Coral Gables fire department says blaze at Cuba travel agency was arson

[Eugene]

Source: Miami Herald

Posted on Sunday, 05.13.12

Coral Gables fire department says blaze at Cuba travel agency was arson

By Juan O. Tamayo

A fire at a company that charters flights to Cuba was sparked after a chunk of pavement was used to break open an office window and an incendiary device was then tossed into the building, according to a Coral Gables Fire Department report.

A K-9 dog trained to detect accelerants led investigators to three separate spots where the fire at the Airline Brokers Co. began, including an area where a shattered green bottle was found, the report added.

Investigators also found a disposable lighter in a doorway outside the southeast corner of the company’s ground-floor office at 815 Ponce De Leon Blvd., according to the report.

The report makes no mention of possible suspects in the April 27 pre-dawn blaze. That same day, the El Nuevo Herald newspaper quoted law enforcement sources as saying the fire was “deliberate.”

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Read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/05/13/2796800/coral-gables-fire-department.html

Earlier thread: Controversial (Cuba) Travel Company Goes Up In Flames

[flamingdem]

1. Last week there was a 50 car caravan in support of Mannerud

and in favor of lifting travel restrictions.

But this report doesn't show much progress in finding the culprits yet.

[Judi Lynn]

2. What a stunning brain trust they've got working for them in Miami.

So many geniuses concentrated in one spot.

Loved the ending of the article:

The Alianza Martiana, a largely pro-Castro group based in Miami, has pointed the finger at exiles, while some exiles have raised the possibility of Castro agents carrying out the attack to put the blame on exiles.

On the day of the fire, one investigator chatting with tenants of the office building noted that the arsonist also might have been targeting the several lawyers who have offices in the building.

Oh, sure! "Castro agents" blew up the travel office so people would naturally assume the same people who do all the other anti-Cuba violence did that bombing, too!

This article was published in 2000, and it was only some of the goofy "exile" stuff on the books at that time, as a fuller list would have filled a book, and keep in mind that 12 years of "exile" violence after 2000 hasn't been included, of course:

The Burden of a Violent History
By Jim Mullin
published: April 20, 2000

As the Elian Gonzalez media juggernaut began approaching warp speed over the past few weeks, some in Miami's Cuban-American community expressed displeasure with the portrait of them being painted by the press. The muffled grumbling became explicit on April 7 during Ted Koppel's Nightline "town meeting," beamed to the nation from Florida International University.

A panelist on that program, the University of Miami's Juan Carlos Espinosa, took off the gloves: "I think we really need to be careful that we don't continue to engage in Cuban-exile bashing, which is something I've been hearing a lot in the media coverage about Miami."

Phrases like "mob rule" evoke frightening images of violence, which in turn sends Miami's damage-control specialists rushing to the microphones and insisting to the world that the Cuban-exile community is peace-loving, law-abiding, and (with emphasis now) nonviolent. Miami Mayor Joe Carollo in particular has been tireless in promoting that message. "Miami has been a peaceful, nonviolent community," he stressed to CNN last week. The historical record, however, clearly contradicts those assertions.

Lawless violence and intimidation have been hallmarks of el exilio for more than 30 years. Given that fact, it's not only understandable many people would be deeply worried, it's prudent to be worried. Of course it goes without saying that the majority of Cuban Americans in Miami do not sanction violence, but its long tradition within the exile community cannot be ignored and cannot simply be wished away.

More:
http://www.miaminewtimes.com/content/printVersion/241091/