Chronicle on Cuba - March 2008

Terrorism

March 10: Mexican authorities are investigating the alleged role of a man they suspect of being a Cuban intelligence agent in linking Mexican citizens to Colombia's insurgency. If their suspicions prove founded, it could be a sign that Cuba's intelligence services, which from the 1960s through the 1980s were active in destabilizing countries throughout the hemisphere, have found new life. The authorities suspect the man, Mario Dagoberto Díaz Orgaz, led a group of Mexican students to an Ecuadorian camp of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC. Colombian forces attacked the camp March 1, killing a top FARC guerrilla and at least 26 others, including at least four Mexicans. The attack set off a weeklong diplomatic crisis between Colombia and two of its neighbors, Venezuela and Ecuador. Mexican intelligence officials say Mr. Díaz Orgaz left the FARC camp before the bombing. Mr. Díaz Orgaz's suspected links with Venezuela could fuel concerns by Mexican and US officials that Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez's close ties to Cuba could be encouraging the efforts of Cuba's intelligence services. (The Wall Street Journal, 10/3/08)

March 15: Fidel Castro said it is ''stupid'' to think Cubans were involved with Colombian rebels whose camp was bombed in a cross-border raid in Ecuador early this month. In a statement, the 81-year-old dismissed allegations reportedly being investigated by Mexican authorities that Cubans were linked to the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC. ''The stupid intention to mix Cubans in this matter is very clear,'' Castro said in the statement, which Foreign Ministry officials sent by e-mail to international journalists in Havana. Some Mexican and international media have reported that officials were looking into whether Mario Dagoberto Diaz Orgaz, a naturalized Mexican citizen and engineering research professor in central Mexico, is a Cuban intelligence agent who helped Mexicans connect with FARC guerrillas. The reports suggested Diaz may have led the students to Ecuador. Diaz's attorney has denied his client has ties to the rebels. [Sed de sangre (I)] (AP, 16/3/08)

March 16: The surprise appearance of Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez, a Colombian senator and the mother of high-profile hostage Ingrid Betancourt in Havana last weekend suggests that Cuba may emerge as a player in the efforts to free Colombia's captives. Cuba has long been a go-between between Colombian rebels and the government they seek to overthrow. But Havana was uncharacteristically silent during the diplomatic crisis between Colombia and Ecuador, suggesting to experts that Raúl Castro could be trying to win Betancourt's freedom. When Latin American presidents across the hemisphere took to their microphones to rant about Colombia's cross-border raid into Ecuador, Cuba's new head of state was glaringly absent. He didn't summon masses of Cubans to march in front of the Colombian embassy to protest the bombing of a leftist rebel camp in Ecuador, never blasted Colombian President Alvaro Uribe at a public speech, and didn't even hold a press conference. In fact, other than a private phone call to the president of Ecuador, Castro did not say anything at all -- although his ailing and retired brother Fidel wrote a column on the dispute. The sudden visit to Havana by Chávez, Colombia's opposition Senator Piedad Córdoba and Yolanda Pulecio, the mother of Betancourt, hinted that Cuba is more engaged in Colombian issues than previously known. Córdoba, who has been deeply involved in the talks to release hostages held by the FARC guerrillas, said she plans to return to Cuba in two weeks to speak to Raúl Castro about a possible humanitarian accord with the rebels. (The Miami Herald, 16/3/08)