Gaspar Jiménez Escobedo (October 6, 1935 – October 29, 2014) was a Cuban exile living in Miami. An associate of
Luis Posada Carriles
Luis Clemente Posada Carriles (February 15, 1928 – May 23, 2018) was a Cuban exile militant and Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) agent. He was considered a terrorist by the United States' Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the G ...
, he was convicted of attempting to kidnap a Cuban consul in Mexico in 1976, for which he served 27 months in prison. He was also convicted of attempting to assassinate Cuban President
Fidel Castro in Panama in 2000, and was jailed until 2004 when he was pardoned by outgoing Panamanian President
Mireya Moscoso
Mireya Elisa Moscoso Rodríguez de Arias (born July 1, 1946) is a Panamanian politician who served as the President of Panama from 1999 to 2004. She is the country's first female president.
Born into a rural family, Moscoso became active in t ...
.
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Biography
Jiménez was born on October 6, 1935 in the Cuban city of
Camagüey.
He worked as a day laborer in Miami for some time, and had a wife and two daughters in 1983.
Jiménez was a naturalized US citizen.
A physically imposing man who weighed 300 pounds, Jiménez was nicknamed "El Gordo", or "Fat". According to reporter
Ann Louise Bardach, Jiménez worked for Alberto Hernández, who would later head the
Cuban American National Foundation
The Cuban American National Foundation is a foundation with the aim of assisting members of the Cuban community in Miami, Florida.
Background and founding
The Cuban National American Foundation was founded at a time when Republican American polit ...
, in the 1990s, and later worked for the foundation himself.
In July 1976, Jiménez and an associate named Orestes Ruiz were arrested in Mexico, and accused of attempting to kidnap Cuban consul Daniel Ferrer. Ferrer's bodyguard, Artagnan Diaz, was killed in the attempt.
A third accused, Gustavo Castillo, avoided arrest and returned to the US.
A Mexican court convicted them of involvement in the kidnapping, and convicted Ruiz of shooting the bodyguard.
According to the ''
Miami Herald'', both Jiménez and Castillo had been described by a US Justice Department memorandum as having "extensive backgrounds in terrorist activities", mostly outside the US.
A report by the
Federal Bureau of Investigation
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic intelligence and security service of the United States and its principal federal law enforcement agency. Operating under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Justice, ...
into terrorist activities targeting the Cuban government of
Fidel Castro prominently mentioned both Castillo and Jiménez.
After their arrest, a US Federal prosecutor stated that the two had been linked to anti-Castro bombings in Latin America; the men denied the allegations.
In March 1977, Jiménez managed to escape from prison, and returned to Miami. Jiménez and Castillo were both arrested in Miami by US authorities in January 1978, and deported to Mexico to serve their sentences in 1981.
The Cuban-American community in Miami lobbied heavily for his release, but the
US Supreme Court
The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point of ...
did not block his extradition.
Jiménez's initial 9-year sentence was reduced to reflect time that he worked while in prison, and the three years he spent imprisoned in the United States awaiting extradition, and he was freed in May 1983.
In 1981, Jiménez and Castillo were indicted by a
grand jury for a bombing attack against Cuban-American radio presenter
Emilio Milián in 1976; Jiménez had been identified as a leading suspect by investigators in the case.
A witness said he saw Jiménez working on Milian's car shortly before the bombing. Soon after Jiménez's release from prison, however, the indictment was dropped, with the prosecuting attorney stating that there was insufficient evidence. No one was prosecuted for the bombing.
Jiménez worked for a while as a courier carrying money and messages to
Luis Posada Carriles
Luis Clemente Posada Carriles (February 15, 1928 – May 23, 2018) was a Cuban exile militant and Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) agent. He was considered a terrorist by the United States' Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the G ...
, a Cuban exile associated with a number of terrorist attacks against the Cuban government. An acquaintance of Jiménez stated that the money came from Cuban exiles in Miami. On November 17, 2000, 200 pounds of explosives were discovered in
Panama City
Panama City ( es, Ciudad de Panamá, links=no; ), also known as Panama (or Panamá in Spanish), is the capital and largest city of Panama. It has an urban population of 880,691, with over 1.5 million in its metropolitan area. The city is locat ...
in the possession of Posada Cariles. Posada and three others, including Jiménez and
Guillermo Novo
Guillermo () is the Spanish form of the male given name William. The name is also commonly shortened to 'Guille' or, in Latin America, to nickname 'Memo'. People
*Guillermo Amor (born 1967), Spanish football manager and former player
* Guillermo Ar ...
, were arrested for plotting to assassinate Castro, who was then visiting Panama for the first time since 1959.
While Jiménez and the others were incarcerated in Panama, Cuban-American US congressmen
Lincoln
Lincoln most commonly refers to:
* Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865), the sixteenth president of the United States
* Lincoln, England, cathedral city and county town of Lincolnshire, England
* Lincoln, Nebraska, the capital of Nebraska, U.S.
* Lincol ...
and
Mario Díaz-Balart
Mario Rafael Díaz-Balart Caballero (; born September 25, 1961) is an American politician serving as the U.S. representative for Florida's 25th congressional district. A Republican, he was elected in 2002, and his district includes much of so ...
wrote to Panamanian President
Mireya Moscoso
Mireya Elisa Moscoso Rodríguez de Arias (born July 1, 1946) is a Panamanian politician who served as the President of Panama from 1999 to 2004. She is the country's first female president.
Born into a rural family, Moscoso became active in t ...
asking for their release.
Convicted in 2004, the four men were pardoned by Moscoso shortly before she left office later the same year.
Jiménez died on October 29, 2014, of natural causes: he was 79 years old.
References
Notes
Sources
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jimenez, Gaspar
1935 births
2014 deaths
American people of Cuban descent
Opposition to Fidel Castro
People extradited from the United States
People extradited to Mexico
Anti-communist terrorism
Failed assassins
Terrorism in Cuba