Saturday, September 25, 2010

Wanted Americans still hiding in Cuba don't need changes

Like Fidel Castro, who will lose his enemy, they are not very interested in an improvement on the relations between USA and Cuba.

For years they provided political support, and in some cases money, to Castro's regime. Recent changes on the island could pose a danger for them. Together with other criminal refugees from Europe and the Americas they are believe to have some influence - although difficult to say to what extent - on the Cuban politics related to their respective countries.

This is an FBI report from last year:
There are believed to be dozens of other Americans living in Cuba beyond the reach of U.S. law enforcement. Most of them have been holed in Cuba for decades, with many living casually in plain sight. Others, however, are taking no chances and living deep underground.
The best known American fugitive still hiding out in Cuba is JoanneChesimard, 62, also known as Assata Shakur.
Chesimard, a member of the radical activist organization the Black Liberation Army, was found guilty of first degree murder in the shooting death of a New Jersey state trooper in 1977. She escaped from prison in 1979 and was last seen in Cuba in 1984. She is widely believed to still be living underground in Cuba. …
Among the FBI’s 10 most wanted fugitives — a list that includes Osama bin Laden — is Victor Manuel Gerena. Gerena has been on the lam since 1984 after being accused of stealing $7 million in the heist of the Wells Fargo armored car depot in Connecticut to finance a Puerto Rican separatist group.
Joanne Chesimard is wanted for escaping from prison in Clinton, New Jersey, while serving a life sentence for murder. On May 2, 1973, Chesimard, who was part of a revolutionary activist organization known as the Black Liberation Army, and two accomplices were stopped for a motor vehicle violation on the New Jersey Turnpike by two troopers with the New Jersey State Police.

JoanneChesimard, AKA Assata Shakur
At the time, Chesimard was wanted for her involvement in several felonies, including bank robbery. Chesimard and her accomplices opened fire on the troopers, seemingly without provocation. One trooper was wounded and the other was shot and killed execution-style at point-blank range.

Chesimard fled the scene, but was subsequently apprehended. One of her accomplices was killed in the shoot-out and the other was also apprehended and remains in jail.In 1977, Chesimard was found guilty of first degree murder, assault and battery of a police officer, assault with a dangerous weapon, assault with intent to kill, illegal possession of a weapon, and armed robbery. She was sentenced to life in prison.

She escaped in 1979 and fled to Cuba, where she lives openly, in defiance of US authorities who want her returned to prison.

In fact, as one might guess, the fugitives suspected of living in Cuba comprise a who’s-who of radical leftist politics in the 1960s and 1970s.  Fidel Castro certainly offered his hospitality to those who hated the US and didn’t mind using violence to show it.  Oddly, though, one prominent rogue capitalist is also on the list: Robert Vesco, who stole as much as $200 million from investors before being discovered in 1982, and who also contributed illegally to the re-election campaign of … Richard Nixon.

Maybe Castro likes having Vesco there as an example.  Or, perhaps, Castro liked Vesco’s money more than his politics.

If the US wants to pursue normal relations with Cuba, these fugitives should be part of the transaction.  The Castros need to quit sheltering those who killed and maimed here in the US if they want access to American markets and American consumers.

Sources: FBI, HotAir


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