Hijack attempt in Cuba (Intentaron secuestrar avión en Cuba)

[Bacchus39]

Source: AFP

(translation, mine) A large shootout occurred today in Havana's airport between Cuban police and three Cuban soldiers who attempted to hijack the plane and go to Miami, according to the AFP source.

An airport official said everything now is under control.

"Everything is under control, but there was a big shootout, they boarded a bus near the airport limit next to airport terminal 2, and crossed over to the plane, Boeing 737, that was in the number 1 position.", ths source said.

The three young recruits in the active military service who fled their military unit based in Managua, 15 miles southeast of Havana, were neutralized by the police, according to the source.


LA HABANA - Un fuerte tiroteo se produjo hoy en el aeropuerto de La Habana entre la policía cubana y tres conscriptos que intentaron secuestrar un avión para salir a Miami, según afirmó a AFP una fuente de la terminal aérea.

Bajo control

Hasta el momento no hay confirmación oficial disponible, pero una funcionaria del aeropuerto internacional José Martí, que no quiso identificarse y no ofreció mayores detalles, afirmó a la AFP que todo estaba normalizado.

"Ya todo está controlado, pero hubo un fuerte tiroteo, entraron en una guagua (autobús) de la calle, cerca del límite del aeropuerto pegado a la terminal 2, y atravesaron hasta el avión, un Boeing 737, que estaba en posición en la 1", dijo a la AFP una fuente del terminal aéreo.

Los reclutas, tres jóvenes del servicio activo que se fugaron el sábado de una unidad militar en la localidad de Managua, 15 millas al sudeste de La Habana, fueron neutralizados por la policía, según el empleado del aeropuerto.




Read more: http://www.univision.com/content/content.jhtml?cid=1171073

[Bacchus39]

1. and in another surprising development of this story

hahaha!

"None of the versions has been confirmed officially by the authorities and the Cuban media has not reported the incident".

Ninguna de estas versiones ha sido confirmada oficialmente por las autoridades cubanas y tampoco los medios de la isla han informado del incidente.

[Mika]

2. "hahaha".. Please don't tell us that you support an armed hijacking just because its in Cuba.

Bacchus, I don't think that you would.. but.. not sure what the hahaha is about. :shrug:

[Bacchus39]

3. of course not

the hahaha is because the Cuban government and media are not reporting it. got to make sure the propaganda is all straight before announcing it publicly I guess.

its up on yahoo now, but not on Granma.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070503/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/cuba_hijack_attempt

"Throughout the day Thursday, there were rampant rumors of a shooting at the airport but the Cuban government and its official media were silent."

[Judi Lynn]

4. I'd say that chortle is misplaced, wouldn't you?

Especially considering it appeared to be attached to some inference the Cuban government is trying to keep the information suppressed.

There are surely multiple articles appearing on this situation. Here's one:

Two Cuban soldiers arrested in plane hijack
Thu May 3, 2007 6:08 PM EDT

HAVANA (Reuters) - Two Cuban army recruits tried to hijack a passenger plane to escape to the United States early on Thursday but were arrested after killing a hostage on board the plane, the government said.

The soldiers hijacked a bus with passengers, took it to Havana airport and seized an empty passenger plane. They killed one of the hostages, an unarmed army lieutenant colonel, on the plane before being captured by security forces, it said.

Armed hijackings are rare in Cuba. In March 2003, two domestic passenger planes were hijacked to Key West, Florida. A month later, three men who hijacked a Havana Bay ferry in a bid to cross the Florida Straits were executed by firing squad.

http://ca.today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=topNews&storyID=2007-05-03T220848Z_01_N03474146_RTRIDST_0_NEWS-CUBA-HIJACK-COL.XML&archived=False

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Slight understatement by Reuters on the other hijacking, considering the hijackers had held knives to the throats of their hostages, sending some of them leaping over the side into the ocean to escape.

[Judi Lynn]

5. More on the hijacking: Cuban officer killed in failed hijacking

Posted on Thu, May. 03, 2007
Cuban officer killed in failed hijacking
By ANDREA RODRIGEZ
Associated Press Writer

Fugitive army recruits tried to hijack a plane to the United States and killed a military officer they took hostage in the failed attempt early Thursday, the Interior Ministry said.

Two of the escaped recruits were arrested after Army Lt. Col. Victor Ibo Acuna Velazquez was killed in the aborted hijack that began in the pre-dawn hours when they commandeered a bus carrying several passengers to get to a plane on the tarmac, said a ministry statement.

"Despite being unarmed, he heroically tried to prevent the commission of the terrorist act," the statement said of the officer killed. Others who had been held hostage on the bus were unharmed, it added.

Throughout the day Thursday, there were rampant rumors of a shooting at the airport but the Cuban government and its official media were silent.

More:
http://www.kansascity.com/449/story/93475.html

[Mika]

6. I feel sorry for his (Army Lt. Col. Victor Ibo Acuna Velazquez) family.

Lost his life defending his country from an act of terrorism.

[Bacchus39]

8. not articles from the State run media though

which is THE source for the Cuban people. http://www.granma.cu/

see anything there??

[Billy Burnett]

10. Granma online is not THE source of news for the Cuban people.

The print edition has more readers.

The hijacking incident is all over Cuban TV today. I even saw some clips of Cuban TV on Miami local TV news shows tonight.

[Bacchus39]

11. oh yeah, they don't have alot of internet access

good point.

they still didn't report it.

[Mika]

12. How could you forget one of your talking points?

Slacking off a bit, I see. ;)

FYI, Granma online isn't updated by the hour. Just daily, 5 days a week.

[Mika]

14. Here, on the front page of today's Granma online

As I had mentioned before, Granma online is not THE source Cubans go to for the latest info. It is updated daily - 5 days a week.

Anyone who knows anything about life IN Cuba knows this. To suggest that Cuban media would hide an event like this is pure BS. It was the main breaking story on Cuban TV newscasts for the last several days.


http://www.granma.co.cu/english/news/art45.html

In the early hours of Thursday, May 3, two individuals were captured as they attempted to hijack a civil airplane with the purpose of traveling to the United States.

To carry out their plans, they hijacked a bus, took several passengers hostages and burst into Terminal No. 1 (national flights) of the Jose Marti International Airport where they boarded an airplane with no crew or passengers.

Once inside the plane, the hijackers shot one of the hostages four times, killing him. The victim was Lieutenant Colonel Victor Ibo Acuna Velazquez, who, despite being unarmed, heroically tried to prevent the terrorist hijacking.

The effective and coordinated action of the Cuban authorities thwarted the hijackers' objective and saved the lives of the other hostages.

The arrested criminals had fled on April 29 after killing Yoendris Gutierrez Hernandez, a young soldier doing his Military Service who was on sentry duty. Another soldier was also wounded.

The two individuals, who were also doing their Military Service in that same unit, fled with two automatic AK rifles. An intense search operation was launched and measures were taken to prevent new victims.

At all times, authorities received the decisive support of the people in the area, a key element in the earlier capture of a third individual implicated in the crime who confessed their goal was to leave the country illegally.

[oberliner]

7. Cuba says 1 killed in failed hijacking

HAVANA - Fugitive army soldiers tried to hijack a plane bound for the United States on Thursday and killed a military officer they took hostage during the failed attempt, the Interior Ministry said.

The ministry blamed U.S. policies that the communist government says encourage Cubans to emigrate to the United States and also said it was a result of Washington's tolerance of violence against Cuba.

The incident began before dawn when the fugitives commandeered a regular city bus near the airport and forced it to drive inside and onto the tarmac of terminal 2, which services charter flights between the Cuban capital and the United States. The exact destination of the plane in the United States not known, but most charter flights out of Terminal 2 fly to Miami.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070503/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/cuba_hijack_attempt;_ylt=AhGNruxvk25Mgu8l6RcF65is0NUE

[Bacchus39]

9. I see they managed to blame this on the US too

I'm looking forward to reading the spin on the State owned propaganda ministry, whenever it comes out that is.


http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSN0347414620070504

Cuba blamed the attempted hijack on the U.S. policy of encouraging Cubans to escape to the United States by offering them virtually automatic residency.

"The responsibility for these new murders falls on the highest U.S. authorities, adding to a long list of terrorist acts that Cuba has been victim of for almost half a century," the government said.

[maddezmom]

13. Hostage killed in foiled plane hijacking in Cuba

Hostage killed in foiled plane hijacking in Cuba
04 May 2007 03:56:45 GMT
Source: Reuters
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(Adds name of dead officer, third arrest)

By Anthony Boadle

HAVANA, May 3 (Reuters) - Two Cuban army deserters tried to hijack a passenger plane to escape to the United States with hostages on Thursday but were arrested after killing an unarmed military officer on board, the government said.

The soldiers, who fled from an army base where they were doing military service, commandeered a city bus with several passengers before dawn, drove it onto the tarmac of Havana airport's domestic terminal and seized an empty airliner.

They killed one hostages, army Lt. Col. Victor Ibo Acuna, when he tried to stop the hijacking, but were then captured by security forces, the Interior Ministry said in a statement.

"Effective and coordinated action allowed security forces to frustrate the kidnappers' plans and save the lives of the other hostages," it said.

more:http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N03466083.htm