Reheating the Cold War
The trial of a suspected terrorist is stoking old passions, from D.C. to Miami to Havana
Whatever plays out in the El Paso courtroom won't satisfy people like Roseanne Nenninger, whose brother, Raymond, a 19-year-old Guyanese student with a full medical school scholarship on his way to Havana, was killed when the Cubana plane blew up. "I'm outraged that we have a terrorist in our midst," said Nenninger, whose family moved to the United States from Guyana in 1979. "I was hoping that when our president said that we're not going to harbor terrorists, he meant it."
She said she shudders to think that Posada could be allowed to live freely."I would love to see him spend the rest of his time behind bars, or at least I would like him to admit his wrongdoings."
Back in Miami, Fabregas says he and others in the exile community will try to accept the outcome of the trial. "House arrest or whatever, we'll accept," says Fabregas. "Anything except deportation. That would cause a very adverse reaction."
"His heart is still in the right place," he says about Posada, who in an interview two years ago declared himself committed to armed struggle. "You die," Fabregas said of the militant, "with your convictions and beliefs." A few days later, Fabregas and others gathered again at the Versailles to talk about Cuba's May Day demonstration; the highlights were Castro's failure to appear and protesters who carried signs demanding that Posada be brought to justice. Back at the Versailles, a handful of men hung an effigy of the Cuban leader.
After the case plays out, says Soto, Posada's lawyer, he wants to make a movie about his client's life. "You know what I'm going to call it?" he said." Made in the USA."
With Carol S. Hook
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