HAVANA (AP) -- A Salvadoran man who confessed to a string of hotel
                  bombings has been convicted of terrorism and sentenced to death by a
                  Cuban tribunal, the government announced Tuesday.

                  Under Cuban law, the death sentence of Raul Ernesto Cruz Leon will be
                  immediately appealed to the Supreme Court, the Communist Party daily
                  Granma said in a three-paragraph story in Tuesday's edition.

                  The verdict in the trial of a second Salvadoran charged with terrorism, Otto
                  Rene Rodriguez Llerena, is pending. The prosecution has also recommended
                  the death penalty in his case.

                  During Cruz Leon's trial, prosecutors sought to show that leaders of the
                  Miami-based Cuban-American National Foundation recruited and paid
                  Cruz Leon to plant bombs at six tourist locales. The blasts killed an Italian
                  man and injured 11 people, including seven foreigners.

                  Before closing arguments, prosecutors showed a video from a television
                  interview in which a member of the Cuban exile group, Luis Posada Carriles,
                  admitted Cruz Leon was contracted by members of the exile organization.

                  Though Posada Carriles originally told journalists the group backed Cruz
                  Leon, he later said he had lied about the involvement of the foundation. He
                  did not deny his own alleged role, however.

                  The foundation repeatedly has denied it funded the bombings, a charge the
                  Cuban government has made since it arrested Cruz Leon 18 months ago.

                  Cruz Leon was accused of -- and admitted to -- planting bombs in five
                  hotels and a restaurant in a plot to scare away tourists and hurt a prime
                  source of income for the communist island.

                  During the trial, the prosecution showed a videotape made by the Interior
                  Ministry shortly after Cruz Leon's arrest, with the defendant touring all the
                  sites he bombed, showing exactly how he armed and planted the explosives.

                  Cruz Leon told the tribunal that his motivation had been financial, not
                  political. He allegedly was paid $ 4,500 for each bombing.

                  If his appeal is rejected by the Supreme Court, Cruz Leon faces execution
                  by firing squad.

                  In El Salvador, six Italian senators touring Latin America said Tuesday they
                  will ask Cuban authorities to spare Cruz Leon's life when they visit Havana
                  on Wednesday.

                  "In the name of the state, the government and the Senate of Italy, we will ask
                  that they absolutely not apply the death penalty, even though an Italian died,"
                  Sen. Cesare Salvi told reporters in San Salvador. It was not known if the
                  senators would meet with Cuban leader Fidel Castro.

                  The trials of Cruz Leon and Rodriguez Llerena come amid a toughening
                  stance against opponents by the Cuban government, which sees itself under
                  increasing attack by the U.S. government and the Miami-based exile
                  community.

                  On March 1, four Cuban dissidents were tried by a closed court on charges
                  of furthering U.S. policies against the communist country. They were
                  convicted and received sentences from 31/2 to five years.