Grand jury in El Paso investigating Posada

BY JEAN-GUY ALLARD—Special for Granma International—

WITH absolute discretion - a total secret that the U.S. media apparently respected scrupulously - a grand jury in El Paso, Texas began a formal investigation "last week" into Luis Posada Carriles’ illegal entry into the country over than a year ago.

The news supposedly reached Miami via the very terrorists – who are frequently sources for the local media – implicated in the crime, two of whom have been the only witnesses to date in the legal proceedings that could culminate in Posada being charged with a crime that he has repeatedly committed over the years.

In the May 22 edition of the newspaper El Nuevo Herald, it is revealed that Posada’s "controversial entry" into the country is being investigated, and that "at least two Miami residents were subpoenaed to give testimony." It cites two "exiles." Ernesto Abreu and Generoso Bringas, "both associated with Posada and members of the Foundation for the Protection of Caribbean Marine Ecology (FPEMC)," the fake owner of the shrimping boat Santrina, in which the old terrorist carried out his clandestine trip.

"They had to appear before a federal court in El Paso last week," the article says, adding that they did not know about the investigation..

The article later refers to José "Pepín" Pujol, the Santrina’s owner, who says, "Those two were called to Texas by a grand jury, but I don’t know anything about the investigation.

The supposed environmentalist Abreu – who knows as much about ecology as George W. Bush does – is president of the FPEMC, a cover for carrying out criminal activity. He declined to make any comments, the newspaper says, specifying that it was impossible to locate Bringas. "Both could be obeying a gag order by the court," the article says.

On June 4, 1998 the same newspaper announced that a group of terrorists from the so-called Revolutionary Recovery Movement (MRR) had landed the previous week in northern Pinar del Río province.

The father of Ernesto Abreu, now implicated in Posada’s legal proceedings, was the leader of the counterrevolutionary "commando."

According to the newspaper itself, Abreu, 73 years old, "led the MRR for years, and during the 19950-1996 period, presided over the international leadership of the Cuban Patriotic Council (Junta Patriótica Cubana)," another organization that preaches and practices terror.

El Nuevo Herald then identified the MRR "chief" as... Generoso Bringas, the same individual summoned to El Paso.

However, it does not specify that Abreu was an "eminent" member of the People’s Protagonist Party (Partido Protagonista del Pueblo), led by Orlando Bosch, as he later confessed.

Abreu was arrested several days later with the only member of his supposed group, and confirmed to Cuban authorities that he had been recruited in Miami by Bringas.

The boat used at that time had a commercial cover, not an "environmentalist" one, given that it was registered under the name of the company Emanuel Boat and Fishing, located on 6320 92nd Street SW in Miami, the residence of another criminal, Oscar Salas. Ernestino Salas was freed in 2002 for humanitarian reasons.

Ernesto Abreu, Ernestino’s son, was in Panama with Osvaldo Mitat during Posada’s trial there. At that time, Santiago Álvarez did not dare enter that country for fear of Interpol. That same individual is now organizing public protests on behalf of Santiago Alvarez and Osvaldo Mitat, his accomplices.

On May 21, Posada’s attorney, Eduardo Soto, confirmed that the grand jury had been convened, given that he was up-to-date. "I really can’t imagine what they’re looking for," he told El Nuevo Herald, as serious as could be.

In spite of all the testimony regarding Posada’s presence in the FPEMC’s "school-boat," the mafiosi lawyer continued to "firmly believe" in his client’s lies about his entry into the United States, "in an automobile across the Mexican border," although he is preparing a strategic retreat: "At this point, it no longer matters whether or not he traveled on the Santrina," he says.

Until recently, U.S. legal authorities admitted that Posada Carriles entered Miami illegally on the Santrina. After 13 months of silence, that was confirmed by FBI documents presented by the U.S. Attorney to the federal court that tried Santiago Alvarez and Osvaldo Mitat.

According to a meticulous investigation by the Mexican newspaper Por Esto! the Santrina picked up Posada Carriles on March 14, 2005 from Isla Mujeres to take him secretly to Miami. On that same boat, other passengers were Miami "promoter" and terrorist Santiago Álvarez and CIA operative José Hilario "Pepín" Pujol, the boat’s "captain," along with Rubén López Castro, Gilberto Abascal and Oswaldo Mitat.

A few months ago, "Pepín" Pujol admitted to journalists that he had been trained by the CIA, and also acknowledged that he had "made a lot of incursions" into Cuban territory, describing himself as an "expert" at infiltrating Cuba by sea.

Rubén López Castro, 67, is the owner of the house where Posada stayed for at least six weeks while he was hiding in Miami, and where he was arrested on May 17. This same Cuban-American extremist participated on October 4, 1973, in a terrorist attack that resulted in the death of Cuban Luis Torna Mirabal.

Not Santiago Alvarez, nor Mitat, nor Pujol, nor López Castro, nor