Miami Herald
April 29, 1983

Police say bomb may tie to protest

By BARBARA GUTIERREZ

As 20 men continued their hunger strike Monday in Little Havana, police said the weekend bombing of a Venezuelan bank in Miami may also have been a protest against the imprisonment of Orlando Bosch a Cuba-born doctor jailed in Caracas.

Miami Police spokesman Juan Santos said that a Molotov cocktail found Monday morning at the Banco de Venezuela Internacional, 800 Brickell Ave., could be related to the Bosch case.

"No one has claimed responsibility for the bombing," Santos said, "but we are looking into supporters of Bosch."

A demonstration had been held outside the bank Friday in support of Bosch, who has been in a Venezuelan jail since 1976 on charges of blowing up a Cubana Airlines jet that crashed on a Barbados-to-Cuba flight, killing 73 people.

Although military prosecutors said there was not enough evidence to prosecute Bosch and the court acquitted him, a higher military tribunal retained jurisdiction over the case and Bosch remains in jail.

The Molotov cocktail, which caused $3,000 worth of damage to the private bank, was found inside a window at 8 a.m. The device, which police said may have been thrown inside the bank over the weekend, had extinguished by itself. No one was in the bank at that time.

Rudolf Zepeda, the bank's general manager, said that he has placed a 24-hour guard on the premises.

"We are a private bank and have no connections with the Venezuelan government," Zepeda said.

In Caracas, Bosch's wife, Adrianna, said he was in "delicate and weak" condition Monday, as he entered the 12th day of a hunger strike protesting his imprisonmment.

"He is weak and suffering from dehydration," she said in a telephone interview.

In Miami, the 20 hunger strikers whose protest began last week still lie under a tent at W. Flagler Street and 22nd Avenue.

"We will stay here until Bosch is brought to justice," said Eduardo Paz, one of the protesters.

Paz said one of the strikers had been taken to a hospital late Monday afternoon after complaining of "severe vomiting and diarrhea."

Paz also said his group was not aware of any bombing.