Dramatis Personae
Jose Basulto
Born: 1941 in Santiago de Cuba
1961 Participated in the Bay of Pigs invasion.
Trained by the CIA.
1962 Part of a group that shelled a Havana hotel.
1982 Basulto and a co-conspirator "prepared an explosive device for an attempt against the Cuban President." Basulto denies the allegation.
1991 Forms Brothers to the Rescue
1995 Cautioned by FAA about flying into Cuban airspace.
1996 Two BTTR planes shot down. Basulto escapes.
Orlando Bosch
bosch
Born in Cuba, four days older than Fidel Castro.
1950s Bosch, Castro and Posada attended university together.
Initially supported the revolution, changed his mind.
July 1960 Fled to Miami, became exile militant.
1963. Implicated in the JFK assassination.
1972 Convicted of firing a bazooka at a Cuban-bound Polish ship in Miami harbour. Released two years later. Violates parole and flees.
1976 Mastermind of bombing of Cubana Airlines Flight 455, killing 73. Jailed, released and returns to US.
Match 25, 1983 Orlando Bosch Day in Miami.
1989. During exclusion procedures to remove him from the U.S., the Assistant Attorney General concludes: "For 30 years Bosch has been resolute and unwavering in his advocacy of terrorist violence. He has threatened and undertaken violent terrorist acts against numerous targets, including nations friendly toward the United States and their highest officials. He has repeatedly expressed and demonstrated a willingness to cause indiscriminate injury and death. His actions have been those of a terrorist, unfettered by laws or human decency, threatening and inflicting violence without regard to the identity of his victims."
1992 Pardoned by George H. W. Bush.
1997 Implicated in Havana hotel bombing campaign.
Jorge Mas Canosa
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Born: February 15, 1928
Luis Posada Carriles - 1959 Only member of family to leave Cuba after the Revolution
- 1961 Trained for Bay of Pigs invasion but did not land. Joins the US Army, became a CIA "asset"
- 1967 Convicted of firing cannon at Polish ship bound for Cuba. Sentenced to 10 years in prison
- 1972 Paroled
- 1976 Alleged mastermind of the bombing of a Cubana airlines flight, killing 73. Arrested in Venezuela, jailed, escaped in 1985.
- 1997 Alleged mastermind of a campaign of terror against Havana hotels that killed an Italian-Canadian tourist
- 2000 Arrested and convicted in Panama plot to assassinate Fidel Castro
- 2004 Pardoned
- 2005 Illegally enters the United States. Applies for asylum April 12; Venezuela formally requests his extradiction in connection with the 1976 bombing. Currently on trial in El Paso, Texas, for lying to immigration officials about his role in the 1997 bombing campaign
Fernando González (a.k.a Rubén Campa)
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Born: August 18, 1963 in Havana
Fernando Gonzalez - 1981 graduated with high honors from high school in the Island of Youth
- 1987 graduated with a degree in International Political Relations (magna cum laude)
- 1987-89 served in Angola; awarded a medal of honor for bravery.
- Married to Rosa Aurora Freijanes Coca
- 1998 Arrested.
- 2001 Sentenced to 19 years
- 2009 Resentenced to 17 years and 9 months
René González
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Born: August 13, 1956 in Chicago. Parents returned to Cuba with family in 1961
Rene Gonzalez - 1977-79 Served in Angola,s decorated for bravery.
- 1979-82 Studied aviation, graduated as a pilot and flight instructor.
- Married Olga Salanueva Arango
- 1990 "Defected" to the United States by hijacking a plane and flying it to Florida
- 1998 Arrested
- 2001 Sentenced to 15 years
Antonio Guerrero
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Born: October 16, 1958 in Miami. His parents returned to Cuba after the revolution
antonioguerrero - 1983 Guerrero graduated as airfield construction engineer in Kiev, Ukraine
- Worked as an engineer at the Santiago de Cuba airport
- 1993-98 Worked in the metal shop at the Boca Chica Naval Training Base in Southern Florida.
- 1998. Arrested
- 2001 Sentenced to life imprisonment plus 10 years
- 2009 Resentenced to 21 years and 10 months
Gerardo Hernandez (a.k.a. Manuel Viarmonte)
Gerardo Hernandez
- Born: June 4, 1965 in Havana.
- 1988 Married Adriana Pérez O'Connor
- 1989 Degree in International Political Relations
- 1989 Served in Angola, 54 combat missions, awarded a medal of honor.
- 1992 (circa) Arrived in the US to head up La Red Avispa
- 1998 Arrested
- 2001 Sentenced to two life terms plus 15 years
Nilo and Linda Hernandez
Ramón Labañino(a.k.a.) Luis Medina
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Born: June 9, 1963 in Havana
Ramón Labañino - 1986 Graduated from the University of Havana with first class honors in Economic.
- 1990 Married Elizabeth Palmeiro Casado
- 1998 Arrested
- 2001 Sentenced to life plus 18 years
- 2009 Resentenced to 30 years
Hector Pesquera
Juan Pablo Roque
Juan Pablo Roque
Joseph Santos
Copyright 2010 Sting of the Wasp: The Cuban Five Connection
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About
This is the site for What Lies Across the Water: The Real Story of the Cuban Five, collected research and other materials for an in-progress narrative nonfiction book about the Cuban Five by Stephen Kimber.
The Cuban Five were members of "La Red Avispa"—the Wasp Network—spies Havana dispatched to Florida in the early 1990s to infiltrate militant anti-Castro exile groups that Cuba believed were plotting terrorist attacks on its soil. The Cuban Five were arrested, tried, convicted and sentenced to long prison terms in the United States.
In the United States, they are virtually unknown. In Cuba, they are heroes.
That’s the short version of the story. The long version is… well, more complicated... Stay tuned.
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