MEXICO CITY, Nov 25 (Reuters) - Cuba will seek the death penalty for a former soldier from El Salvador accused of carrying out a string of bombings at tourist hotels in Havana, the Cuban attorney general said on Tuesday.
It was the first official indication that Cuba would seek the death penalty for the suspect in the bombings that killed an Italian tourist, wounded three people and threatened to damage Cuba's thriving tourist industry, which brings in badly needed hard currency to the Communist-ruled island.
Juan Escalona, the attorney general, spoke to the Spanish language television network Telenoticias while in Mexico to attend a regional conference of top law-enforcement officers. A copy of the interview was made available to Reuters.
He said insurgents in Cuba should know they are "either going to die fighting or die in front of the firing squad.''
Escalona also said he felt "absolute indiffernce'' about the death on Sunday of Cuban exile leader Jorge Mas Canosa, 58, whom he nonetheless said "has caused a lot of damage to my country'' for his efforts to topple Cuban leader Fidel Castro.
In September, Cuban authorities arrested Salvadoran citizen Raul Ernesto Cruz for the bombings at luxury hotels in July and September. Cuba alleges he was hired by the Cuban American National Foundation, which was headed by Mas Canosa, but the foundation denied any links to the bombings.
Escalona said Cuba would seek the death penalty as a means of scaring off other potential insurgents.
Asked what penalty the government would seek against Cruz, Escalona said, "The penalty established by law is the death penalty because it's an act of terrorism. There are dead and injured.''
He said the death penalty was "nothing pleasant to administer,'' but that Cuba has found it necessary over the years.
"He who comes to Cuba for this kind of action -- rising up in arms or infiltrating -- should know that he is either going to die fighting or die in front of the firing squad,'' Escalona said.
01:45 11-26-97