Orlando Bosch’s terrorist curriculum vitae
• To refresh Otto Reich’s memory
FEW terrorists in history have achieved as high a level of criminal
activity as Orlando Bosch.
In 1968, his fame was so great that, while under arrest for a bazooka
attack on a Polish freighter, the city of Miami proclaimed Orlando Bosch
Day,
in support of that "exemplary" anti-Castro fighter. The pace of the
attacks he carried out consisted of a campaign of terror aimed at scaring
the Miami community, and raising money for "the cause" – including, of
course, the terrorist leader’s bank account.
Unfortunately, his fellow Miami Cuban Otto Reich, now the White
House’s top man in Latin America – who helped Bosch escape from
Venezuelan justice and find refuge in the United States – seems to
have lost his memory. He declared at a Senate hearing, with
apparent candidness, that he was unaware of his friend Orlando
Bosch’s terrorist past.
That declaration notwithstanding, dozens and dozens of terrorist
attacks are attributed to Orlando Bosch and the gangs he led.
Perhaps this "black list" will refresh the memory of George W. Bush’s
close collaborator.
January 8, 1968: A bomb explodes in a suitcase in Havana
January 25, 1968: Bombs placed in various commercial
establishments in the United States
February 1, 1968: Mexican Consulate in Miami bombed
February 2, 1968: Bomb placed in British consul’s house in Miami
March 12, 1968: Bomb placed in restaurant belonging to Cuban
immigrants in the United States
March 13, 1968: Bomb placed in Chilean Consulate in the United
States
April 2, 1968: Bomb placed in pharmaceutical company in United
States
April 22, 1968: Bomb placed in Mexican Consulate, United States
April 22, 1968: Bomb placed in Spanish Tourism Office in the United
States
May 5, 1968: British ship Greenwood bombed in the United States
May 25, 1968: Bomb placed aboard the Japanese ship Aroka Maru
in the United States
June 21, 1968: Bomb placed in Spanish Tourism Office in the United
States
June 23, 1968: Bomb placed in Mexican Tourism Office in the United
States
June 27, 1968: Bomb explodes in the garage of Mexican consul to
the United States
July 4, 1968: Bomb placed in Cuban Consulate in Canada
July 4, 1968: Bomb placed in Canadian Tourism Office in United
States
July 7, 1968: Bomb placed in Japanese Tourism Office in the United
States
July 11, 1968: Bomb explodes near Cuban Mission to the UN,
causing damage to the Yugoslavian mission
July 11, 1968: Bomb placed aboard the Japanese ship Michagesan
Maru in Mexico
July 14, 1968: Bomb placed in Mexican Tourism Office in the United
States
July 15, 1968: Bomb discovered in a French government office in the
United States
July 16, 1968: Bomb discovered in the Mexican Consulate, United
States
July 17, 1968: Bomb placed in Cuban diplomat’s home in the United
States
July 19, 1968: Bomb placed in French Tourism Office in the United
States
July 19, 1968: Bomb placed in Shell Petroleum Company building in
England
July 19, 1968: Bomb placed in Japanese travel agency in the United
States
July 26, 1968: Bomb placed in Mexican Tourism Office in the United
States
July 31, 1968: Bomb placed in British Consulate in United States
August 3, 1968: Bomb placed in British bank in the United States
August 5, 1968: Bomb placed in offices of the Communist Party in
the United States
August 7, 1968: Bomb placed aboard the Bahamas ship Caribbean
Venture in the United States
August 9, 1968: Mexican representatives in the United States
bombed
August 9, 1968: Bomb placed in Mexican consul’s home in Miami
September 11, 1968: Bomb placed aboard British ship in Mexico
September 16, 1968: Bomb explodes aboard the Spanish ship
Satrustegui in Puerto Rico
September 16, 1968: Bazooka attack on Polish ship in Miami
September 17, 1968: Bomb placed aboard Mexican airplane in
United States
September 19, 1968: Bomb placed in home of Mexican consul to the
United States
October 18, 1968: Bomb placed in Canadian travel agency
October 20, 1968: Gas bomb placed in a theater where a Cuban
actress was performing
October 24, 1968: Attempts to assassinate Cuban ambassador to
the UN
July 26, 1969: Bomb placed in Mexican Tourism Office in the United
States
August 6, 1969: Bomb placed in British-owned Shell Oil offices in the
United States
August 6, 1969: Bomb placed in Air France offices in the United
States
In 1972, Bosch traveled to Chile with his friend Guillermo Novo
Sampol and puts himself at the disposal of General Augusto
Pinochet’s fascist junta. He subsequently participated in a series of
attacks on prominent Chileans in exile.
In 1974, Bosch created the terrorist organization called Cuban
Action, with the support of the Chilean junta and Nicaraguan dictator
Anastasio Somoza’s secret police.
January 21, 1974: Bomb placed in Cuban diplomatic office in Canada
January 21, 1974: Bomb placed in Cuban diplomatic office in
Argentina
January 21, 1974: Bomb placed in Cuban diplomatic office in Peru
January 21, 1974: Bomb placed in Cuban embassy in Mexico
February 13, 1974: Bomb placed in Cuban embassy in Madrid
April 4, 1974: Prensa Latina representatives bombed in Mexico
October 1, 1974: Bomb placed in Panamanian embassy in Caracas
October 30, 1974: Bomb placed in Venezuelan-Cuban Friendship
Institute in Venezuela
November 11, 1974: Bomb placed in hotel where Cuban officials
were staying in the United States
March 19, 1974: Assassination of General Carlos Prats, former
officer of the Chilean Armed Forces, and his wife, in Argentina
May 10, 1975: Attempt in Rome to kill Bernardo Leighton, vice
president of the Chilean Democratic Party in exile, and his wife
July 1975: Shots fired on the resident of a Cuban official in the United
States
August 3, 1975: Assassination attempt on Cuban Ambassador Emilio
Aragonés, in Argentina
November 17, 1975: Bomb placed in Venezuelan tourism company,
in Venezuela
November 30, 1975: Bomb placed in USSR commercial office in
Mexico
March 1976: Bosch is arrested by Costa Rican police for suspicion of
trying to assassinate exiled Chilean leader Andrés Pascal Allende
September 21, 1976: Assassination of Orlando Letelier, former
Chilean ambassador to the United States, and his secretary Ronnie
Moffitt
In 1976, Bosch founded the Command of United Revolutionary
Organizations (CORU), most of whose members had worked for the
CIA. He ordered another series of attacks.
June 6, 1976: Bomb placed in Cuban diplomatic mission at the UN
July 1, 1976: Bomb placed in Cuban-Costa Rican cultural center in
Costa Rica
July 8, 1976: Bomb placed in Cuban mission in Spain
September 7, 1976: Bomb placed in Cubana de Aviación warehouse
in Kingston, Jamaica
July 10, 1976: Bomb placed in Cubana de Aviación office in Barbados
July 11, 1976: Bomb placed in Air Panama offices in Colombia
July 23, 1976: Attempt to kidnap Cuban consul in Mérida, Mexico,
resulting in the death of Cuban fishing technician D’Artagnan Díaz
Díaz
September 8, 1976: Kidnapping of two Cuban diplomats in Argentina
September 9, 1976: Bomb placed in Guyanese embassy in Trinidad
and Tobago
September 18, 1976: Bomb placed in Cubana de Aviación office in
Panama
October 6, 1976: Mid-flight explosion of a Cubana de Aviación
passenger plane, causing the deaths of all 73 persons on board
As a result of the plane bombing, Bosch was arrested in Venezuela
and accused of masterminding the horrible crime. Nevertheless, from
his cell he continued to dream up and order other attacks, against
Venezuelan targets, in order to pressure the Venezuelan justice
system to let him go.
March 30, 1977: Bomb placed in Venezuelan Consulate in Puerto
Rico
August 30, 1977: Bomb placed aboard a Venezuelan airplane in
Miami
December 23, 1977: Bomb placed in Viasa airline office, United
States
December 30, 1977: Bomb placed in Venezuelan Consulate in Puerto
Rico
In 1978, also from his cell, he ordered attacks on Mexican interests,
in response to the measures taken by that government following the
death of Cuban fishing technician D’Artagnan Díaz Díaz.
February 7, 1978: Bomb placed in Mexican Consulate in the United
States
February 7, 1978: Bomb placed aboard the Mexican ship Azteca,
resulting in two deaths and seven injuries
Later, still from his cell, he directed and maintained the actions of
Omega-7, consisting of a long chain of terrorist attacks.
September 9, 1978: Bomb placed in Cuban mission at the UN
October 5, 1978: Bomb placed across from Madison Square Garden,
where Cuban boxers were supposed to fight
October 6, 1978: Bomb placed in offices of Girasol tourism
company, belonging to the Socialist Party of Puerto Rico
October 6, 1978: Bomb placed in offices of Antillana tourism
company of Puerto Rico
October 6, 1978: Bomb placed in offices of the Record Public Service
company, owned by a Cuban immigrant in Puerto Rico
October 23, 1978: Bomb placed in La Prensa newspaper in the
United States
November 18, 1978: Bomb threats made against TWA, due to its
flights to Cuba
December 28, 1978: Bomb placed in office of Varadero Travel in
Puerto Rico
December 29, 1978: Bomb placed in Cuban mission at the UN
December 29, 1978: Bomb placed in Lincoln Center, New York
March 26, 1979: Bomb placed in TWA offices at New York’s JFK
Airport
March 26, 1979: Bomb placed in office of Weehawken company of
New Jersey, headed by Cuban Eulalio J. Negrín, a member of the
Committee of 75, which was negotiating with Cuba
April 4, 1979: Murder of Carlos Muñoz Varela, member of the
Antonio Maceo Brigade and director of Varadero Travel in Puerto Rico
November 25, 1979: Eulalio J. Negrín murdered
September 11, 1980: Murder of Félix García Rodríguez,
Cuban
diplomat to the United Nations
In 1987, thanks to Otto Reich, Bosch was freed and entered the
United States, where he was granted asylum and even a presidential
pardon.
By the start of the 1980s, the Cuban American National Foundation
(CANF) was in existence, and its leader, Jorge Mas Canosa, directed
counterrevolutionary and terrorist attacks.
Once he took refuge in the United States, Bosch continued advising
the most fanatical elements of the Miami mafia. Even within the
terrorist gang directed by Luis Posada Carriles that planned to
assassinate Fidel Castro in Panama, there are several of the old
terrorist’s friends. Gaspar Jiménez Escobedo, Pedro Remón
and
Guillermo Novo Sampol were guilty of numerous terrorist actions
against Cuba and other countries, among them the machine-gunning
of Félix García Rodríguez in New York; the killing
of Cuban fishing
technician D’Artagnan Díaz Díaz by terrorist Gaspar Jiménez
Escobedo; and the kidnapping of two diplomats in Argentina.
What a bad memory Mr. Reich has, after so many years of
collaboration with the CIA and the CANF!