MONDAY Dec 20, 2010 16:28 ET
Trial opens for suspect in 1990s Cuba bombings
By ANDREA RODRIGUEZ, Associated Press
A Salvadoran man accused of being involved in a 1990s bombing spree at Cuban tourist hotels went on trial Monday on terrorism charges, the government said.
Havana has blamed Cuban-American exile groups for the deadly attacks and claims that Francisco Chavez Abarca confessed to being hired to plant the bombs by a U.S.-based opponent of former President Fidel Castro.
Chavez Abarca's trial was taking place at Havana's state security crimes court, the state-run Cubadebate website reported. It was not clear what sentence he would face if convicted, or how long the trial would last.
Chavez Abarca was detained in Venezuela in July as he tried to enter the country on a false passport. Venezuelan authorities alleged he was plotting violence ahead of congressional elections there and swiftly extradited him to Cuba, where he was jailed.
In September, Cuban state television aired a confession in which Chavez Abarca said that he was hired to plant the bombs by Luis Posada Carriles, an 80-year-old anti-Castro militant and former CIA operative who lives in the United States. Chavez Abarca said that Posada Carriles told him the hotel attacks were backed by the CIA, although he acknowledged he could not be sure it was true.
More:
http://www.salon.com/wires/world/2010/12/20/D9K7SK300_cb_cuba_terrorism/index.html