2 officers killed as 3 Cubans desert
BY NANCY SAN MARTIN
nsanmartin@MiamiHerald.com
A Cuban military officer and a soldier were killed when three young
recruits deserted their base and then tried to hijack a plane to the
United States Thursday, a Cuban Interior Ministry statement said.
Two of the conscripts, who were captured, killed a lieutenant colonel
they took hostage in the failed hijack attempt at Havana's José Marti
International Airport, the statement said.
They and a third conscript, captured earlier, had killed a soldier and
wounded another when they deserted April 29 from their military base and
made off with two AK-47 assault rifles, the Interior Ministry statement
added.
The statement said the two captured at the airport had hijacked a bus
with several passengers, guided it to the airport and entered a plane
that had no crew or passengers.
''One inside the airplane the murderers killed one of the hostages,
Revolutionary Armed Forces Lt. Colonel Victo Ibo Acuña Velasquez, who
even though he was not armed tried heroically to avert this terrorist
act,'' it said.
News services in Havana reported that the airport shooting occurred
around 4 a.m. Human rights activist Elizardo Sanchez said in telephone
calls from Havana that he had reports that relatives of the two
conscripts at the airport had persuaded them to surrender.
Military officers had been distributed wanted leaflets showing the
photos of the three and identifying them as Alain Forbus Lameru, 19,
Yoan Torres Martinez, 21, and Leandro Cerezo Sirut, 19, all from eastern
Camagüey province. The leaflets said they were armed and dangerous.
A massive police operation has been under way since Saturday and
security at the airport was fortified. Access to the airport on Thursday
was limited but passengers arriving in Miami on a flight from Havana
Thursday afternoon said they had seen nothing of the bloody events.
Media reports from Havana said the two conscripts had tried to hijack a
Boeing 737 operated by the Spanish Hola Airline.
The conscripts deserted from the Managua military base, some 15 miles
southeast of the airport, which houses an elite armored unit and serves
as a training facility.
The shooting follows another violent incident involving conscripts on
Dec. 20 at the El Manguito prison, just outside the eastern city of
Santiago de Cuba. Three conscripts working as guards reportedly opened
fire on their superior officers and broke away from their posts. They
were captured later.
Despite the similarities, Cuba military experts said they believed the
two incidents seemed isolated and did not indicate a growing problem
within the military, now estimated to have between 50,000 and 60,000
full-time personnel.
''This does not demonstrate or show a pattern of discontent,'' said
Frank Mora, a National War College professor who studies the Cuban
military. ``It does not demonstrate a political problem or break in the
military institution.''
Conscripts are required by law to serve at least two years in the
military. ''Usually, those who are doing this are not people of certain
means or political influence,'' Mora said.
Conscripts are involved in an array of duties -- from agricultural work
to security. They earn a small monthly stipend though are provided with
housing and food. Mora said there are no recent reports of abuse or
hazing against conscripts.
The Interior Ministry statement blamed U.S. policies for encouraging
Cubans to migrate illegally to the United States. ''The responsibility
for these new crimes lies with the highest-ranking authorities of the
United States, adding to the long list of terrorist acts that Cuba has
been the victim of for nearly half a century,'' it said.
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