7
Indicted in Plot To Kill Castro
By The Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP)
-- Seven Cuban-Americans were indicted today
by a federal
grand jury on charges of conspiracy to murder Cuban
President Fidel
Castro.
The indictment,
returned in San Juan, Puerto Rico, and announced by the
Justice Department
here, alleged the defendants plotted for four years to
kill Castro
outside the United States and particularly during his trip to a
summit meeting
on Isla Margarita, Venezuela, in November 1997.
If convicted, they face up to life in prison, the department said.
At least one
of the defendants, Jose Antonio Llama, is a member of the
Cuban American
National Foundation, but the foundation's president,
Francisco ``Pepe''
Hernandez, was not charged in the indictment.
Lawyers for
both men had predicted in Miami last week that they would
be charged with
such a plot this week.
In addition to
Llama, who is a member of the lobbying group's executive
committee, others
indicted today were: Jose Rodriguez, Alfredo Domingo
Otero, Angel
Manuel Alfonso, Angel Hernandez Rojo, Juan Bautista
Marquez and
Francisco Secundino-Cordova.
Castro himself
has accused the Cuban American National Foundation of
plotting to
kill him.
The lobbying
organization was founded by Jorge Mas Canosa, a Cuban
exile whose
death in November created a major leadership vacuum
among Castro
opponents. The 58-year-old Mas devoted his adult life to
efforts to oust
Castro.
The indictment
charges the conspirators with obtaining two .50-caliber
semiautomatic
rifles which were to be used as sniper rifles; a 46-foot
boat, which
was modified by the plotters to permit it to sail virtually
anywhere in
the waters in and around the Caribbean without refueling;
and night-vision
goggles and global positioning units to assist in
assassinating
Castro.
Other charges
in the indictment include misuse of a vessel, false
statements and
smuggling.
The indictment
is part of a continuing investigation by the FBI and
Customs Service
which was disclosed Oct. 27, 1997, when a U.S. Coast
Guard cutter
intercepted and boarded a boat off Puerto Rico that was
carrying four
of the conspirators. The sniper rifles, ammunition and some
of the other
equipment were found hidden in the boat, La Esperanza.
One of the four
Cuban exiles aboard the boat allegedly blurted out that
the men were
on their way to Margarita to assassinate Castro.
Records showed
that one of two sniper rifles seized on the boat was
purchased by
Hernandez and that the yacht was registered to Llama,
authorities
said.
``Ownership of
a rifle or a boat does not make you guilty of a crime,''
attorney Jose
M. Quinon said last week.
The owner of
the second rifle, Evelio Pou, a veteran of the Bay of Pigs
invasion, was
questioned by the FBI but was not indicted.
``We fear that
there are political reasons behind the actions that may take
place next week,''
Quinon said last Thursday. The U.S. administration, he
said, ``may
be trying to come together with Cuba.''
A federal judge
in San Juan gave U.S. Attorney Miguel Pereira until today
to come up with
new charges or take his case to trial.
Castro's government
has repeatedly accused the foundation and its
members of financing
armed attacks against Cuba. The group maintains it
works peacefully
for democracy on the island.
Castro publicly
commented on the case in a speech delivered July 26 in
Santiago de
Cuba, The Miami Herald reported Friday, citing Cuba's daily
Communist Party
newspaper Granma.
``Let's see how
they can deny it,'' Castro said. ``Let's see how they can
deny that the
boat that was going to commit the attempt at Margarita --
captured by
pure chance after sailing from Miami to Puerto Rico --
belongs to the
foundation and that the weapons belong to the foundation.
Let's see how
they handle that problem.''
Another plan
to assassinate Castro was discovered by federal agents last
month, the Herald
reported earlier this month.