By Anita Snow
Associated Press Writer
Tuesday, March 9, 1999; 7:33 p.m. EST

HAVANA (AP) -- The father of an Italian killed in the bombing of a Havana hotel accused the United States and violent Cuban exiles Tuesday of masterminding the plot leading to his son's death.

The written statement was read Tuesday at the trial of a Salvadoran man who faces the death penalty for the string of bombings.

The victim's father, Justino di Celmo blamed ``the United States government and the counterrevolutionary mafia of Miami'' for the death of his son, Fabio di Celmo, in a Sept. 4, 1997 explosion at the Copacabana Hotel. His statement was carried by Cuba's Prensa Latina news agency.

Cuban officials say the activities of Raul Ernesto Cruz Leon, and another Salvadoran to be tried next week, were financed by the Miami-based Cuban American National Foundation and organized by Luis Posadas Carriles, a Cuban exile. The foundation has denied the allegations.

The New York Times reported in July that Posada Carriles had admitted backing attempts to bomb Cuban tourist facilities. He told the paper that the foundation helped finance those attacks.

Posada Carriles later said he had lied about the involvement of the foundation but did not deny his own alleged role.

Authorities here say Cruz Leon was a U.S.-trained Salvadoran army veteran who was hired by ``counterrevolutionaries'' to conduct bombings at five hotels and a restaurant, at a price of $4,500 each. In addition to the one death, another 11 people were injured in the bombings, including seven foreigners.

The attacks were aimed at frightening away tourists, who provide one of Cuba's most important sources of income.

Cruz Leon told a five-member tribunal on Monday that his motivation had been financial, not political.

His trial could last up to five days. If convicted, Cruz Leon faces execution by firing squad. All death sentences are automatically appealed to the Supreme Court.

The trial comes amid a toughening stance against opponents by the Cuban government, which sees itself under increasing attack by the U.S. government and the Miami-based exile community.

On March 1, four well-known dissidents were tried by a closed court on charges of furthering U.S. policies against the communist country. The verdicts from that trial are still pending.