Non-fatal injuries 11 Total number of deaths 1 | Date 1997 | |
The 1997 Cuba hotel bombings were a series of bombings of Cuban hotels, which resulted in the death of an Italian tourist, Fabio di Celmo. Targets included the Hotel Capri, Hotel Nacional de Cuba, Hotel Copacabana and the Meliá Cohiba Hotel. The Cuban-born Venezuelan Luis Posada Carriles admitted organising the bombings. In a taped interview with The New York Times, Posada said: "It is sad that someone is dead, but we can't stop." Posada was reportedly disappointed with the reluctance of American news organisations to report the bombing attacks, saying "If there is no publicity, the job is useless.
In March 1999 Raúl Ernesto Cruz León, who Posada admitted was a mercenary under his employment, was sentenced to death by the Cuban authorities after admitting to the attacks, alongside fellow Salvadoran Otto Rene Rodriguez Llerena. The sentences were commuted in 2010 to 30 years in prison. In December 2010 another Salvadoran, Francisco Chávez Abarca, was sentenced to 30 years for his part in the bombings, having confessed on television to being hired by Posada Carriles.