2nd Salvadoran sentenced to die for Cuba blast

The Miami Herald March 31, 1999 2nd Salvadoran sentenced to die for Cuba blast

             HAVANA -- (AFP) -- A court has sentenced Otto Rene Rodriguez Llerena to
             death, making him the second Salvadoran to face capital punishment in Cuba,
             diplomatic sources said Tuesday.

             Rodriguez Llerena, 40, was on trial for committing acts of terrorism. He had
             confessed to planting a bomb in the Melia-Cohiba hotel on Aug. 4, 1997, and to
             transporting two other bombs to Havana, where he was captured.

             Rodriguez Llerena allegedly hoped to destroy such national monuments as the
             museum and tomb of legendary leftist guerrilla leader Ernesto ``Che'' Guevara in
             the central city of Santa Clara, which draws large numbers of Cuban and foreign
             tourists.

Prosecutors had first asked that Llerena be jailed for 30 years. In an unexpected
twist, they changed their sentencing request to death by firing squad.

             Ernesto Cruz Leon, 27, another Salvadoran, faces death by firing squad for six
             Havana bombings, one of which killed Italian tourist Fabio di Celmo in September
             1997. Cruz Leon was sentenced on March 23.

             Under Cuban law, both sentences must be approved by the Supreme People's
             Tribunal. If that court endorses the death penalty, a final decision will be made by
             the 31-member State Council headed by President Fidel Castro.

The State Council could impose the death penalty or commute the sentence to 30
years in jail.