Anti-Castro militants say Cuban spy shot in Havana
By Madeline Baró Diaz
Miami Bureau
Posted January 22 2003
MIAMI · A group that advocates the forceful overthrow of Cuba's communist
government claims that anti-Castro operatives in Cuba pulled off an
assassination attempt on a Cuban spy.
Rodolfo Frómeta, director of Comandos F-4, a Miami-based paramilitary
organization, said members of the group in Cuba tried to assassinate Juan
Pablo Roque early on Dec. 16 in Havana. Roque was wounded during a
shootout, which killed one member of Comandos F-4 and a man accompanying
Roque, Frómeta said.
Roque is a target of the militants because they think he is responsible for
the 1996 shootdown by Cuban MiGs of two Brothers to the Rescue Cessnas, in
which four Cuban-Americans on board died. Roque, a Cuban spy who joined
Brothers to the Rescue in an undercover operation, returned to Cuba the day
before the shootdown.
The Cuban government, however, vigorously denied that Roque was wounded.
At a news conference last week, National Assembly President Ricardo Alarcón
denounced acts of terrorism against Cuba by Cuban exiles and the apparent
unwillingness of U.S. authorities to deal with the "terrorists." Alarcón
denied that the assassination attempt had occurred and questioned whether
the FBI was investigating Frómeta's claim.
"This gentleman declares in Miami that he ordered an attempted
assassination that, according to him, was carried out in Havana," Alarcón
said. "Has [the FBI] called him so he could explain how it is possible that
someone publicly acknowledges the organization of an assassination carried
out in another country?"
Frómeta, a spokesman for the Comandos F-4 members in Cuba, said the attempt
on Roque's life was carried out by members of a clandestine anti-Castro
cell on the island. In the United States, members of the group obey the
nation's laws, he said.
"I have never said that I order assassinations from here," said Frómeta,
who said he is the highest-ranking member of the organization in the United
States.
Frómeta said he did not know whether Roque died, but said that if Roque is
indeed alive the Cuban government should show him riding a bicycle on the
streets of Havana.
The FBI declined comment Tuesday.
Madeline Baró Diaz can be reached at [EMAIL PROTECTED] or 305-810-5007.
In South Florida
MIAMI
Militant: Cuba admits that spy got shot
Statements by a high-ranking Cuban official confirm that Cuban spy Juan
Pablo Roque was shot and wounded in an assassination attempt in Havana, a
Miami anti-Castro militant said Monday.
Rodolfo Frómeta, head of Comandos F-4, pointed to a tirade delivered
Thursday on TV by the president of Cuba's National Assembly, Ricardo
Alarcón, who said the FBI should investigate Frómeta for reporting that a
member of his group tried to kill Roque Dec. 16.
In Miami on Monday, Frómeta said he felt vindicated by Alarcón's apparent
acknowledgment, but he denied ordering the attempt, saying: ``My role in
this was to report the news to the press, that's all.''
Roque, who lived in Kendall until February 1996, was linked to Cuba's
downing of two Brothers to the Rescue planes that month.
