Leyla Express and Johnny Express incidents
Cuba had suspected the involvement of one of Bahama Lines's ships in shelling the Cuban village of Samá, on the northern coast of Oriente Province, a few months previously; several civilians had died in the attack.
Cuba released the crew of both ships to Panamanian custody, but announced that José Villa, the captain of the Johnny Express, had confessed to being an agent of the CIA, and would face trial.
As a consequence of the incident, the US ordered all its naval and air forces in the region to go to the aid of any ships coming under attack from Cuban vessels.
[1] Among Cuban exiles in Miami, Santiago Babún, one of the brothers, was believed to have been an agent of the United States Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) while in Cuba.
[7] On October 15 the Miami News reported that a spokesperson for José Elias de la Torriente, a Cuban exile, had claimed responsibility for the attack at Sama.
[7] According to the New York Times, information available to it suggested that vessels owned by the Babún brothers did not participate in the raid on Samá.
[8] On December 5, 1971, the Leyla Express was stopped by Cuban government vessels in international waters off the coast of Cuba,[3] and escorted to the port of Baracoa.
[5] The Cuban government called the vessel a pirate ship, and said that the 14 members of the freighter's crew would face criminal charges.
The 235 ft (72 m) ship was carrying a crew of 11: its captain, José Villa, was naturalized US citizen who had left Cuba as an exile.
[1] Castro criticized the "landing of weapons, organization of mercenary bands, infiltration of spies, saboteurs, [and] arm drops of all kinds," and stated that the Cuban government had been forced to spend "fabulous sums" of money and resources to combat these efforts.
[10] Teófilo Babún, one of the owners of the Bahama Lines, denied that the ships were engaged in piracy, and stated that they were commercial vessels that did not carry any weapons.
[15] A day after the capture of the Johnny Express, the US government responded stating that it would take "all measures under international law" to protect ships in the Caribbean, including those of other nations, from Cuban attacks.
[1] The New York Times reported that the US naval and air forces in the Caribbean had been ordered to support any vessel attacked by Cuba.
[1] In late December, the Panamanian government accepted a Cuban invitation to send a delegation to investigate and discuss the incident.
Its other members were Rómulo Escobar Bethancourt, then the rector of the University of Panama, and Arlos Gonzales de Lastra, described as an expert on the merchant navy.
[19] Upon his return to the US, one of the released crewman stated that Cuban interrogators had tried to scare the crew into admitting they had participated in transporting weapons or men to Cuba.
[3][9][10][13] Illeuca stated that Villa and two others detained in Cuba, Jose Torres and Pablo Gari, had confessed to participating in covert operations.
[18] According to Dinges, at approximately the same time, the CIA station in Panama City was ordered to send Manuel Noriega on the mission as a personal emissary of Torrijos.
[18] According to William Jorden, a US diplomat and National Security Council aide who was later the country's ambassador to Panama, was Noriega's presence which convinced Cuban leader Fidel Castro to release Villa into Panamanian custody.
[26][27] Torres was sentenced and jailed for three years in Cuba, and was released from prison in December 1974: his ability to return to the US was reported to be unclear.
