Cuban American National Foundation

CANF Logo

The Cuban American National Foundation (CANF) is a Cuban exile organization dedicated to the overthrowing of the Cuban government of Fidel Castro and a transition to a pluralistic, market-based democracy in Cuba.^[1] Established in Florida in 1981 by Jorge Mas Canosa and Raul Masvidal, CANF is an organization with numerous members in the United States and other countries.^[2] Following the death of its founder in 1997, CANF began to lose its ideological cohesion provided by Mas Canosa, which led a substantial segment of its membership to split and form the Cuban Liberty Council in 2001. CANF has since drifted a considerable amount from its traditional alliance with the Republican Party: in fact, its president Joe Garcia unsuccessfully ran as the Democratic candidate against Republican Mario Diaz-Balart. Under Garcia's leadership, the group is now seen as strongly Democratic.

CANF used to be a strong advocate for isolation of Cuba by the USA but in April 2009 they published an article calling for lifting US restrictions on aid and travel to Cuba, and aiding civil society groups there. The shift might promote a new phase in the USA-Cuba relations^[3]

CANF has offices in Miami, Washington, D.C. and New Jersey and chapters in Los Angeles, the greater New York area, Chicago, several cities in Florida, Puerto Rico, New Orleans, and Texas.

For two decades CANF has worked to create a consensus on U.S. policy that is opposed to the current Cuban government. Between 1990 and 1992, it received a quarter million dollars from the National Endowment for Democracy, an organization financed by the US government.

CANF also operates the radio station La Voz de la Fundación which it attempts to transmit to Cuba and led the effort to establish the U.S. Information Agency's Radio Martí (1985) and TV Martí (1990). Radio Martí and TV Martí are official U.S. broadcasting operations directed to the Cuban people.^[1]

Controversy

The Cuban American National Foundation has been accused by the Cuban government of planning and funding terrorist attacks within Cuba, including a September 1997 bombing that killed an Italian tourist in Havana.^[4] Most notably, the Cuban-born anti-Castro terrorist Luis Posada Carriles claimed in 1998 that he received financial support from the Cuban American National Foundation for a bombing campaign carried out in 1997, although he has denied ties with the fatal attack.^[5] Posada has also been linked with the 1976 bombing of Cubana Airlines flight 455, which killed 73 passengers (all of whom were civilians). In August 1997 CANF released a statement unconditionally supporting terrorist attacks against Cuba; the CANF chairman at the time stated that "We do not think of these as terrorist actions".

Jose Antonio Llama

According to Jose Antonio Llama, former director of the executive board of CANF, the paramilitary role of CANF was established in June 1992 during an annual congress meeting in Naples, Florida.^{[6][7][8][9][10]} The idea was born when a member recommended "doing more than lobbying in Washington" to overthrow the Cuban Communist government of Fidel Castro. Jorge Mas Canosa and Francisco Jose Hernandez, known as "Pepe", were selected as leaders to choose the group for armed operations. Llama has maintained that foundations general board of directors were unaware, including at the time, the board chairman Jorge Mas Santos. With the group established in 1992, the following year brought about more extensive planning, including consideration on what will need to be purchased to carry out their missions. During the 1993 meeting in Puerto Rico, Jose "Pepe" Hernandez was selected as the groups leader due to his "...known record as a fighter in the 2506 Brigade and the Marines."^[8][10]

Llama who made a fortune installing air conditioners in Soviet vehicles, admitted in an interview with El Nuevo Herald, the plot to kill Castro and cited other members of CANF as assisting in securing items, funding and participating in the planning. Llama stated he was coming forward because CANF had stolen 1.4 million USD of his own money, between 1994 to 1997, to plan the operation which did not go forward. Llama was considering a lawsuit to recoup his money..^[8][9]

Llamas admission came with a list of items acquired for carrying out the task of assassination, these included: a cargo helicopter, 10 ultralight radio-controlled planes, seven vessels and explosives. One of those vessels was the Midnight Express fast boat, meant to take the CANF leader at the time, Jorge Mas Canosa to Cuba if a power struggle erupted or the missions were successful. Another of those vessels was "La Esperanza" which was confiscated by the United States Department of the Treasury following the indictments of four cuban exiles plotting to assassinate Fidel Castro. The weapons and equipment cache on the yacht "La Esperanza" listed:^{[7][8][9][10][11][12]}

1. (2) .50 caliber sniper rifles
2. GPS equipment
3. night-vision goggles
4. light weight radios
5. 12 rounds for a .357 pistol

The pistol matching the .357 rounds were never discovered. One of the .50 caliber sniper rifles belonged to Francisco "Pepe" Hernandez, president of CANF. La Esperanza set sail from the private dock of an undisclosed CANF foundation member.^[10]

See also

Cuba portal

• Cuba-United States relations
• Opposition to Fidel Castro
• Ethnic interest groups in the United States

References

Endnotes

1. ^  "Key Cuba Foe Claims Exiles' Backing". The New York Times. 1998-07-12. http://www.nytimes.com/library/world/americas/071298cuba-plot.html. 

External links

• Cuban American National Foundation/Fundacion Nacional Cubano Americano
• University Council of the Cuban American National Foundation

Non-CANF websites

• Cuban Exile Community. Archived on Latino Studies Resources at Indiana University. Retrieved May 20, 2005.
• Posada Carriles, Luis. Los Caminos del Guerrero. Spanish-language autobiography. August 1994. Retrieved May 12, 2005
• The Cuban Connection: Cuban-American Money in U.S. Elections,1979-2000. Published online by Opensecrets.org: Money in politics data. Retrieved May 18, 2005.

• CANF and the Free Cuba PAC

Articles and reports

• Executive director of CANF leaves to join Democrats. Associated Press, September 2, 2004. Archived on CANF website. Retrieved June 1, 2005.
• El Nuevo Diario. Posada Carriles operó aquí. Managua, Nicaragua. Marzo 26, 2001. Archived on Latino Studies Resources at Indiana University. Retrieved May 20, 2005.
• Cotayo, Charles and Pablo Alfonso. Un año sin Jorge Mas Canosa. El Nuevo Herald. 22 de noviembre de 1998. Archived on Latino Studies Resources at Indiana University. Retrieved May 20, 2005.
• Scahill, Jeremy. Cuban American National Foundation Sues the New York Times. Democracy Now!. Streaming real audio. Friday, July 17, 1998. Retrieved May 18, 2005.
• Franklin, Jane . Connections of CANF’s treasurer to Bush and Posada. Special for Granma International. Reprinted on ZNet. Retrieved May 18, 2005.
• Franklin, Jane . The Cuba Obsession. The Progressive July 1993. Reprinted en Francais L'obsession Cubaine: Ou la Véritable Histoire de la CANF. Retrieved May 18, 2005.
• Gottlieb, Sanford. Cuban American Relations. Interview with Jose Cardena, CANF, et al. America's Defense Monitor, Center for Defense Information. 1992. Retrieved May 18, 2005.
• National Security Archive GWU, Luis Posada Carriles: the Declassified Record, (CIA and FBI documents), May 10, 2005.
• National Security Archive GWU, The Posada File: Part II, (CIA documents), June 9, 2005
• As Cuba Changes, CANF Founder Seeks New Path by Laura Wides-Munoz, AP, September 13, 2009

Further reading

• Bardach, Ann Louise and Larry Rohter. A Bombers Tale: Taking Aim At Castro; Key Cuba Foe Claims Exiles' Backing. New York Times. Sunday, July 12, 1998. Late Edition - Final, Section 1 , Page 1 , Column 1. Abstract available online. Retrieved May 17, 2005.
• Bardach, Ann Louise and Larry Rohter. A Bomber's Tale; A Cuban Exile Details The "Horrendous Matter" Of A Bombing Campaign. New York Times. Sunday, July 12, 1998. Late Edition - Final, Section 1 , Page 10 , Column 1. Abstract available online. Retrieved May 17, 2005.
• The New York Times. Cuban Exiles Say Times Articles Are Baseless. Tuesday, July 14, 1998. Late Edition - Final, Section A , Page 7 , Column 1. Abstract available online. Retrieved May 17, 2005.
• The New York Times. Cuban Exile Says He Lied to Times About Financial Support. Tuesday, August 4, 1998. Final, Section A , Page 7 , Column 1. Abstract available online. Retrieved May 17, 2005.

Books

• Bardach, Ann Louise. Cuba Confidential: Love and Vengeance in Miami and Havana. 464 pages. Vintage, October 14, 2003. ISBN 0-385-72052-1. [Chapter 7 contains Posada interview]
• Bardach, Ann Louise. Cuba Confidencial. Spanish Edition. 544 pages. Plaza y Janes, September 28, 2004. ISBN 0-307-24289-7.

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