The Salvadoran Raúl Ernesto Cruz León He was released this Monday Cuban dictatorship after serving a sentence of 30 years in prison for executing a series of terrorist attacks in 1997 against tourist facilities on the island, according to the official portal Cubadebate.
Cruz León was arrested on September 4, 1997 and accused of placing six explosive devices between July and September of that year in well-known hotels and restaurants in Havanaincluding the National Hotelhe Caprihe Copacabanahe Tritonhe Chateau-Miramar and the restaurant La Bodeguita del Medio. One of the attacks claimed the life of the Italian businessman Fabio di Celmo32 years old, and injured seven other people.
Another Salvadoran accused of having carried out the attacks, Otto René Rodríguez Llerena, was also sentenced to death and his sentence was also commuted to 30 years in prison.
Rodríguez Llerena confessed to having committed a bomb attack against the luxurious Meliá-Cohiba hotel in Havana in August 1997 and to having tried to bring two powerful bombs into Cuba in June 1998.
In a trial held in 1999Cruz León was found guilty of the crime of “continued terrorism” and initially sentenced to the death penalty. However, in 2010he Supreme People’s Court of Cuba commuted his sentence to 30 years in prison, after reviewing his appeal.
The attacks were attributed to the anti-Castro organization Cuban American National Foundation (CANF)based in Miami, and the Cuban exile Luis Posada Carriles. According to statements collected by The New York TimesPosada Carriles acknowledged having organized the attacks and received financing from the CANF to carry them out.
The Cuban regime blamed Cruz León for acting as an executor sent by these groups. Posada Carriles, former collaborator of the CIAdied in 2018 in Miami without facing trial for these events,
In your note, Cubadebate justified the release of Cruz León as a sign of the “coherence and fairness” of the Cuban judicial system, which “respects its laws and guarantees justice even for those who have committed serious crimes.” However, the text also points out the impunity of the “intellectual authors” of these attacks, who, according to the dictatorship of Miguel Díaz-Canel, lived and died in USA without being accountable to justice.
The report specifically mentions Posada Carriles and other promoters of terrorism against the island, whom it accuses of having enjoyed protection in United States territory. Likewise, it reaffirms that Cuba has faced terrorism “with firmness and respect for legality”, sanctioning those responsible for actions that have caused pain to its citizens and visitors.
Cruz León, who was imprisoned in 1997, was convicted of attacks that sought to affect tourism, one of the key sectors of the Cuban economy. The decision to commute his death sentence in 2010 to 30 years in prison responded, according to Cuban authorities, to an act of “humanity and legal coherence.”
After serving his sentence, Cruz León was released this Monday, marking the closure of a case that symbolizes the historical tensions between Cuba and anti-Castro groups in the United States. The release has reignited debate over the lack of trials for financiers of the attacks and the protection some of them received in Miami.
(With information from EFE and AFP)
