(8 May 2014) The man accused by Cuba of masterminding "a terror plot" following the arrest of four Miami-based Cuban exiles has denied any involvement.
Speaking in Miami on Wednesday, Santiago Alvarez Fernandez Magrina said he did not know the detained men, who Cuba said were being held for planning "terrorist actions" against military targets on the island - the first such arrests in years.
Instead, Alvarez accused Havana of using the arrests to try to drum up an excuse to crack down further on Cuban dissidents.
He insisted he still supported change on the Communist-run island, but stressed that he no longer condoned violence.
Announcing the arrests, Cuba's Interior Ministry alleged the plot was masterminded in Miami by Alvarez and Osvaldo Mitat and Manuel Alzugaray.
In 2006, Alvarez and Mitat pleaded guilty in the United States to conspiracy after an informant tipped off the FBI that a large cache of weapons, including machine guns and a grenade launcher, was being moved from apartments Alvarez owned.
A subsequent search of a storage area at the apartment revealed more weapons and thousands of bullets.
Another arms cache was found in the Bahamas, including C-4 plastic explosive, which prosecutors claimed was linked to Alvarez.
He was sentenced to 30 months in prison and Mitat got a two-year sentence.
Cuba also linked Alvarez and the two other men to perhaps the best known militant Cuban exile, Luis Posada Carriles, whom Cuba and Venezuela have sought to prosecute for a 1976 airliner bombing that killed 73 people aboard a flight bound for Cuba.
But Alvarez said he rarely spoke to Posada Carriles and only saw Mitat occasionally.

Find out more about AP Archive: [ Ссылка ]
Twitter: [ Ссылка ]
Facebook: [ Ссылка ] ​​
Instagram: [ Ссылка ]


You can license this story through AP Archive: [ Ссылка ]

свернуть