Venezuelan Journalist Alicia Herrera Denounces Bombing of Cubana Civilian Aircraft

These were the introductory words, in an exclusive interview with ACN news agency of Venezuelan Journalist Alicia Herrera, author of the book “Pusimos la bomba,….Y que?, written in the early 1980’s and which currently has 4 editions (the most recent in 2006).

“34 years have passed of the bombing of the Cubana airliner off the coasts of Barbados and the memories are still alive in our minds of those innocent people that were killed, the majority of them young people full of joy and with a promising future”, she stressed.

“Since then their families, including me, have fought for justice on their behalf. We have knocked on doors, conscious and hearts to denounce the crime and for those guilty to be punished and up until today, little or almost nothing has been accomplished.”

“We must remind everyone especially the younger generation, said Alicia, that terrorism and terrorists exists, are active and many, like the intellectual authors of the crime in Barbados continue with their terrorist actions not only against Cuba, but also against Venezuela and all the nations that want to struggle in favor of a new and just society”.

On October 6th, 1976 the news on the bombing of Cubana airliner 455 off the coasts of Barbados moved the Cuban people and the world.

The pain inflicted by the catastrophe later became indignation, after confirming the initial suspicion that the aircraft with 73 people on board had been bombed.

After the detention of Venezuelan Freddy Lugo and Hernan Ricardo, who executed the placing of the bomb, its intellectual and financial authors were identified and arrested in Venezuela: Cuban born terrorists and active members of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), Orlando Bosch and Luis Posada Carriles.

Venezuelan journalist Alicia Herrera was able to enter the San Carlos Garrison in Caracas 34 years ago to investigate the facts and horrified, listened to the confession of the terrorists that was later included in her book “Pusimos la bomba… ¿Y qué?”, “We Placed the Bomb….So What?.

Although Alicia can not avoid anger and pain every October, affirms that she will not stop in her commitment of denouncing those guilty of such a horrible crime, whom as many others, continue forging criminal plans against Cuba, Venezuela and the nations that are struggling to construct a new society.

“Terrorists Luis Posada Carriles and Orlando Bosch were protected by government of President Luis Herrera Campins, especially by the Venezuelan political police (DISIP), of which Posada Carriles was also a member”, she recalls.

“The director of the DISIP, Remberto Uzcátegui, in addition to being a colleague, was the godfather of one of Posada Carriles’ daughters. The terrorists were placed in spacious cells where they could receive visits and organize dinners with their accomplices visiting him from Miami and Puerto Rico.

“They were given all the facilities to communicate by phone at any hour of the day; permissions to receive family and friends and there was also a commentary going around that they were even authorized to leave their cells at night with the complicity of the prison guards”, said Alicia.

“In addition, Posada and Bosch, as well as Hernan Ricardo y Freddy Lugo, received a monthly salary from the DISIP. Of course, the sum for the first two was much higher and this constituted a motive of permanent quarrel among them.

“The major and most shameless privilege given to the terrorists was the assistance of a secretary, paid by the political police themselves in charge of cleaning up their files with all the necessary manipulations to release them without responsibilities.

“When Orlando Bosch confessed in my presence that he had participated, alongside Posada Carriles in the bombing of the Cubana civilian aircraft I was not shocked because I knew of many of their terrorist activities by indirect confessions of their wives and Bosch and Freddy Lugo themselves.

“These actions included assassination attempts against Cuban diplomats; placing of bombs in Cuban consulates and embassies in different places, inflicting death and injured, in addition to the destruction of offices on the island and other Latin American nations.

“The terrorists showed at all moments confident that they would be released, due to their contacts with the CIA, and because the government of Herrera Campins and in particular the DISIP, stole dangerous evidence and elaborated a “new file”.

“Posada, said the Venezuelan journalist, was priority for the CIA, which was always in communication with DISIP, since the 1960’s when the terrorist represented the US agency in the Venezuelan police entity”.

Learning the truth on the Barbados crime and having detailed confessions of the terrorists themselves made Alicia denounce them and for this she had to face persecution and threats that forced her to leave the country.

“In realty, said Alicia, my greatest fears were that they would be released and continue, as I heard them say many times, to prepare more terrorist actions”.

The 4th and most recent edition of her book, published in 2006, includes a series of documents that were taken from the file to absolve the authors of the bombing of the Cubana airliner of their guilt.

Those papers, recovered accidently after 25 years of denunciations alongside other declassified documents by the US government corroborates the maintained version by Alicia Herrera during the last three decades that proves the CIA’s implication in the bombing of the Cubana aircraft in Barbados.

In 2005, Venezuela requested the US government to extradite Luis Posada Carriles in order to be tried by Venezuelan courts and in May 2010, reiterated his request at the UN Security Council; however, the Head of State has not received a response from the White House, said Alicia.

“The US legal system uses delaying tactics in the process regarding Posada Carriles who is waiting to be tried by lying to US immigration authorities and not for terrorism.

“The impression that one gets of the US government is that it protects this criminal, hides his crimes maybe to avoid the terrorist actions that was planned and executed for years as CIA agent.

“Venezuela has the legal and moral right to demand the extradition of Luis Posada Carriles, the brain of the bombing of the Cubana airliner and the US has the obligation of returning Posada to Venezuela”, said stressed.

“It is indignation to know that terrorists like Orlando Bosch and Luis Posada Carriles are free and continue their plans of destruction and death, while five Cubans have remained in prison for the last 12 years for protecting the Cuban people from criminal attacks.

“We must permanently mobilize to demand justice for the Cuban Five that are incarcerated in the US”, and justice for the victims of the bombing of the Cubana airliner in 1976.