April 23, 1976

By Marvine Howe

A powerful bomb shattered the Cuban Embassy here today, killing two Cubans and wounding at least four other persons.

The blast, the first attack on a foreign mission since a leftist assault on the Spanish Embassy last September, originated on the seventh floor of the Embassy. Its force knocked out the elevator door and the front door, on the ground floor.

The embassy offices were destroyed, with concrete and glass everywhere; a picture of Fidel Castro lay in the rubble.

The dead were identified by hospital sources as Adriana Corcho, the wife of a Cuban diplomat, and Efren Monteagudo, an embassy official. Four of the wounded were Portuguese nationals.

The bombing was part of a wave of violence that has taken seven lives and that threatens to jeopardize the voting this Sunday, when Portugal is to hold its first free legislative elections in half a century.

Earlier today the ruling High Council of the Revolution issued a communiqué denouncing the recent violence and pledging "firm and decisive action." It was announced that on Election Day, all troops and security forces would be put on full alert.

After the embassy bombing, the Portuguese Foreign Ministry was quick to issue a statement condemning "all terrorist acts" and promising protection to diplomatic missions here.

Hundreds of angry leftists gathered outside the devastated embassy building in central Lisbon, shouting "down with fascists" and "death to reactionaries." The police surrounded the building.

While there was no immediate indication who or what group had attacked the embassy, there were accusations that the clandestine right extremist group called the Portuguese Liberation Army was responsible.

This group, known by the initials E.L.P., is believed to have been behind many of the attacks against Communist and extreme-leftist offices in northern Portugal. Its apparent aim is to disrupt the elections.

Hours after the bombing, members of a group that calls itself "Anti-Fascists of the Zone" were distributing pamphlets demanding "punishment for the fascists and assassins."

The pamphlets noted that this month marks the 15^th anniversary of the Bay of Pigs invasion, which was led by Cuban exiles supported by the United States. "Before your eyes," the pamphlets said, "you have an example of fascist democracy."

The group said that E.L.P. and the Democratic Movement for the Liberation of Portugal, which is headed by the exiled former President Antonio de Spinola, were responsible. It was charged further that these two clandestine movements were supported by "existing legal groups."

Witnesses said the bomb had been planted in a briefcase near the elevator door, some time before 5 p.m.