The Miami News, September 23, 1968, "Cuban Exiles Living with 'Reign of Terror'" by Terry Johnson King

[...]

Miami's Cubans are living with a reign of terror that, so far, has been largely confined to their own neighborhoods and businesses. Almost daily now, incidents are reported locally as anti-Castro factions drown their sorrows and vent their frustrations in dynamite and C-4 plastic explosives.

It has been an escalating war. It started with smoke bombs and tear gas being tossed into festive gatherings among Cubans, set off by malcontents who said the exiles had no business having parties while their country was in the hands of Communists.

From there it grew. Dynamite was tossed into stores that sent drugs to Cuba - they were "trading with the enemy" when they sent badly-needed supplies of penicilin and antibiotics to the aged and infirm in that country.

Then it was C-4 plastic bombs - a sophisticated weapon, and too sophisticated, it turned out, for the clumsy terrorists. It was a long time before they could figure out how to make the things go off.

And finally into such advanced warfare as sniping of a Polish ship in Miami's harbor last week; and the increase in bombings of commercial establishments which do not "cooperate" with the terrorists.

Miami Police Chief Walter Headley says much of the bombing is done for extortion. Merchants are asked to contribute to the counter-revolutionary causes. If they don't, they quickly learn the consequences. Cuban sources say extortion has nothing to do with it - it is simply a "philosophical' method of keeping the community in line, supposedly so it can fight the tyranny of Castro.

[...]

Also fanning the flames of near civil war that brews in Cuban neighborhoods are the extreme right-wing exile publications. Chief of these is a newspaper, "Patria," which is commonly supposed to exist on money from Batista.

In addition there are bulletins, magazines, other papers, newsletters - published here, in California, New York and Mexico - which deify the terroristic strikes against non-cooperators, either here or elsewhere.

[...]

Copyright (c) 1968 The Miami News

Evening Independent, September 20, 1968, "Cuban Power Names Head" by The Associated Press

MIAMI - A blackhooded figure identified as "Ernesto," mastermind of the mysterious exile terrorist band, Cuban Power, announced the appointment today of anti-Castro militant Orlando Bosch as the group's spokesman.

The announcement was made at a midnight news conference to which reporters were taken blindfolded. They were driven around aimlessly through streets for 30 minutes before being led into a room where the hooded "Ernesto" sat. After the session, newsmen were blindfolded again and driven away.

Ernesto said Cuban Power has been bombing ships and planes of countries dealing with Cuba but disclaimed any part in an epidemic of explosions in Miami, New York, Los Angeles and other cities.

Ernesto told his news conference that he would now "go to some country in this hemisphere to fulfill a certain mission."

Bosch is the leader of a group called the [Insurrectional Movement of Revolutionary Recovery] - MIRR. He has a long record of U.S. arrests for anti-Communist activity, but no convictions.

Copyright (c) 1968 The Associated Press

St. Petersburg Times, September 17, 1968, "A Little Cannon Blast Dents Docked Freighter" by Times Wire Services

MIAMI - A freighter from Poland was shelled by a small cannon while docked in Miami yesterday and the leader of a secret terrorist group, Cuban Power, promptly claimed responsibility.

The Coast Guard said the hull of the 407-foot freighter, Polanica, was hit about seven feet above the waterline by a missile that caused a dent the size of a pie plate. Nobody was hurt.

Several hours after the shelling, a telephone caller who said he was the mysterious "Ernesto" of Cuban Power, said his group had fired the shell "as the only response from freedom loving people to the atrocious invasion of Czechoslovakia by the imperialist Communists."

"I've just arrived from Mexico and I personally fired the shot," the caller told a Spanish-language radio station in Miami (WFAB).

In another mysterious phone call, "Cuban Power" claimed the weapon employed was a 57-millimeter recoilless rifle.

[...]

Copyright (c) 1968 St. Petersburg Times

[More from The Miami News]

The Miami News, August 9, 1968, "Cuba Group Claims Bombing of British Cargo Ship"

A British cargo ship here was blasted by an explosion yesterday afternoon, and Cuban exiles immediately took credit for the incident. The 210-foot Caribbean Venture, out of Newcastle, England, was tied to Pier 3 at the time.

Miami Fire Chief Henry Christen said the blast which injured none of the crew - may have been caused by a plastics explosive called C-4.

Later, a spokesman for the Cuban exile organization that calls itself "Cuban Power" phones news media and claimed it had mined the ship. The mine, he said, was supposed to go off ofter the ship had gone to sea, but exploded prematurely.

The blast ripped a hole in the hull causing the ship to take on water and settle six feet, but the Coast Guard said there was no danger of its sinking.

Cuban exiles here are bitter at Britain's continued trading with Fidel Castro's government.

Copyright (c) 1968 The Miami News

Ocala Star-Banner, June 7, 1968, "Anti-Castro Organization Issues Trading Ultimatum" by The Associated Press.

MIAMI - Cuban Power, the secret anti-Castro terrorist band, announced today it has issued an ultimatum to several nations to stop trading with Cuba or have their ships and planes blown up.

The exile organization said it sent the ultimatum by cablegram to Spain, Generalissimo Franco, Mexican President Gustavo Diaz Ordaz and British Prime Minister Harold Wilson.

The Cuban Power bulletin, signed "Ernesto" said its representatives in Washington had delivered the same ultimatum by telephone to the ambassadors of Japan and some other countries.

Last week Cuban Power claimed responsibility for the bombing of the Japanese freighter Asaka Maru docked at Tampa, Fla. and the British vessel Greenwood south of Key West, Fla. The FBI said it is investigating the explosions which damaged both ships.

Cuban Power said it cabled the Spanish and Mexican heads of state a "war ultimatum to your government to suspend all trade with the Communist Cuban regime. Otherwise you will be the only one responsible for Spanish and Mexican planes and ships being dynamited."

Cuba Power said they cabled Wilson that dynamite of the Greenwood on May 5 "is the initial punishment by the heroic Cuban people against the British government which trades with the Castro tyranny."

The cablegram added, "You will have to pay with much British blood if trade with Cuba continues."

The news bulletin said the Japanese ambassador has been warned that "forces of Cuban Power in any part of the world are ready to light the airs and seas with explosives until Cuba is free." In the case of Mexico, Ernesto said, "it is more for its (diplomatic) relations with Cuba than its trade."

Cuban Power said its communications to the nations "are of a military nature and with the format of an ultimatum."

There has been a chain of Latin-flavored bombing incidents in the Miami area over a six month period. Cuban Power has claimed responsibility.

Copyright (c) 1968 The Associated Press

The Miami News, June 1, 1968, "Cubans Claim Ship Bombings"

Cuban Power, an exile terrorist organization based in Miami, claimed today it waas responsible for bombing a Japanese freighter yesterday at a Tampa dock and a British ship off Key West.

A spokesman, identified only as Ernesto, added that "other ships are going to explode." He said Cuban Power is warring against trade with Cuba. "Explosives were placed about the vessel Asaka Maru many days before the explosion occurred," he claimed.

The Asaka Maru was rocked by an explosion in a stern compartment that houses the ship's steering mechanism. The freighter, docked at a phosphate terminal at the Tampa port, would have sunk had it been at sea at the time of the explosion, officials said.

No injuries were reported and damage was estimated at $100,000. Hillsborough County Deputy Fred Crane said witnesses reported smelling something similar to gunsmoke after the explosion. "The odor of gunpowder indicates some sort of bomb was responsible," said Crane.

The FBI was investigating the case today.

Copyright (c) 1968 The Miami News

The Miami News, March 1, 1968, "Plot to Hijack Cuban Ship Fails" by Bob M. Gassaway.

A Cuban exile said today his group dispatched a heavily armed war party to hijack the Communist ship that rammed its own lifeboat carrying three crewmen fleeing to asylum in the United States. The effort was called "Operation Pueblo."

Dr. Orlando Bosch said U.S. government agents arrested four of the raiders and seized one arms-laden boat for violating federal laws. Later, another member of the group said six men in a second boat returned to Miami without attacking the ship.

Bosch said the 10 men were sent yesterday to hijack the Cuban freighter 26 de Julio which rammed the lifeboat 10 miles off the Virginia Coast Tuesday when three men called "traitor crewmen" by the Fidel Castro government attempted to flee the vessel.

The raiders, Bosch said, "knew where the ship was going and the way it was taking. They could very well have attacked the 26 de Julio if the U.S. government had not interfered."

Fred L. Patton, supervising U.S. customs agent in Miami, confirmed the four men named by Bosch were arrested in a boat carrying arms. Patton said, "they made no statement" about their intentions. The four were jailed on charges of illegal arms exportation.

Patton said the boat was seized off Miami Beach at government cut, an entrance to Biscayne Bay from the Atlantic Ocean.

Bosch told the Associated Press the hijackers "carried weapons and grenades and a 20-millimeter cannon. You can say we assume the responsibility. We were going to hijack the 26 de Julio." He said the boats departed from the Florida Keys.

Bosch, who is secretary general of an exile alliance called the Insurrectional Recovery Movement - Commandos L, identified the quartet as Jorge Gonzalez, Barbaro Balan, Marcos Rodriguez and Andres Garcia. The four were held at the Dade County jail.

Copyright (c) 1968 The Miami News