HAVANA, (Reuters) – Militant anti-Castro Cuban exile and former CIA operative Luis Posada Carriles, accused of masterminding the explosion of a Cuban airliner 40 years ago, died early today in the United States at the age of 90, his attorney’s office said.
Posada Carriles was considered a hero by some Cuban exiles for his attempts to topple Fidel Castro’s government following the 1959 revolution, while Cuba called him a terrorist unjustly given haven by the United States.
“He died in Miami, the United States, the country that trained him to lay bombs and attack the lives of hundreds of Cubans.”
Cuba has accused the United States of double standards in its war on terrorism for failing to make Posada Carriles face justice.
Cuba also accuses Posada Carriles of planning a wave of bomb blasts in Havana hotels in 1997 that killed an Italian tourist and of plotting to blow up Castro during a presidential summit in Panama in 2000.
“Groups like Omega 7 and Alpha 66 set off more bombs in Miami than they did in Havana,” LeoGrande said, referring to militant anti-Castro groups.