World News Cuba frees man who participated in 1997 attacks on hotels in Havana, orchestrated by Cuban exiles

[Judi Lynn]

1. More information: "Bomber Names Ex-CIA Operative In Cuba Attacks"

AP - Latin America
February 9, 2011 / 2:10 AM EST / AP


AP - Latin America
Bomber Names Ex-CIA Operative In Cuba Attacks
February 9, 2011 / 2:10 AM EST / AP

HAVANA (AP) - A Salvadoran man jailed in Cuba in connection with a string of 1990s hotel bombings says he told a U.S. prosecutor that he got explosives and money directly from a former CIA operative now on trial in Texas, and that he is willing to testify against him.

Otto Rene Rodriguez told The Associated Press in an exclusive interview Tuesday that he received powerful C-4 explosives and $2,000 in cash directly from Luis Posada Carriles to carry out an Aug. 3, 1997, bombing at Havana's Melia Cohiba hotel. He was captured trying to enter the country on a subsequent trip with 1.5 kilograms (3.3 pounds) of C-4 that Posada had given him, he said.

"Truthfully, looking me in the eyes he cannot say he doesn't know me," Rodriguez said. "He does know me. He used me like a tool."

Posada, 82, is not on trial directly for the bombing campaign - but rather for allegedly lying about his involvement to federal authorities during immigration hearings after he sneaked into the U.S. in March 2005.

Cuba's decision to make Rodriguez and another confessed bomber, Ernesto Cruz Leon, available for the AP interview was part of an effort to show its willingness to help in the U.S. case against the Cuba-born Posada, who is considered Public Enemy No. 1 on his native island.

More:
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/bomber-names-ex-cia-operative-in-cuba-attacks/