Speaking Friday evening, the head of state’s account went as far back as the morning of August 26, 2004, when former Panamanian President Mireya Moscoso pardoned criminal kingpin Luis Posada Carriles and his sidekicks Pedro Ramon, Gaspar Jimenez Escobedo and Guillermo Novo Sampoll.

The four terrorists were escorted to Panama City’s airport by the head of the Panamanian police where two planes that had been chartered by Santiago Alvarez Magrinan awaited them

“Santiago Alvarez,” said Fidel Castro, “is one of Posada Carriles´ closest collaborators and an infamous counter-revolutionary ringleader who lives in the United States.”

Ramon, Jimenez Escobedo and Novo Sampoll flew to Miami in one of the planes, while in the second aircraft Posada Carriles along with Ernesto Abreu, Orlando Gonzales and Miguel Nodales travelled to Honduras. The latter group landed in San Pedro Zula airport, where that country’s counter-revolutionary boss Rafael Hernandez Nodarse welcomed them.

The Cuban leader added that Posada arrived in Honduras with a US passport issued under the name Melvin C. Thompson – an ID that had disappeared in Panama and reappeared in the terrorist’s hands.

“In Miami circles much was spoken about Posada Carriles´ obsessive terrorist plans against our country and how he would escalate them upon his arrival in the United States, said Fidel Castro.

By mid-March, a news story released by a local newspaper in the Mexican state of Quintana Roo reported that a shrimp-fishing boat had wrecked off the coast of Islas Mujeres on March 14.

The vessel named San Trina came from Florida flying an American flag and ran aground in the bay. Despite help provided by several private ships, the vessel found it impossible get out until the Mexican Armada arrived in the area.

There were five people onboard the San Trina, including Jose Pujols –the boat’s captain– who refused to provide any information about their objectives.

The presence on the boat of many oxygen tanks, compressors, and a strange-looking hydraulic tool to hoist loads from the sea drew attention.

On March 16, another newspaper reported that the San Trina had passed a routine inspection and would sail onward to Miami, since no damage had been sustained or any of the crew injured.

Speaking with the media, Jose Pujols himself had said that the boat would go to Miami, where it would be turned into a training ship.

Fidel Castro then asked rhetorically, “Who is the owner of the San Trina?” The Cuban president answered that the boat’s owner is in fact Santiago Alvarez, thus charging that international terrorist Luis Posada Carriles arrived in Miami on board the San Trina.

By: AIN