Virgilio Paz Romero
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Virgilio Pablo Paz Romero (born November 20, 1951) is a Cuban exile and militant who was involved in the 1976 assassination of former Chilean ambassador Orlando Letelier in Washington, D.C.[1][2][3] Paz Romero was one of two people accused of detonating a remote-controlled car bomb that killed Letelier and a colleague in Washington's Sheridan Circle.[3]
Paz's family left Santa Clara, Cuba in the mid-1960s when he was 14.[4] In 1966 while his family was in Mexico City awaiting papers to emigrate to the United States, Paz's father died.[4] He settled in a Cuban community in New Jersey with his mother.[4] When he was 16, Paz was the youngest member of the Cuban Nationalist Movement.[4]
Assassination of Orlando Letelier
On September 21, 1976, Orlando Letelier drove colleagues Michael and Ronni Moffitt to work at the Institute for Policy Studies in his Chevrolet Chevelle.[4] Paz and Jose Dionisio Suarez Esquivel followed in sedan.[4] Paz detonated a bomb placed under Letelier's car as it reached Sheridan Circle on Washington's Embassy Row.[4] The blast killed Letelier and Ronni Moffit.[4]
Capture
Paz Romero, his wife, a son and a daughter lived under assumed names in the area of West Palm Beach, Florida since 1980.[1] Taking the name "Francisco Luis (Frank) Baez", Paz Romero was active in the community and owned a landscaping business in Boynton Beach, Florida since 1985.[1] On April 24, 1991, he was captured without incident while driving to work a few days after he was profiled on an episode of America's Most Wanted.[1] The segment featured an age progressed portrait of Paz Romero drawn by forensic artist Karen T. Taylor.[3]