban exiles
opposed to Fidel Castro's government and that the bombings were aimed at
damaging the economy by scaring away tourists.
Two Salvadoran men earlier confessed to carrying out several successful
bombings, including one that killed an Italian visitor.
They were convicted and sentenced to death by a Cuban court in March 1999,
but remain behind bars pending appeals.
Officials said the hearing is likely to wrap up today. A verdict was
expected 10 days to two weeks after the trial ends, with sentencing to follow.
Musalam, 31, was arrested in March 1998 after he arrived at the Havana
international airport and customs officials found plastic explosives, detonators
and other bomb-making materials in his luggage. The C-4 explosives were hidden
in plastic shampoo bottles.
New charter service to Cuba starts amid gloomy economic outlook
HAVANA -- (AP) -- A Continental Airlines Boeing 737 cut through the gray sky
Thursday and was met on the ground by excited government officials and business
representatives.
But the enthusiasm over Continental's first charter flight here from the
United States contrasted with the cloudy economic outlook the communist island
-- and the world in general -- now face.
After the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the United States, Cuba has seen a
visible drop in tourism -- the island's No. 1 source of convertible currency.
Just as the attacks deepened a recession in the United States, fallout from
the attacks worsened economic problems brewing in Cuba.
Cuba already was hurting from lower world prices for nickel and sugar -- two
important exports.
Fidel Castro's government is now asking Cubans to prepare for "some
sacrifices.''
Twenty of 225 hotels across the island recently shut down temporarily
because of a drop in visitors. A third of 36,000 hotel rooms set aside for
foreign tourists are empty.
Turn to east could take Michelle to Cuba and possibly S. Florida
By Amy Driscoll. adriscoll@herald.com
Michelle, a late-season storm that became a hurricane this morning, crawled
through the southwestern Caribbean Thursday night as forecasters watched for
signs of an eastward hook that would take the strengthening system over Cuba
this weekend -- and possibly on toward South Florida.
The National Hurricane Center said the most likely scenario puts Hurricane
Michelle over western Cuba around noon Sunday, followed by a turn to the east or
northeast. After that the path remains uncertain, due in part to weak steering
currents.
One computer model indicates that Michelle -- a fairly compact storm at 115
miles across -- could cut through the Florida Straits, brushing the Keys, or
veer slightly more north toward the mainland.
Other models show Michelle making a sharper eastward turn over north-central
Cuba and the lower Florida Straits, missing the Florida mainland and heading
toward the Bahamas, hurricane specialist Stacy Stewart said.
"We want people to monitor this closely, especially if you're in the
Florida Keys,'' said Max Mayfield, director of the hurricane center in west
Miami-Dade. "We don't want to overdo it, but at some point this storm is
going to pick up speed. We don't want people to ignore the potential.''
Mayfield said forecasters are also watching a trough of low pressure in the
Northeast. They are hoping it will dip down and help steer the storm in a more
easterly direction. But they aren't certain at what point the trough will dig
deeply enough to the south to affect Michelle.
The storm was located about 300 miles south-southeast of the western tip of
Cuba on Thursday night, with winds of 70 mph. It was moving to the
north-northwest about 5 mph.
By noon Sunday, Mayfield said, forecasters expect Michelle to become a
Category 2 storm, with winds of 110 mph.
Bands of clouds, with some thunderstorms and gusty winds, will begin this
weekend covering the Keys and South Florida, he said.
The National Weather Service says the chance of thunderstorms is 80 percent
tonight and Saturday. The outlook for Sunday and early part of next week is
mostly cloudy and windy with more showers and thunderstorms likely.
The South Florida Water Management District has already begun lowering the
water level in area canals on both coasts to help ease flooding. And area
beaches, already eroded by strong northeastern winds, may suffer additional
damage from the storm.
Michelle's proximity to Florida, as it heads north toward warmer waters that
can bulk it up, caused special concern for emergency management officials in the
Keys. They need at least 36 hours lead time for a major evacuation of the island
chain, 24 hours for a more limited evacuation.
"We are paying very, very close attention to this,'' Monroe County
Emergency Management Director Billy Wagner said. "It's a touch-and-go
situation for the next 24 hours or so.''
A major offshore powerboat race scheduled for the weekend in Key West is an
additional complication, he said. About 125 boats, plus their support vehicles,
would need to be evacuated along with spectators if a hurricane approached.
Postponing the event would also have a negative financial impact, he said.
"We're in a high state of readiness,'' Wagner said.
Thursday night, the government of Cuba posted a hurricane watch for much of
the island's western edge, including the provinces of Matanzas and Pinar del Río,
along with Havana and the Isle of Youth.
Flooding is likely, as the rain-laden storm moves slowly across the island
to the north or northwest.
Michelle's power has already been apparent in Honduras, where the coast was
battered by flash floods that killed four and forced more than 115,000 people
from their homes.
Relief workers were trying to reach small villages near the Nicaraguan
border, where there were reports of as many as 75,000 residents trapped on roofs
or small patches of ground.
The six-month hurricane season ends Nov. 30.
Copyright 2001 Miami Herald | 
