Cuban authorities have released a Salvadoran man convicted of involvement in a series of hotel bombings on the island in 1997, according to a government-run news website.
Completion of punishment
The website “Copa debate” said that Raul Ernesto Cruz Leon was released after completing a 30-year prison sentence but added that the men who planned the attacks have not yet been prosecuted.
The website added: “the release of Cruz Leon, after completing his sentence, shows the cohesion of the legal system in Cuba. But we cannot forget that the planners of these terrorist acts lived and died in the United States without being brought to justice, “he said.
Undermining the tourism sector
In 1997, several hotels and bars in Cuba were bombed by enemies of the communist government led by Fidel Castro in order to undermine the tourism sector on the island.
Failure to appear for justice
An Italian tourist was killed in one of the attacks. The bombings were most likely orchestrated by Luis Posada Carriles, a Cuban exile who sought asylum in the United States in 2005 and died in 2018 without being brought to justice for the attacks.
The attacks occurred at a time when Castro was seeking to develop new sources of income for his government, which was suffering the effects of US sanctions and the collapse of the Soviet Union.
