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Presidential Pardon Sought For Anti-Castro Activist

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The Associated Press

Published: August 1, 2008

MIAMI - Supporters are seeking a presidential pardon for an anti-Castro activist sentenced to life in prison plus 35 years for the murder of a Cuban diplomat and other bomb- and weapons-related charges.

Eduardo Arocena's friends and family have created a Web site supporting his early release and held a rally for him this week in Miami's Little Havana. They describe the former New Jersey longshoreman, who has served 25 years in prison, as an ailing Cuban patriot who sought to bring democracy to his native country.

According to court documents, Arocena was the head of an anti-Castro group called Omega 7, accused of planting or attempting to plant bombs in New York at John F. Kennedy International Airport, Madison Square Garden and the Cuban Mission at the United Nations, among other crimes.

Arocena was arrested in 1983 and is serving time in federal prison in Indiana. His wife, Miriam Arocena, says the 65-year-old suffers from high blood pressure and diabetes.

A 2007 U.S. Department of Justice report lists him in good physical and mental health.

A form letter directed to Bush, available on the supporters' Web site, states: "The supporters of this petition are not excusing the actions for which Mr. Arocena was tried and convicted, but only for you to consider the severity of the sentence imposed upon a person whose only aspiration was for a free and democratic Cuba."

The Web site includes a video clip of a July 20 meeting between Miriam Arocena and U.S. Sen. Joe Lieberman, I-Conn., a fervent advocate of the U.S. war on terrorism.

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