WASHINGTON A federal grand jury indicted a leader of a prominentMiami Cuban exile group and six other Cuban Americans Tuesday oncharges of conspiring to assassinate President Fidel Castro.
Jose Antonio Llama, who sits on the executive board of the CubanAmerican National Foundation, was charged with participating in aplot to shoot the Cuban leader during a summit of Latin Americannations at the Venezuelan island resort of Isla Margarita lastNovember.
While there have been numerous plots and claims of plots to killCuba's communist leader since he seized power in 1959, the indictmentwas believed to be the first such accusation in a court of law.
In the mid-1970s, a Senate committee documented eight instancesin which U.S. agencies attempted to assassinate Castro. The Cubanleader has said the figure is closer to 25.
Since the early 1980s, the foundation has been the leading voiceof Cuban exiles in Miami and a powerful influence over U.S. policydirected against the Castro government.
The indictment, returned in San Juan, Puerto Rico, alleges thatin 1995 the seven named conspirators as well as others who are notnamed began plotting to kill Castro during one of his trips outsideof Cuba. They allegedly obtained two .50-caliber semiautomaticrifles that were to be used as sniper rifles, a 46-foot yachtmodified for long-distance cruising, and other equipment, such asnight-vision goggles and satellite positioning devices.
A federal investigation into the alleged plot already had begun,according to a Justice Department statement, when a U.S. Coast Guardcutter intercepted and boarded the yacht Oct. 27, 1997, in theCaribbean off of Puerto Rico. Four of the alleged co-conspiratorswere found on board, along with the rifles and other gear.
The indictment said Llama obtained one of the sniper rifles andpurchased the yacht.
Llama also allegedly accompanied his fellow conspirators to IslaMargarita on Oct. 17, 1997.
Neither Llama nor his attorney, Jose Quinon, responded Tuesdayto requests for comment on the indictment.
Contributing: Associated Press
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