Cuba arrests four Miami-based exiles suspected of attack plot

HAVANA (Reuters) - Cuba has arrested four Miami-based Cuban exiles suspected of planning attacks on military installations with the goal of promoting anti-government violence on the communist-run island, the interior ministry said. Labeling the suspects terrorists, it said in a statement late on Tuesday that they were linked to Luis Posada Carriles, a Cuban exile and former CIA operative living in Miami. Cuba said it would contact U.S. officials about the investigation, and that the four admitted to planning the attacks. Three of them had been traveling about the island since the middle of 2013 to plan its execution, according to the interior ministry statement published in official media. "The pertinent gestures with the appropriate U.S. authorities will be made to investigate these facts and avoid acts by terrorist organizations or elements located in that country that would put in danger the people and safety of both countries," the statement said. The four suspects were identified as Jose Ortega Amador, Obdulio Rodriguez Gonzalez, Raibel Pacheco Santos and Felix Monzon Alvarez. Cuba said they were working for three others in Miami who all had close ties to Posada Carriles. Posada Carriles is wanted in Cuba and Venezuela over the bombing of a Cubana Airlines jet in 1976 that killed 73 people. He is also suspected of involvement in hotel bombings aimed at destabilizing Cuba and scaring away tourists. He was convicted of the plane bombing in Venezuela but escaped from prison in 1985. (Reporting by Daniel Trotta; Ediitng by Kieran Murray)