Miami Herald, The (FL)-December 9, 1999
Author: JUAN O. TAMAYO, jtamayo@herald.com
A federal jury Wednesday acquitted five Cuban exiles accused of plotting to kill Fidel
Castro, a bitter defeat for U.S. efforts to crack down on anti-Castro conspiracies.
In a stunning finale to the 14-day trial, two jurors later said the verdict was a "message" to the Cuban people, embraced the defendants and went off to celebrate with them at a popular Cuban restaurant.
Defendant Jose Antonio Llama, on the board of directors of the Cuban American National Foundation, sobbed openly and vowed that the verdict would invigorate "our efforts to continue to get freedom for our country."
"Not even the United States can control the minds and spirits of the people who want to fight for their country," said Llama, 68, a Miami businessman. "This is not the end. This is just the beginning again."
Asked if the acquittals might encourage new exile plots, prosecutor Scott Glick said only that the government "will seek to continue to enforce the law."
But the verdict was clearly a blow to the government, trying for the first time to prosecute a plot to kill the Cuban leader.
Prosecutors had hoped that holding the trial in Puerto Rico would give them a better shot at convictions than in Miami, where juries regularly acquit anti-Castro plotters.
Llama, Angel Alfonso, Francisco Cordova, Angel Hernandez and Jose Rodriguez-Sosa would have faced up to life in prison if convicted on the assassination conspiracy charge.
FREE AND SINGING
Instead of going to jail, they walked out of the federal courthouse singing the Cuban national anthem and accompanied by about 30 leading members of the Cuban community in Puerto Rico.
Glick tried throughout the trial to keep Cuban politics out of what he called "a simple conspiracy" case. Even if Castro is a "brutal dictator," he said, U.S. laws protect him from assassins.
CUBA DEEDS CITED
But defense lawyers hammered away at the theme, bringing in witnesses to testify about
Cuban abuses of political prisoners, its 1994 ramming of a tugboat in which some 40 would-be refugees drowned and the 1996 shoot-down of two Brothers to the Rescue airplanes.
Comments made after the verdict by jury foreman Carlos Avila, 27, an accountant, and juror Mayra Massa showed that dislike for Castro and his government played a significant role in the jury's vote.
"This was a message to the Cuban people that we're with you, and not to lose hope," Avila said after he embraced several defendants and defense lawyers outside Judge Hector Laffitte's courtroom.
"Since the prosecutors did not present conclusive evidence, we wanted to send a message to the [Cuban] nation not to lose hope, that we in Puerto Rico are united with them and that God exists," Collazo said.
MISCALCULATION?
An exultant Miami defense attorney Jose Quinon said the acquittals showed prosecutors had underestimated the animosity toward Castro even in Puerto Rico.
"This is what happens when the government comes into court to defend Fidel Castro,"
Quinon said. "And every time they move to defend Fidel Castro, we will be there to knock them down."
But Avila and Massa also said prosecutors simply had not presented enough evidence to prove the accused conspired to shoot Castro when he visited the Venezuelan island of Margarita in 1997.
The defendants admitted they had planned to sneak into Margarita but only to stage peaceful protests and spirit away possible defectors from Castro's retinue.
Four defendants were arrested in Puerto Rico aboard the Miami-registered yacht Esperanza after Coast Guard searchers found two .50-caliber rifles hidden on the boat. Alfonso confessed to a plot to kill Castro when arrested, but only a fraction of his statements were admitted as evidence.
Defense lawyers, meanwhile, declined to comment on claims that pretrial negotiations for a plea bargain broke down because Justice Department officials in Washington insisted on using the word "terrorists."
Quinon also declined to comment, saying only that in general, "Our clients weren't going to accept any offer at all, because you can't plea bargain with your dignity."
Prosecutors are now expected to drop the charges against a sixth defendant, Juan Marquez. Judge Laffitte last week dropped charges against another Miami exile, Alfredo Otero, after ruling that prosecutors had failed to present sufficient evidence.
The verdict delighted the defendants' supporters in Miami.
"We're very happy that justice has been done," said Ninoska Perez Castellon of the Cuban American National Foundation. "This case was tried in Puerto Rico because they said the case would be influenced by the Cuban American community, but it took a jury in Puerto Rico to [declare] these men innocent.''
Mario Luis del Valle, who spearheaded efforts to raise more than $150,000 for the defense, voiced his satisfaction with "the quality of the legal defense we were able to provide." But he said La Esperanza Legal Defense Fund still needs $60,000 to pay expenses.
Herald staff writer Ana Acle contributed to this report.
color photo: Jose Antonio Llama and his wife embrace (a)
JOSE L. CRUZ CANDELARIA / AP 'JUST THE BEGINNING AGAIN:' Jose Antonio
Llama and his wife embrace outside San Juan federal courthouse after he, four others were freed of charges.
Edition: Final
Section: Front
Page: 1A
Index Terms: CASTRO ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT TRIAL SAN JUAN PUERTO RICO EXILES VERDICT ACQUITTAL
Dateline: SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico
Record Number: 9912100063 Copyright (c) 1999 The Miami Herald
http://docs.newsbank.com/s/InfoWeb/aggdocs/NewsBank/0EB5D45D73E6A209/0F01011B0D7111CF
