Press Release

CFC shares letter sent by son of American victim of Cuban sponsored terrorism, to Secretary Blinken requesting Washington ask for return of fugitive bomber who killed his dad, harbored by Havana.

CFC executive director questions Biden Administration's claim that Cuba is cooperating in fight against terrorism

Contact: John Suarez (612)-367-6845/ Janisset Rivero 786-2086056


Center for a Free Cuba. Washington DC. May 15, 2024. The Center is deeply concerned by the news that the Biden Administration is removing Cuba from the list of countries not cooperating in the fight against terrorism. This is a step in the wrong direction. Havana has a decades-long track record of harboring, sponsoring, and training terrorists to the present day.Be that as it may, the case of William Morales presents an opportunity to see if Havana is cooperating.

 One of the fugitives that Havana still harbors today is William “Guillermo” Morales, a member of the "Fuerzas Armadas de Liberación Nacional" (FALN), who made the bomb used in the Fraunces Tavern bombing of January 24, 1975 in New York City that killed four, and wounded over 50 more. FALN was started in the mid-1960s and its members received advanced training in Cuba. According to the FBI, one of the authors of this attack, Filiberto Ojeda Ríos "spent several years in Cuba in the 1960s and received training from the Government of Cuba as an intelligence officer."

Joseph Connor, whose father Frank Connor was murdered in the 1975 terrorist attack in New York City, asked for Morales to be returned to the United States to face justice in a letter addressed to Secretary Antony Blinken in which he wrote "I am writing because my father Frank Connor was murdered by Cuban sponsored terrorists at Fraunces Tavern on January 24, 1975 in New York City that killed three others, and wounded over 50 more. The news that Havana is now willing to cooperate with the United States on the issue of terrorism should bring accountability for this crime that I have fought for over the last three decades."

Source: FBI.gov


In 2020, Havana refused Colombia’s requests to extradite ten Ejército de Liberación Nacional (ELN) leaders living in Cuba. ELN claimed responsibility for the January 2019 bombing of a Bogota police academy that killed 22 people and injured over 87 others. Like the FALN, theCuban government trained, armed, and supported the ELN terrorist group since 1964. Failure to handover the terrorists led to Cuba being returned to the State Department's list of terror sponsors in 2021.

Iran’s Foreign minister, Hossein Amirabdollahian, visited Cuba and met with President Miguel Diaz-Canel on February 5, 2023. Jorge León Cruz, the Cuban Ambassador in Lebanon. met with a delegation of Hamas terrorists in Lebanon on February 25, 2023, in that meeting, Ambassador León Cruz recognized “the legitimate right of the Palestinians to defend their land,” adding that the Palestinians “are fighting for a just cause.”  On June 15th, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi publicly met with his Cuban counterpart, Miguel Diaz-Canel, in Havana.

Immediately after the October 7, 2023 terrorist attacks on Israel, Havana immediately blamed Israel, the victim, and the United States. In December, Diaz-Canel visited the Islamist terrorist regime in Iran, and met with their leaders. Havana has conducted a campaign calling for the destruction of Israel, and publicly supporting Hamas.

"The US Congress should hold hearings to investigate Havana's continued malign actions as a sponsor of state terrorism", said John Suarez, executive director, Center for a Free Cuba.


Below is the text of the letter sent by Joseph Connor today.

The Honorable Antony Blinken
United States Secretary of State
The State Department
Washington, DC 20500


Dear Secretary Blinken:
cc: Mr. Jake Sullivan, NSC, Senator Robert Menendez, Senator Cory Booker

I am writing to you on an urgent and important manner. Reuters is reporting that you, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken today "removed Cuba from a short list of countries the United States alleges are 'not cooperating fully' in its fight against terrorism and "The department determined that the circumstances for Cuba’s certification as a 'not fully cooperating country' have changed from 2022 to 2023." 

I am writing because my father Frank Connor was murdered by Cuban sponsored terrorists at Fraunces Tavern on January 24, 1975 in New York City that killed three others, and wounded over 50 more.

The news that Havana is now willing to cooperate with the United States on the issue of terrorism should bring accountability for this crime that I have fought for over the last three decades.

William “Guillermo” Morales, a leader  of the "Fuerzas Armadas de Liberación Nacional" (FALN), terrorist group backed by Havana, who it is believed made the bomb used in the Fraunces Tavern bombing was tried and sentenced in federal and NY state court, but escaped from prison and fled to Cuba. He has been sponsored in Cuba under the protection of the government authorities for decades. I am bringing the matter to your attention for the U.S. government to take the steps necessary for this convicted, terrorist fugitive to be returned to an American prison where he will serve out his sentences.

I thank you in advance for the return of Morales which would deliver justice for Frank Connor and provide a certain closure to this open wound that our family has suffered for all these years.


Joseph F. Connor
XXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXX
201 XXX XXXXXX (Phone number available on request from media).

###