Castro clears Clinton
Cuba does not blame current US administration for bombing
By Dara Mac Neil
Cuban President Fidel Castro has accused the US of direct
complicity in terrorist attacks against Cuba.
Significantly, however, Castro chose to exempt current US
President Bill Clinton from inclusion in this roll of
international terror.
``I do not want to make false accusations, we do not blame the
current US administration; we sincerely do not believe Mr Clinton
to be capable of planning such terrorist actions against another
country,'' said the Cuban president.
Castro was speaking on the 45th anniversary of the 26 July
assault on the Moncada barracks that signalled the beginning of
armed resistance to the regime of Fulgencio Batista.
However, Castro's ``exemption'' of the Clinton administration would
not seem to extend to all sections of the US political and
military establishment.
Thus, the Cuban president characterised the series of no-warning
bombs in Havana last year as but the latest manifestation of US
agression against Cuba. The bombs claimed the life of an Italian
tourist.
The Cuban leader said last year's bombing campaign against Cuban
hotels was directed against tourism and the Cuban economy - ``as
if the criminal and cruel blockade against our country were not
bad enough''.
Recently, Luis Posada Carriles - a CIA-trained veteran of the US
campaign against Cuba - claimed that the bombing campaign had
been organised by the late head of the Cuban American National
Foundation, Jorge Mas Canosa.
The powerful Cuban American National Foundation has enjoyed close
links with successive US administrations, while Jorge Mas Canosa
was said to be close to fomer presidents Reagan and Bush.
President Castro asked if it was possible that such a bombing
campaign could be organised without the ``complicity, tolerance
and support'' of the US authorities.
``Based on the evidence at hand, it is guilty of many crimes and
terrorist attacks against our nation,'' he added.
He instanced one of the most notorious of these attacks: the
blowing up in October 1976 of a civilian Cuban airliner in
Barbados. The attack claimed the lives of 73 civilians, including
a junior sports team returning to Cuba following their
participation in an international competition.
It is believed that Luis Posada Carriles was centrally involved
in the plot to blow up the airliner. And, given Posada Carriles'
acknowledged involvement with the CIA in Latin America, strong
suspicions about the intelligence agency's role in the atrocity
remain.
At a ceremony in Barbados to mark the 26 July attack on Moncada,
plans were announced to inaugurate a monument to those killed in
the 1976 attack. The monument is to stand as a ``permanent
condemnation of international terrorism.''
Meanwhile, representatives of over 70 US organisations opposed to
the US blockade are in Cuba to participate in the first ever US
Cuba Friendship Conference. Among the participants will be
members of the Friendship Caravan which recently arrived in Cuba
with over 150 tonnes of humanitarian aid.
The Caravan is organised by the US-based Pastors for Peace who
each year collect and bring humitarian aid to Cuba, in direct
defiance of the US ban.
The Caravan travels through the US and Mexico to Cuba each year.
This year there were two Irish participants, Spanish Civil War
veteran Michael O'Riordain and Bernie Dwyer of the Cuba
Solidarity Campaign.
Financial aid collected by the two Irish particpants was
initially seized by US authorities. However, it is now expected
the money will be released in the very near future.
Colombian rebels reject US involvement
The Colombian National Liberation Army (ELN) has rejected the
proposed deployment in Colombia of an international force,
organised under the banner of the United Nations.
Pablo Beltran, a senior member of the ELN told a Colombian
newspaper that the UN had chosen the wrong option with the
deployment of the force.
Beltran claimed that such forces were typically composed of ten
soldiers of varying nationalities and ``a thousand US soldiers.''
The ELN has repeatedly rejected any role for the US in resolving
the long-running Colombian conflict. The guerrilla group argues
that the US does not possess the moral authority to serve as
either a mediator or facilitator in conlict resolution in the
country.
Earlier this year, following serious reversals suffered by the
Colombian army at the hands of the larger FARC guerrilla
organisation, newspapers throughout the region were filled with
rumours that the US planned a military intervention in Colombia
in the guise of an international peace-keeping force.
The United States has been accused of promoting the right-wing
death squads in Colombia, courtesy of the training received by
Colombian army personnel in the notorious US Military School of
the Americas.
The training school has in the past been home to some of the most
infamous of Latin America's military commanders. It is known
throughout the region as the School of the Coups.
Salinas family blamed for drugs sales
The father and brother of former Mexican president Carlos Salinas
were allegedly involved in drug trafficking and money-laundering,
according to witness testimony obtained by the US authorites.
Carlos Salinas left Mexcico in disgrace in 1995 and has been a
resident of Dublin since 1996. The former president has been
accused of corruption, during his term of office.
The witness, Magdalena Ruiz, claims to have worked for the
ex-president's family and to have been knowledgeable about their
financial affairs. She has claimed that the father and brother of
Carlos Salinas maintained contacts with drug baron Amado
Carrillo. This occurred while Carlos Salinas occupied the Mexican
president's office.
Magdalena Ruiz alleges that the former president's father and
brother had built up an extensive drug trafficking and
money-laundering operation, in cooperation with some of Mexico's
most powerful drug cartels.
The ex-president's brother, Raul Salinas, was cleared recently by
Mexican authorities of involvement in money-laundering, ``illegal
enrichment'' and complicity in the assassination of a senior
member of the ruling PRI party.
The charge of illegal enrichment stemmed from Raul Salinas' role
as a government official, while his brother was president.
Nonetheless, the thrifty Raul managed to amass a number of secret
Swiss bank accounts containing in excess of $80 million, during
his time in office. The bank accounts were opened under false
names. Swiss authorities, who believe the secret funds may have
resulted from illegal activities, have continued to freeze the
bank accounts until the source of the money can be traced.
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