Under Cuban law, the death sentence of Otto Rene Rodriguez Llerena will be appealed immediately to the Supreme Court, the Communist Party daily Granma reported today. It was the first official confirmation of the decision.
The death sentence comes amid a general toughening by Cuba's communist government, which in recent months has said it feels under growing attack by the U.S. government, Cuban exiles in Miami and domestic political dissidents.
The verdict in the trial of the first Salvadoran charged with terrorism, Raul Ernesto Cruz Leon, was announced last week. That decision also was immediately appealed.
In the case of Rodriguez Llerena, the prosecution initially sought a 30-year sentence but later upgraded it to the death penalty after testimony indicated he was involved in a plan to attack historical sites sacred to Cuban communists.
He was charged with and confessed to planting a bomb at the upscale Melia Cohiba Hotel. The 1997 explosion in the hotel lobby caused no injuries and very little damage.
Rodriguez Llerena was arrested the following year at Havana's international airport as he tried to bring more explosives into Cuba.
Among the possible bombing sites that exiles had allegedly paid Rodriguez Llerena to investigate were the Museum of the Revolution in Havana, the tomb of revolutionary icon Ernesto ``Che'' Guevara in the central city of Santa Clara and the Antonio Maceo Plaza in the eastern city of Santiago, dedicated to a hero of Cuba's battle for independence from Spain.
During Cruz Leon's trial, prosecutors sought to show that leaders of the Miami-based Cuban-American National Foundation recruited and paid Cruz Leon to plant bombs at six tourist sites. The blasts killed an Italian man and injured 11 people, including seven foreigners.
If the appeals of the two men are rejected by the Supreme Court, they will face execution by firing squad.
© Copyright 1999 The Associated Press