CUBA-US: Bloody hijack attempt by soldiers ends four-year hiatus
Havana was shaken in early May by the first attempted hijacking of an aircraft in just over four years, a bloody episode which involved army deserters. The extreme reticence of the authorities regarding the circumstances of the event has led to much speculation about its implications. The Cuban government has blamed the US for encouraging this and other comparable events because of legislation which grants residence to Cuban migrants who make it onto US soil.
Though the public did not learn about it until after the event, the episode began on 29 April, when three conscripts serving at the Managua military base just south of Havana armed themselves with assault rifles and killed one sentry; injured another, and fled. One of the conscripts was captured soon afterwards, and he reportedly revealed to the authorities that the group's plan had been to hijack an aircraft and force the crew to take them to the US.
On 3 May the other two deserters hijacked a bus and forced the driver to ram a gate at Havana's international airport, then drive to an airliner parked on the tarmac. Among the bus passengers they took hostage was an off-duty army officer, Lieutenant-Colonel Víctor Ibo Acuña Velázquez, who was shot dead by the deserters. This, according to the authorities, happened when the unarmed officer tried to stop the hijacking.
Security personnel later stormed the aircraft, capturing the hijackers and freeing the hostages. The official account of events provided no details of the rescue operation or whether there had been any casualties.
The Managua military base is home to the Reserva del Alto Mando (RAM), an élite armoured division devoted to protecting Havana from internal, as well as external, threats. According to reports -not corroborated by the Cuban authorities- the attempted hijacking was preceded in December 2006 when three conscripts serving as guards at the El Manguito prison, near Santiago, opened fire on officers during an attempted jailbreak, killing two. All three were later captured.
Although the Cuban government promptly blamed the US for encouraging hijackings and other "vandalic and criminal actions" with the legislation that offers residency to Cuban migrants who make it to the US, no such incidents have taken place since April 2003, when police prevented the hijack of an aircraft by a group of armed men, and the hijack of a ferry by another group (the former were sentenced to life imprisonment; most of the latter were executed).
The previous month, two aircrafts had been separately hijacked and flown to the US. The hijackers were arrested and tried there, earning 20-year prison sentences.
It is considered likely that the three involved in the latest hijack attempt will, as serving members of the military, receive death sentences. It is worth noting that US-based Cuba experts dismiss any notion that the two incidents involving conscripts are indicative of any broader trend within the Cuban military.