BACARDI DENIES CASTRO PLOT

Published: 23 July, 2008

Bacardi's UK representatives have dismissed allegations that the rum giant has been involved in a 40-year-long clandestine operation to overthrow the Cuban Government by both violent and other means'. According to a book, Bacardi, the Hidden War, written by Colombian journalist Hernando Calvo Ospina, and an article printed in The Guardian (15 August), the world's largest rum brand is accused of bankrolling extreme right-wing groups and American politicians in an attempt to remove Fidel Castro and return Bacardi's business to the island. The book also states that Bacardi, under its late head Jose Pepin Bosch, funded a CIA plot to assassinate the Cuban leader, among other projects. More recently it has been accused of heavily funding anti-Cuban groups. A spokesman for Bacardi said: We have been aware of this book for a couple of years, as it has been available in Spanish for a while. We don't think this UK edition contains any new information, and the author is clearly politically motivated. It will have a limited readership,' added the spokesman, and no relevance to Bacardi's activity in the UK.'

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