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AGED 79, ALPHA 66 FOUNDER SPEAKS OUT The CIA proposed that I assassinate Fidel in Chile, Veciana confesses by Jean-Guy Allard IT was the CIA that informed Antonio Veciana Blanch, 10 months ahead of time, of a visit to Chile by the president of Cuba; it proposed he should organize Fidel’s assassination, directed him to carry it out in a press conference and provided his transportation with weapons to Santiago in a U.S. diplomatic vehicle.
Founder of Alpha 66, identified as an accomplice in the conspiracy to assassinate Kennedy, this killer trained in Operation 40 was convicted of drug trafficking in New York in 1974. In an attempt to respond to an interview with General (ret) Fabian Escalante Fonts recently published in Granma International, Veciana gave his version of various acts of terrorism in which he was involved on "La noche se mueve" program on Miami radio. "I was in Bolivia working for USAID as advisor to the Central Bank," the terrorist chief explained on approaching the issue of the Chile attempt in 1971. The "aid to development" granted to Bolivia by that official U.S. agency linked from its foundation to intelligence activities, was wide-ranging, he reveals. "There was a group of us Cubans... I was a banking advisor in the Central Bank. Rafael Dalmau was in the Mining Bank. Charles Bacon who, despite his American name, was Cuban by birth, was in the Agricultural Bank and the CIA had other people working in the Ministry of the Interior." A CIA OFFICIAL TOLD ME THAT FIDEL WAS GOING TO CHILE One day, "a CIA official told me that Fidel was going to Chile and asked me if I was prepared to participate in organizing an attempt on his life," Veciana related. "I had been based in Bolivia for four years. I hadn’t read anything about Castro going to Chile until someone from the CIA called me from Peru." The U.S. agency took on coordinating the contact with Chilean police conspiring against the democratic regime of the socialist Salvador Allende. "He told me that I could have confidence in the two people who were going to visit me on behalf of the Chilean police." At various points in the interview Veciana declined to confirm that one of those individuals was Police Colonel Eduardo Sepúlveda. "I cannot confirm to you if it was Sepúlveda or someone else," he said enigmatically. Later, he insisted: "It could have been Sepúlveda but I didn’t know Sepúlveda. They used false names." "These gentlemen came to see me in La Paz and we had two meetings. Then they informed me that effectively, a visit to Chile by Fidel Castro was planned and would probably be quite extensive. They thought that he would be at least two weeks in Chile and said that they were prepared to cooperate... " "I WAS THE ORGANIZER" During the three-hour interview, broadcast by three separate stations. Veciana insisted on attributing the leadership of the operation being planned to himself and cast aside his rival Luis Posada Carriles, who was handling CIA operations from Caracas. "I was the organizer," he repeated, expressing his dissatisfaction with the Chilean accomplices. "I asked them for some support that they never gave. I asked them to give me police uniforms, to give me more facilities. And they told me; we’re just going to give you information." Where would Veciana find the support that he needed? In Miami, of course. That city contained the large reserve of killers and conspirators constituted by the CIA years back. And heading up that pack of terrorists were his Alpha 66 buddies, with offices on Flager Street. "I sent a coded telegram to Alpha 66.... There are people here still who can back that up... To see if there were any men of action prepared to operate." Veciana finally decided to travel to the place that is still the sanctuary of continental terrorism. "Andres Nazario (Sargent, then head of Alpha 66) received me... We interviewed various people." All the candidates realized that participating in an attempt on the life of Fidel Castro was asking them to commit suicide. "They weren’t prepared to give up their lives." THE "KILLERS": ISLANDER DOMINGUEZ AND MARCO RODRIGUEZ Veciana returned, disappointed, to Bolivia after four days. However, he recalled, a new coded message from Sargent soon arrived, announcing that two individuals prepared to join the conspiracy had been found. "I went back to Miami... The two people belonged to Orlando Bosch’s group." They had worked with Poder Cubano (Bosch’s group) and in the CORU; they were Domínguez ‘the Islander,’ I think his name was Antonio, and Marco Rodríguez. I provided them with all the means to get to Venezuela and in Venezuela there were certain Venevisión officials who gave me all the facilities." The plan was to convert the two killers into Venevisión cameramen to subsequently infiltrate them into a press conference to be given by the Cuban president in Santiago de Chile. Whose idea was that? The CIA’s, Veciana confirmed. "They suggested the camera idea... they suggested taking advantage of the conference where 600 or 700 journalist would be present, for the assassination." CIA personnel participated in preparations fro the attempt: "Afterwards the plot was complemented by getting the people who, as experts, were recommended by them: this can be done, this can’t be done... " "We had somebody who knew about the workings of Cuban press conferences: possibly the people who attended would have to leave their cameras outside and these would be checked. But by using a small weapon and hiding it in a certain section of the camera, when they began to run, the weapon wouldn’t be detected," he confessed. So Domínguez and Rodríguez "were trained as cameramen... and I got them Venevisión credentials." The preparation of the two terrorists was meticulous. "They had to be trained because they were Cuban, they had to know the Venezuelan language... They were in Caracas for 60 to 90 days training so that they would be undetectable as Cubans, but as Venezuelans," he stated. Veciana was then asked: "Did these two people receive training as shooters, as killers, as assassins?" The 79 year old replied with surprising candor: "Well, I would call them assassins. "They were action men of Poder Cubano who had worked with Orlando Bosch." The two "assassins arrived in Santiago de Chile "long before Castro was due to arrive; in other words, they were there and began interviewing the Chilean government as if they were Venezuelan journalists." At the beginning of the interview, Veciana responded to an initial question on the Santiago attempt: "I didn’t go to Chile." But, on getting into his story of the events, he suddenly told everything about his stay in that country. "Yes, of course, I was in Chile," he exclaimed and added a strange revelation. IN A U.S. DIPLOMATIC CAR... WITH WEAPONS! "I left La Paz for Lima in a diplomatic car from the U.S. embassy with the weapons," Veciana suddenly admitted on pointing out that other U.S. agents left Lima for Santiago to join the plot. "We had rented the apartment in Huérfanos Street in Santiago where they (Domínguez and Rodríguez) were going to pass themselves off as simple journalists and we met up somewhere on the border of Chile and Peru and went from Arequipa, Tagna to Santiago. "While we were there, I had a minimum support base of three people who only knew what was being prepared when I needed a certain movement." Going back to the story of the idea to blame the planned assassination on the Soviet Union, Veciana gave his own version. "Somebody suggested to me: who’s going to be blamed for Castro’s death... Who’s going to make the public announcement? Let’s put the blame on the Soviet Union... That seemed like a good idea to me." "The ‘Islander’ was told to go to a house just to ask for an address... "An alleged Soviet agent was living there. "He was a professor at the Central University of Caracas who was also a KGB agent... and there was a photographer who took photos so that if there were deaths on our account, it could be stated that these people had been working with the KGB." And what was happening, in the meantime, with Luis Posada Carriles? "Posada didn’t have anything to do with it," answered Veciana with something of scorn for the current hero of the Miami mafiosi. "He boasted a bit of his anti-Castro activity," he commented, noting that the CIA taught him to keep himself "compartmentalized." The conspiracy failed. Domínguez and Rodríguez "got cold feet." Marco Rodríguez had a pending five-year sentence in the United States. "He was out on bail when I took him to Venezuela with me," explained Veciana. "Then Posada Carriles showed up. The man who went to the U.S. embassy and explained the situation and explained all the details, was Posada Carriles." |
EL FUNDADOR DE ALPHA 66 HABLA La CIA me propuso asesinar a Fidel en Chile por Jean-Guy Allard Fue la CIA la que informó a Antonio Veciana Blanch, 10 meses antes de que tuviese lugar, de un viaje del Presidente de Cuba a Chile; le propuso encargarse de organizar su asesinato, le orientó que se realizara durante una conferencia de prensa, y aseguró su transporte con las armas hasta Santiago en un vehículo diplomático norteamericano. Lo afirma el propio Veciana, quien escogió confesar a las ondas de una radio de Miami una parte de los crímenes que cometió, a lo largo de casi cinco décadas, por encargo de los servicios de inteligencia norteamericanos, en su guerra sucia contra Cuba. Fundador de Alpha 66, identificado como cómplice del complot para asesinar a Kennedy, este matón formado en la Operación 40 fue condenado, en 1974, en Nueva York, por narcotraficante. Al pretender replicar a una entrevista publicada recientemente por Granma Internacional con el General (r) Fabián Escalante Fonts, Veciana dio su versión de varios hechos terroristas en los cuales estuvo implicado, en el programa La noche se mueve, de la radio de Miami. "Yo estaba en Bolivia trabajando para la USAID como asesor del Banco Central", explicó el jefe terrorista, al abordar el tema del intento de atentado en Chile, ocurrido en 1971. Esa "ayuda al desarrollo" otorgada a Bolivia por esa agencia oficial de Estados Unidos vinculada, desde su creación, a actividades de inteligencia, era amplia, revela. "Habíamos un grupo de cubanos... En el Banco Central, estaba yo como asesor bancario. En el Banco Minero, estaba Rafael Dalmau. En el Banco Agrícola, Charles Bacon que, a pesar de su nombre americano, era cubano de nacimiento, y la CIA tenía otros personajes trabajando dentro del Ministerio del Interior". UN FUNCIONARIO DE LA CIA ME DICE QUE FIDEL VA IR A CHILE Cierto día, "un funcionario de la CIA me dice que Fidel va ir a Chile y me pregunta si estoy dispuesto a participar en la organización del atentado", cuenta Veciana. "Yo estuve cuatro años con base en Bolivia. No había leído nunca que Castro iba a Chile. Hasta que me llamó desde Perú alguien de la CIA". La agencia norteamericana se encarga de coordinar el contacto con carabineros chilenos que conspiran contra el régimen democrático del socialista Salvador Allende. "Me informó que yo podía tener confianza en las dos personas que me iban a visitar de parte de los carabineros de Chile". En varios momentos de la entrevista, Veciana declina confirmar que uno de estos personajes era el coronel de carabineros Eduardo Sepúlveda. "Yo no le puedo asegurar si era Sepúlveda o si era alguien más", dijo en una frase algo enigmática. Más tarde insistirá:"Pudiera ser Sepúlveda pero yo no conocía a Sepúlveda. Usaban nombres falsos". "Estos señores fueron a verme en La Paz y tuvimos dos reuniones. Entonces me informaron que efectivamente se proyectaba un viaje de Fidel Castro a Chile y que probablemente sería bastante extenso. Ellos suponían que por lo menos iba a estar dos semanas en Chile y que estaban dispuestos a cooperar... " "YO FUI EL ORGANIZADOR" En el curso de la entrevista de tres horas, difundida en tres emisiones distintas, Veciana insiste en atribuirse la dirección de la operación que se desencadena y en echar de lado a su rival Luis Posada Carriles, que maneja operaciones de la CIA desde Caracas. "Yo fui el organizador", repite al expresar su insatisfacción con estos cómplices chilenos. "Yo les solicité cierto apoyo que nunca dieron. Yo solicité que me dieran uniformes de carabineros, que me dieran más facilidades. Y me dijeron: simplemente te vamos a dar la información". ¿Dónde Veciana buscaría entonces el apoyo que necesita? En Miami, por supuesto. Ahí está la gran reserva de matones y conspiradores constituida por la CIA desde hace años. Y encabezando impunemente esa jauría de terroristas, están sus socios de Alpha 66, con oficinas en Flager Street. "Mandé un telegrama en clave a Alpha 66... Aquí hay personas todavía que pueden aseverar eso... Para ver si había hombres de acción dispuestos a funcionar." Veciana decide finalmente viajar a lo que sigue siendo, hoy día, el santuario del terrorismo continental. "Andrés Nazario Sargén, (entonces Jefe de Alpha 66) me recibió... Entrevistamos a varias personas". Todos los candidatos se dan cuenta de que, al proponerles participar en un atentado contra Fidel Castro, se les pide el suicidio. "No estaban dispuestos a dar sus vidas." LOS "ASESINOS": EL ISLEÑO DOMíNGUEZ Y MARCO RODRÍGUEZ Veciana regresa, decepcionado, a Bolivia después de cuatro días. Sin embargo, cuenta, un nuevo mensaje en clave de Sargent le llegó pronto, anunciando que había encontrado a dos individuos dispuestos a sumarse al complot. "Regresé a Miami... Las dos personas pertenecían al grupo de Orlando Bosch". Habían trabajado con Poder Cubano (el grupo de Bosch) y en la CORU: eran ‘El Isleño’ Domínguez, creo que su nombre era Antonio, y Marco Rodríguez. Yo les propicié todas las formas para ir a Venezuela, y en Venezuela, hay ciertos funcionarios de Venevisión que me dieron todas las facilidades". El plan era convertir a los dos matones en camarógrafos de Venevisión para luego infiltrarlos en una conferencia de prensa del Presidente cubano en Santiago de Chile. ¿De quién era la idea? De la propia CIA, confirma Veciana. "Ellos sugirieron lo de la cámara... sugirieron hacer el atentado aprovechando la conferencia donde iba a haber 600 ó 700 periodistas". Personal de la CIA participó en la preparación del atentado: "Después se fue complementando con las personas que, como expertos, fueron recomendando: se puede hacer esto, no se puede hacer esto... " "Teníamos quién conocía cómo se desarrollaban las conferencias de prensa que daba Cuba: posiblemente las personas que fueran al acto, iban a tener que dejar las cámaras en la antesala y las iban a revisar. Pero usando un arma pequeña y escondiéndola en cierto sector de la cámara, cuando ellos se pongan a correr, no va ser detectada el arma", confiesa. Así Domínguez y Rodríguez "fueron entrenados como camarógrafos... y les conseguí las credenciales de Venevisión". La preparación de los dos terroristas es minuciosa. "Hubo que entrenarlos porque como eran cubanos, tenían que conocer el lenguaje venezolano... Estuvieron en Caracas alrededor de 60 ó 90 días entrenándose para que fueran indetectables como cubanos, sino como venezolanos", indica. Se le pregunta entonces a Veciana: "¿Estas dos personas tenían entrenamiento como disparadores, como killers, como asesinos?" El septuagenario contesta con un sorprendente candor: "Bueno, yo le diría asesinos". "Eran hombres de acción de Poder Cubano que habían trabajado con Orlando Bosch". Los dos "asesinos" llegaron a Santiago de Chile, "mucho antes de que Castro estuviera llegando, es decir, ellos estaban ahí y empezaron a hacer entrevistas a funcionarios del gobierno de Chile, como si fueran periodistas venezolanos". Al empezar la entrevista, a una primera pregunta sobre el tema del atentado de Santiago, Veciana contestó: "Yo no fui a Chile". Pero al embullarse con su relato de los hechos, de repente, lo cuenta todo sobre su estancia en ese país. "Sí, cómo no, yo estuve en Chile", exclama y añade una extraña revelación. EN UN CARRO DIPLOMÁTICO NORTEAMERICANO... ¡CON LAS ARMAS! "Yo salí de La Paz a Lima en un carro diplomático de la embajada de Estados Unidos con las armas", admite de repente Veciana al señalar que otros agentes norteamericanos salieron de Lima para ir a Santiago de Chile a sumarse al plan. "Habíamos rentado en la calle Huérfanos, en Santiago, el apartamento donde ellos (Domínguez y Rodríguez) iban a pasar como simples periodistas y nos encontramos en algún lugar de la frontera entre Chile y Perú y recorremos desde Arequipa, Tagna hasta Santiago". Retomando la anécdota del plan para culpar a la Unión Soviética del asesinato planeado, Veciana ofrece su propia versión. "Alguien me sugirió: ¿quién va cargar con la culpa de la muerte de Castro... ?¿Quién va a hacer el anuncio público? Vamos a echar la culpa a la Unión Soviética... A mí me pareció una buena idea". "Se manda al Isleño para que vaya a una casa solamente para preguntar por una dirección... ". Ahí vive un presunto agente soviético. "Era un profesor de la Universidad Central de Caracas que era un agente de la KGB". ¿Y qué pasa, mientras tanto, con Luis Posada Carriles? "Posada no tiene nada que ver con esto", contesta Veciana con algo de desprecio hacia el actual héroe de la fauna mafiosa de Miami. "Él era un poquito alardoso de su actividad anticastrista", comenta al señalar que la CIA le enseñó a mantenerse "compartimentado". La conspiración, al final, fracasa. Domínguez y Rodríguez "se intimidaron". Marco Rodríguez tenia una condena pendiente de cinco años en Estados Unidos. "Estaba bajo fianza cuando yo me lo llevo del país para Venezuela", indica Veciana. "Entonces ahí aparece Posada Carriles. El hombre que va a la Embajada norteamericana y explica la situación que hay y explica todos los detalles, es Posada Carriles". |
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This was confirmed to a Miami radio station by Veciana himself who, aged 79, decided to confess some of the crimes he has committed over close to 50 years for the U.S. intelligence services in their dirty war on Cuba.