WoW!<br>Great find, Sunny, via Ospina's book on Bacardi's hidden role in supporting and fomenting anti-Cuban and Latin American terrorism -- apparently working closely with the CIA and State Dept. cutouts and 'other' shadowy black ops and agents of influence and semi-official political-corporate crime syndicates.<br><br>MMMmmm...<br>Shouldn't somebody mebbe like inform the FBI or somebody -- so the Hooverite G-Men can do something practical and REAL, actually important, investigating political corruption and corporate sanction for terrorism and violence, instead of spending immense resources on behalf of a paranoid police-state PTB by infiltrating PETA and Christian Peacemakers and Greenpeace and the ACLU and other progressive reform-minded decent American activists trying to increase the public's consciousness about peace and justice issues? (Ironic cynical sarcasm, dontcha know!)<br><br>I might just become a rum-drinker so I can more 'meaningfully' boycott Bacardi.<br>Thanks for the heads-UP!<br>Starman<br><br>More info:<br><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK START--><a href="http://www.ratb.org.uk/frfi/160_bacardi.html">www.ratb.org.uk/frfi/160_bacardi.html</a><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK END--><br>Bacardi: Secret Agent of US Imperialism<br>--excerpt--<br>Far more sinister than its commercial operations is Bacardi's political role. The company has been involved in sponsoring anti-Cuba terrorism since 1962, when one of its directors, Pepin Bosch became actively involved in preparing the Bay of Pigs invasion. He had the idea of setting up an organisation of Cuban exiles, giving birth to the Cuban Representatives in Exile (CRE) in 1964 with its headquarters in Miami. The following year, Bacardi moved the headquarters of its US operations from New York to Miami as well. CRE was financed by the CIA from 1964 and through it sought to organise the assassination of Cuban leaders such as Raúl and Fidel Castro, and Che Guevara. This activity was supported by Bacardi, a fact that was revealed when CIA documents were made public in 1975. It was at this time that Bacardi established relations with the extreme right-wing republican senator Jesse Helms. CRE was active in supporting counter-revolution in Latin America, presenting a 'Freedom Medal' to General Pinochet following the bloody coup in Chile in 1973. Later it gave public support to the assassination of Orlando Letelier, a leading Pinochet opponent, whose car was blown up in Washington in 1976.<br><br>Following Reagan's election in 1980, the US National Security Council helped Bacardi to set up the Cuban-American National Foundation (CANF). One of Bacardi's shareholders, Clara Maria del Valle, whose father was involved in the Bay of Pigs invasion, is a CANF vice-president and worked closely with Luis Zuniga, who was detained as a spy in Cuba in 1974. Ms del Valle issued a letter in 1997 supporting a terrorist bombing campaign in Cuba which killed an Italian tourist and injured others. The letter was also signed by Ignacio Sanchez, a CANF fellow director and senior lawyer to Bacardi who is credited with drafting the Helms-Burton Law.<br><br>CANF was set up with the objectives of supporting the Contras in Nicaragua and supporting UNITA in Angola, as well as destabilising the government of Cuba. CANF worked closely with the likes of CIA Director William Casey, and NSC advisors Richard Allen and Robert MacFarlane. Many CANF directors are ex-CIA, whilst many of Bacardi family shareholders are founder-members or associates. CANF council members include senior representatives of the Bacardi clan such as Manuel J Cutillas, Jose Bacardi, Clare Maria del Valle, Lourdes Abascal Quirch and Gerardo Abascal. Essentially, CANF was an alliance between Bacardi and the CIA; it was completely bound up with the Iran-Contragate affair where drugs money was laundered to finance counter-revolutionary activities in Central America. Ospina shows how Bacardi has served as a conduit for funds from the CIA to mercenaries in Nicaragua, El Salvador and Angola as well as to Cuban counter-revolutionaries. Richard Allen served on the American-Israeli Public Affairs Committee. Israel was a principal supplier of arms to the counter-revolutionary forces in Central America during this time. This network explains how an insignificant number of Cuban exiles in Miami have had such political influence within the US.<br><br>Bacardi's shadowy commercial and political interests have led it to become one of the key forces on the right-wing of US politics. It has used its power to ensure the US maintains the illegal blockade against Cuba. Correspondence set out in the annexes of Ospina's book show CANF member and former CIA operative Mas Canosa writing to Bacardi directors saying that CANF will not stop at anything including bloodshed in its campaign against Cuba.<br><br>Mention has been made of Bacardi's role in drafting the Helms-Burton law: so naked was its influence that the legislation was dubbed the Helms-Bacardi law. Bacardi was not alone however in its sponsorship of the legislation: other multi-nationals included Chiquita Brands, Ford, Coca-Cola, Pepsi Cola, Colgate-Palmolive, General Motors and Chrysler, all of which have claims against Cuba for its nationalisation programme.<br><br>The whole history of Bacardi and CANF shows how the state will use private companies to support terrorist activities and that multinationals are not just entities with commercial interests, but political ones as well. Bacardi may not be a US firm, but it controls US legislators, creates US legislation to defend its interests and promotes US terrorist activities. It is a major force in ensuring that the US blockade remains in place. Ospina's book shows how important it is for us to continue the campaign to boycott Bacardi. Hopefully there will soon be an English translation.<br><br>Silvia Tereu<br>****<br><br>Bacardi: Secret agent of US imperialism Fight Racism! Fight ...<br>Far more sinister than its commercial operations is Bacardi's political role.<br>The company has been involved in sponsoring anti-Cuba terrorism since 1962, ...<br>www.ratb.org.uk/frfi/160_bacardi.html - 18k - Cached - Similar pages <br><br>Rock around the Blockade online<br>Free the Miami 5! Boycott Bacardi - corporate sponsors of terrorism against the<br>Cuban people! ... Boycott Bacardi, corporate vampire and enemy of Cuba! ...<br>www.ratb.org.uk/ - 34k - Cached - Similar pages<br>[ More results from
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