Guistino Di Celmo dies in Havana; Posada in car accident in Miami

Two key, interconnected figures in the story of the Cuban Five are in the news. Guistino Di Celmo, 94, died in Havana on September 2, 2015. An Italian-born businessman, he relocated to Havana after his son, Fabio, was murdered by a terrorist bomb set off in the Copacabana Hotel on September 4, 1997. The terrorist behind the 1997 bombing […]

The Murder of Fabio Di Celmo

Havana, September 4, 1997, 11:00 a.m. Fabio Di Celmo was apologetic. Another day perhaps, he suggested into the telephone. The person at the other end of the line was a representative of Biconsa, a division of Cuba’s Ministry of Domestic Trade with whom he hoped to make a deal. But not today. Their appointment was for noon, […]

Looking for loopholes in El Paso

Cuba’s Granma newspaper says Luis Posada Carriles’ lawyers are trying to use a legal loophole to prevent the court from hearing key evidence in his case. Posada, the alleged mastermind of both the 1976 bombing of Cubana Airlines Flight 455 and also the 1997 Havana hotel bombing campaign, is scheduled to go on trial at […]

11/21/2010
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Day in the Five: Luis Posada arrested in assassination plot

On November 17, 2000, Luis Posada Carriles and three accomplices—including one affiliated with the powerful Cuban American National Foundation—were arrested in Panama in connection with a planned attempt to assassinate Cuban leader Fidel Castro. Officials seized 200 pounds of explosives. All were found guilty and sentenced to prison but then, in August 2004, the country’s […]

11/17/2010
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The 'Gordito' Connection

Francisco Chavez Abarca Francisco Chavez Abarca—the Salvadoran man arrested at Caracas International Airport on Thursday (July 1, 2010) and accused of plotting to “provoke violence and destabilization” in the lead-up to Venezuela’s legislative elections in September—was one of the keys player in the 1997 Havana hotel bombing campaign orchestrated by anti-Castro militant Luis Posada Carriles. […]

07/05/2010
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Venezuela renews call for Posada extradition

On June 15, 2010—five years to the day after it first asked the United States government to extradite anti-Castro militant Luis Posada Carriles to face charges in Venezuela in connection with the deadly bombing of a Cubana Airlines plane in 1976—Venezuela’s National Assembly renewed its demand this week. The Cuban-born Posada, who returned to the […]

06/18/2010
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Posada trial date set

The trial of Luis Posada Carriles will begin Jan. 11, 2011. Following a much-delayed scheduling hearing in El Paso, Texas, yesterday (June 2), U.S. District Judge Kathleen Cardone made it clear she does not want any more delays in the case. Luis Posada Carriles Although Posada is alleged to have been responsible for blowing up […]

06/03/2010
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Posada pre-pre-trial delayed yet again

An El Paso, Texas, judge has postponed until June 2, 2010, a scheduling conference with prosecution and defence lawyers to—finally—set a date for Luis Posada Carriles’ trial on perjury charges. The prosecution claimed a "serious scheduling conflict" with the May 20th date. But as the Miami New Times noted: "Critics say the government is only […]