Word: cubans
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...Latin America and washes up on North American shores. On the other hand, the charges aired in the hearing made a mockery of Castro's repeated insistence that Cuba has an "unimpeachable record" when it comes to drugs. Despite solid evidence that drug-laden planes and boats have traversed Cuban waterways and airspace for years, the Drug Enforcement Administration and other U.S. agencies have no hard proof that the Cuban government ever sanctioned the illicit traffic. By nabbing such high-level comrades in the narcotics net, Castro could not help prompting such questions as whether -- and for how long...
...Castro moved on Ochoa to send a message to the military, he could not have picked a better target. Enormously popular among the troops, Ochoa is a veteran of Castro's revolution who has commanded troops in Ethiopia, Angola and Nicaragua. In 1984 he received the Hero of the Cuban Republic medal, the military's highest honor. Last week Ochoa was removed as a full member of the Communist Party Central Committee and an elected delegate to the National Assembly. The move against Ochoa may have been personal as well as symbolic. His popularity may have threatened Defense Minister Raul...
Several U.S. cases have already implicated high-level Cubans in trafficking. In February 1988, for instance, 17 people were indicted in Miami on charges of smuggling drugs from South America, some of it through Cuba, into South Florida. Last March, when Reinaldo Ruiz, a Cuban-born U.S. citizen, and his son Ruben pleaded guilty, Dexter Lehtinen, the U.S. Attorney in Miami, released a videotape on which Ruben stated that the Ruiz operation had secured cooperation from Cuban officers to use military runways as transit points. Of Cuba's compensation, Ruben said, "The money went into Fidel's drawer" -- a charge...
Castro's true motives for Ochoa's unceremonious ouster may eventually become clear. In the meantime, Cubans are watching Granma for the next twist, and the Bush Administration is proceeding with caution. Last week the President told the Miami Herald that Cuba would have to do "much more" to improve ties with the U.S. Meanwhile, there were reports that planes continue to smuggle drugs over Cuba, making a mockery of a recent pledge by Cuban officials to shoot down unauthorized planes violating its airspace on the grounds that they were probably carrying drugs...
WORLD: Fidel Castro cracks down on drug trafficking in the Cuban army...