Arocena, Eduardo (1943–)

Eduardo Arocena was the leader of the anti-Communist Cuban terror group Omega 7, which carried out several attacks against Cuban government officials in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

Born in Cuba in 1943, in 1965 Arocena fled that country as a stowaway on a cargo boat to Spain. He later immigrated to the United States, working in [Page 50]New Jersey as a dockworker in Union City. A fervent anti-Communist, Arocena soon became involved in the movement to overthrow Fidel Castro, Cuba's Communist dictator. In the early 1970s, Arocena came to feel that the existing anti-Castro groups were doing too little to actively attack the Castro regime. With the support of the larger organizations, he began to recruit a small elite force to carry out assassinations and bombings against those deemed to be pro-Castro.

Founded on September 11, 1974, Arocena's group became known ...