CUBA: Italian Tourist Killed in Latest Wave of Hotel Bombings

By Dalia Acosta Reprint | | Print |

Dalia Acosta

HAVANA, Sep 4 1997 (IPS) - An Italian tourist was killed in an explosion that occurred around noon in a hotel in the Cuban capital, while two other bombings caused only material damages.

The explosions were the latest in a series of attacks on Cuba’s tourist industry, which has outstripped sugar as the country’s leading foreign exchange-earner in the past few years.

The bombs exploded in the lobbies of the Copt industry circulated in April when the local press reported that an explosion destroyed a bathroom in the discotheque of the country’s most exclusive tourist installations.

In the same period, the U.S. press also repong incident occurred early in the morning on Aug. 4 in the Melia Cohiba hotel. And on Aug. 22, anot Varadero hotel, which the management blamed on an “overcharged transformerr Ministry declared on Jul. 12 that it had evidence that the bombing materials and perpetrators had come from the United States.

Deputy Minister of Touribombings, and denied that their perpetrators had ties to any known dissident movements.

Local analysts say the bombing incidents are/MJ/SW/97)