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GRANMA INTERNATIONAL<br>
Havana. May 22, 2006<br>
<a href="http://www.granma.cu/ingles/2006/mayo/lun22/22ferro.html" eudora="autourl">
http://www.granma.cu/ingles/2006/mayo/lun22/22ferro.html<br><br>
</a>Five charges against Robert Ferro, but not one on terrorism<br><br>
BY JEAN-GUY ALLARD—Special for Granma International—<br><br>
ROBERT Ferro, the Cuban-American arrested in California in
possession<br>
of 1,571 machine guns, grenades and rifles the biggest arms cache<br>
seized in U.S. history, according to that country's federal<br>
authorities has been formally indicted on five counts of illegal<br>
weapons possession, the Los Angeles Times reported on May 20.<br><br>
However, federal prosecutors have not brought any charges of<br>
conspiracy to commit acts of terrorism, in spite of confessions by<br>
the suspect, who told investigators that he was preparing an armed<br>
attack on Cuba.<br><br>
Charges of conspiracy to commit acts of terrorism have been brought<br>
recently against other suspects. But, scandalously, Bush's federal<br>
prosecutors have not been capable to date of taking to the courts
the<br>
masterminds behind acts of terrorism against Cuba, or individuals
who<br>
preach the use of terror or support terrorism against the
island.<br><br>
Ferro, a former U.S. Army Special Forces officer, has admitted<br>
belonging to the terrorist group Alpha 66. The 61-year-old is<br>
currently being held without bail at the West Valley Detention
Center<br>
in Rancho Cucamonga. A hearing has been set for Wednesday, May 24,
in<br>
U.S. district court in Riverside.<br><br>
Several of the weapons seized were illegal. Each count of possession<br>
carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison.<br><br>
The (tolerated) terrorist group Alpha 66, from Miami, has denied
that<br>
this individual appears "on their list of 50,000 members"
(sic).<br>
However, Ferro's defense lawyer, Wayne M. Rozenberg, has said on<br>
several occasions to the local media that the group took that stance<br>
because it is a "secret" organization.<br><br>
The terrorist Cuban-American group, with offices in Miami, has a
long<br>
history of carrying out criminal actions against Cuba, including in<br>
California, where the group has an "official representative,"
Miguel<br>
Talleda.<br><br>
Several well-known Miami-based terrorists, including René Cruz Cruz,<br>
Ernesto Díaz Rodríguez, Eusebio de Jesus Peñalver Mazorra, Angel<br>
Francisco D'fana (or De Fana) Serrano, Jorge "Guiro" Barrego
Amat,<br>
Alfredo Menocal, Frank Castro, Orlando Atienza, Rafael Rodríguez,<br>
Ramón Rodríguez and Guillermo Novo Sampol, have been implicated in<br>
terrorist attacks committed on the U.S. west coast.<br><br>
Peñalver Mazorra, who was also implicated in a conspiracy to kill<br>
Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez, died on May 18 in Miami, at the
age<br>
of 71.<br><br>
Ferro himself was charged in the early `90s with running a<br>
paramilitary camp on a chicken farm in Pomona, California to
"train<br>
some Mexicans to invade Cuba."<br><br>
This time, Ferro affirms categorically that Alpha 66 paid for the<br>
weapons, according to a legal document submitted to the court.<br><br>
Robert Ferro's indictment comes at the same time as a Florida
court's<br>
announcement that it would not consider the charges against mafioso<br>
ringleader Santiago Álvarez and his buddy Osvaldo Mitat, charged
with<br>
possessing several automatic weapons. Their friend and accomplice,<br>
Luis Posada Carriles, has changed strategies, and has now refused to<br>
testify before federal Judge Cohn.<br><br>
Since the death of its former leader, Nazario Sargen, Alpha 66 has<br>
been led by Ernesto Díaz Rodríguez, 66, who continues, with
impunity,<br>
to call for the use of violence against Cuba, in open violation of<br>
U.S. and international laws against terrorism, without any<br>
intervention by authorities.<br><br>
Several international agreements ban not only the perpetration of<br>
terrorist acts and conspiracy to commit them, but also the raising
of<br>
funds or resources for carrying out terrorist acts, or even simply<br>
support of organizations dedicated to such actions on a national or<br>
international scale, something that occurs every day with impunity
in<br>
the United States, particularly in the state of Florida, when it has<br>
to do with Cuba.<br><br>
The U.S. president himself sent a thank-you letter for
"support" to<br>
the terrorist organization Alpha 66, on June 2, 2005, and invited<br>
several of its members to participate in meetings at the White
House.<br><br>
Meanwhile, five Cubans who infiltrated groups, which the Bush clan<br>
has given protection to, continue to be abducted, held in five<br>
different U.S. prisons.<br>
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