CUBA NEWS
The Miami Herald

Jailed spy may hold key to fallen pilots' case

Relatives of the Brothers to the Rescue shoot-down victims hope a jailed Cuban spy might provide evidence that would permit the indictment of Raúl Castro.

By Oscar Corral, ocorral@MiamiHerald.com. Posted on Thu, Feb. 23, 2006.

The best witness the U.S. government may have to indict Raúl Castro in the 1996 Brothers to the Rescue shoot-down could be sitting in a federal prison, said a source who asked not to be named because of direct knowledge of the ongoing probe.

Gerardo Hernández, a convicted Cuban spy facing a life sentence if his appeals fail, managed the Red Avispa, a spy ring with at least 16 members broken up by federal authorities in 2001. He could have information that ties other Cuban government officials to the Brothers shoot-down, possibly even Raúl Castro, authorities confirmed.

''That's ridiculous,'' said Hernández's lawyer, Paul McKenna, who acknowledged Wednesday that the federal government has tried to get his client to turn state's evidence against Cuba.

Friday marks the 10-year anniversary of the attack, when Cuban MiGs shot down two unarmed civilian airplanes over international waters, killing three American citizens -- Carlos Costa, 29; Armando Alejandre, Jr., 45; Mario de la Peña, 24 -- and U.S. resident Pablo Morales, 29.

WANTED: RAUL CASTRO?

The victims' families believe Raúl Castro is the highest official in Cuba's chain of command who can be indicted under U.S. law for his alleged role in the shoot-down, as head of the Cuban armed forces.

An indictment may seem like a fool's errand to some people, but there is legal precedent, and family members say there are geopolitical ramifications to their quest for justice.

The legitimacy of Raúl Castro, who is next in line to succeed Fidel Castro as Cuba's leader, would be questioned in the international arena if he is under indictment by the United States, the families believe.

Interim U.S. Attorney R. Alexander Acosta said the case remains open but would not elaborate. "This is an active case in active litigation.''

But other U.S. officials who have been at the forefront of the case say anything is possible -- if the evidence supports it.

''You don't have to be an expert to know how that country is run, and who has the ultimate say and makes the decisions that would affect the country in such an immediate way,'' said Guy Lewis, a former U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Florida who oversaw the prosecution of the Avispa trial. "I think they [the MiG pilots] were following orders from their superiors . . . Without speaking to any individual or potential defendants, like Raúl Castro, it was clear in my mind that the evidence supported the fact that these individuals did not act alone.''

SPY WOULD NOT FLIP

Hernández could provide the key for indicting high-level Cuban government officials. Hernández was sentenced for his role in the Brothers attack, as well as for an espionage plot targeting military bases and exile groups.

The source said that federal authorities tried to get Hernández to testify against his superiors back in 2001, but he wouldn't do it.

''But if this guy's sentence gets affirmed and he is facing life in prison, and his appeals have been exhausted, maybe he'll have second thoughts,'' the source said.

McKenna said the government has tried to flip Hernández multiple times.

''He [Hernández] has been approached in every conceivable manner to cooperate with the government and his position has always been, 'I didn't know what they [the Cuban military] were going to do,''' McKenna said. "His job was to monitor Brothers to the Rescue to find out when they were going to fly and pass that along, but he never knew what they were going to do. He never had any indication that they were going to shoot them down.''

Many exiles also blame Fidel Castro, but the victims' family members and federal authorities concede that under international law, indicting a head of state is much more difficult.

Wayne Smith, former chief of the U.S. Interest Section in Cuba and an opponent of the U.S. embargo OF Cuba, scoffs at the notion of indicting either Raúl or Fidel Castro.

''It's absolutely stupid,'' said Smith, who added that Cuba's attack on the planes was wrong.

"That's something only the absurd right wing in the Cuban-American community can come up with, and it would not stand up in any court outside Miami.''

EXISTING PRECEDENTS

There have been other indictments over the years.

In 2003, the U.S. government indicted Cuban Air Force Gen. Rubén Martínez Puente and two MiG fighter pilots, brothers Lorenzo Pérez Pérez and Francisco Pérez Pérez, for their roles in the shoot down. It was a largely symbolic gesture because there is no extradition agreement between Cuba and the United States.

Marcos Jimenez, who was U.S. attorney when those Cubans were charged, said indicting a high government official from another country requires Justice Department approval.

''A local U.S. attorney is not going to act independently,'' Jimenez said.

Justice Department spokesman Drew Wade said, "We never confirm or deny the existence of criminal investigations.''

It isn't the first time the U.S. government has considered indicting Raúl Castro, however.

Back in 1993, U.S. prosecutors drafted an indictment against Raúl Castro, alleging that he led the Cuban government in a 10-year racketeering conspiracy to import cocaine from Colombia's Medellin cartel through Cuba and Nicaragua into the United States. It was never pursued.

Perhaps the most high-profile indictment of a foreign head of state by the U.S. attorney's office in Miami is former Panamanian leader Manuel Noriega.

The families of the shoot-down victims have never stopped lobbying the government for more indictments.

''The indictment of all Cuban government officials criminally responsible will not only serve to vindicate the families and this community . . . but it will also serve to ensure the future of freedom and democracy in Cuba,'' three family members -- Mirta Costa, Miriam de la Peña and Maggie Khuly Alejandre -- said in a June 6 letter to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

José Basulto, the founder of Brothers to the Rescue and the only pilot who got away from Cuban MiGs that day, believes there is blame on both sides of the Florida Straits. He thinks that Washington could have done much more to prevent the shoot-down, but did not act, keeping fighter jets grounded at Homestead Air Reserve Base. Like the families of the victims, Basulto filed a multimillion dollar lawsuit against Cuba recently and won. But he has not yet collected the $1.75 million he was awarded, he said.

''The will to act is the only thing that is missing to indict Raul and Fidel,'' Basulto said. "The reason they haven't done it is because of involvement from the White House.''

Lawmakers call U.S. wrong to push eviction of Cubans

Twenty-five U.S. lawmakers criticized the government for pushing a hotel in Mexico City to evict a Cuban delegation.

By Pablo Bachelet, pbachelet@MiamiHerald.com. Posted on Wed, Feb. 22, 2006.

WASHINGTON - A group of 25 lawmakers on Tuesday sent a letter to the Treasury Department criticizing an order to evict a Cuban delegation from a U.S.-owned hotel in Mexico as a potential "overreaching application of U.S. law that could have significant worldwide implications.''

The bipartisan congressional letter was the latest fallout from a Feb. 3 decision by the Sheraton María Isabel hotel in Mexico City to evict 16 Cubans attending an energy conference with U.S. executives, following a warning by the Treasury Department that it might be violating U.S. laws.

The incident angered many Mexicans who considered it an undue extension of U.S. law into their country and spurred investigations by both the city and federal authorities. A Mexico City judge ruled Tuesday that the hotel could stay open pending a decision on the hotel's request for an injunction to block charges it violated city codes.

The congressional letter said the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control may be setting a dangerous new precedent.

''Is OFAC setting a new standard that no American-owned hotel or other commercial enterprise can ever provide services to a Cuban national?'' the letter said.

The letter was signed by members of Congress usually critical of U.S. policy toward Cuba, including Reps. Howard Berman, D-Calif.; Jeff Flake, R-Ariz.; Jim Kolbe, R-Ariz.; Jo Ann Emerson, R-Mo., and William Delahunt, D-Mass..

Cuban economic sanctions ban U.S. companies and individuals from knowingly offering goods and services to Cuban nationals.

''If a U.S.-owned movie theater in a foreign country sold a ticket to a Cuban, is that company subject to a penalty?'' the letter added.

A person close to Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide -- owner of the Sheraton trademark -- who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the delicate legal nature of the matter, said the hotel had asked the members not to send the letter because ''the full story is not known'' and the letter contained statements that could compromise the company's legal position in Mexico.

Families remember fallen Brothers to the Rescue

The families of four aid workers killed by Cuban missiles 10 years ago are still searching for answers

By Oscar Corral, ocorral@MiamiHerald.com. Posted on Wed, Feb. 22, 2006.

A casual visitor might think that Carlos Costa still lives in his Hialeah house. His 1989 Ford Probe sits on the driveway. The walls inside the home are lined with his many awards. All his clothes hang in his bedroom closet. Brochures for a new car remain on his nightstand.

But the brochures date back to 1996. The Probe is propped up on deflated tires, its paint dulled by a decade of merciless sunshine. And the plaques on the wall were mostly awarded posthumously.

Carlos Costa has been dead for 10 years, shot out of the sky along with three other men by Cuban fighter pilots as they flew unarmed airplanes on a humanitarian mission, looking for Cuban rafters in 1996. Costa's parents have preserved his bedroom and his things exactly as they were then.

This week marks the 10th anniversary of the Feb. 24 Brothers to the Rescue incident, when a Cuban MiG fired missiles at two small airplanes over the Florida Straits, killing three American citizens: Costa, 29; Armando Alejandre, Jr., 45; Mario de la Peña, 24; and U.S. resident Pablo Morales, 29.

The shoot-down, which galvanized Miami's Cuban exile community and has set the tone for U.S.-Cuba relations the last 10 years, still haunts the family members of the victims. They have immersed themselves in a quixotic quest for justice, collecting evidence in hopes the U.S. government will indict Raúl Castro, head of the Cuban armed forces.

Costa's old home serves as a reminder of a young man's life snuffed out as collateral damage in the acrimonious Cold War between Cuba and the United States.

''This is all exactly the way it was when he left to go on the plane ride,'' said Osvaldo Costa as he showed a reporter his son's room. "These were his things, and we don't want to disrespect them.''

Cuba maintains that the Brothers' unarmed planes violated its territorial airspace, but the United Nations' International Civil Aviation Organization concluded the planes were over international waters and the U.N. Security Council condemned Cuba by a 13-0 vote.

The shoot-down compelled then-President Bill Clinton, whose administration had been seeking better relations with Cuba, to instead sign into law an even tighter economic embargo. Relations between the two countries have remained tense since then.

ENDLESS QUEST

Many of the family members have quit day jobs and now work full-time seeking justice -- a luxury made possible by a multimillion dollar lawsuit they won against the Cuban government.

They've had mixed results: A Cuban spy was convicted in U.S. courts of conspiring to help the Cuban government in the shoot-down. The families won $93 million in compensation from the civil lawsuit against the Cuban government, which they collected from Cuban assets that had been dormant in American banks for decades. And in 2003, the U.S. indicted the two Cuban pilots who shot the planes and the general who gave the order -- a largely symbolic gesture because there is no extradition treaty with Cuba.

The families say those legal moves barely scratch the surface. They want indictments straight up the chain of command, leading to Raúl Castro, the head of the Cuban military -- and possibly even Fidel Castro.

''We will never forget that these innocent people were killed,'' said Miriam de la Peña, Mario de la Peña's mother. "It's now a way of life. I am obsessed with the truth.''

The exile community has closed ranks around them, naming major streets in Miami-Dade after the victims, erecting memorials of the shoot-down in parks and airports, and offering support.

For the families, the last 10 years have been an odyssey of sadness.

Whenever Mirta Costa enters her son's room she picks up the bottle of Calvin Klein Escape cologne that he left on his desk -- his favorite -- and sprays the room.

''I like to smell my son when I come in here,'' she said. "It makes me feel like he's still here.''

Marlene Alejandre-Triana, 28, walked down the aisle alone in her 2003 wedding, led, she said, by the ghost of her father.

''I thought I would be a wreck, but I wasn't,'' she said. "My dad was taking me to him [the groom].''

"My dad was essentially my best friend. For me, it's always just about my father being taken away from me.''

Eva Barbas, the 81-year-old mother of Pablo Morales, said she wants to die thinking perhaps her son somehow survived and will reappear one day.

''I have hope that God was able to take him out of the plane before they gave the order to kill them,'' said Barbas. "That's how I'd like to die, thinking that he was not pulverized. And that's how I am waiting, in front of his picture here. He and God give me strength, and I am waiting for justice from this government.''

Barbas is the only one of the victims' family members to keep in touch with Jose Basulto, the founder of Brothers to the Rescue, who led the two other planes the day they were shot down, but got away in his own plane unscathed.

The relationship between Basulto and the de la Peña, Costa and Alejandre families soured not long after the shoot-down, as questions arose about Basulto's role, whether he could have done more to save his fellow pilots, and whether he should have even been flying near Cuba that day, given the warning signs around him.

The relationship worsened after those three families received $93 million from the legal case designed to let American citizens sue governments of terrorist-sponsoring states in U.S. courts.

Basulto, who didn't receive any money in the settlement, said he feels he has carried the cross in the quest to find truth in the case.

DIFFERENT PRIORITIES

''They took the money and forgot about justice,'' Basulto said of the other families. "The old lady [Barbas] and I have carried the cross in looking for truth and justice. My only moral support has been Eva Barbas.''

Barbas was not part of the civil suit because her son was not a U.S. citizen. But she didn't accept any money offered to her by the other families in the settlement. She declined to explain why.

She said she keeps in touch with Basulto because she is eternally grateful to him. Her son was first spotted at sea by a Brothers to the Rescue plane when he was making his way across the Florida Straits on a raft, and she feels they saved his life. Morales joined Brothers shortly after that.

Brothers to the Rescue, now with a single plane that hasn't flown in two years, no longer flies missions looking for Cuban migrants at sea.

Miriam de la Peña explains that the civil settlement hurt Cuba where it hurt most -- the pocketbook. And it was the closest the families have gotten to seeing the case play out in a U.S. court.

''We felt the indemnity was a triumph of justice,'' she said. "Money made it less difficult in our travels and in dedicating all our time to this.''

Mario de la Peña quit his job as an accountant, and his wife quit her job in the marketing department of an airline to focus full-time on the case. They now live in a gated community in Pembroke Pines, surrounded by family members who also own homes in the neighborhood.

All of the families who collected in the lawsuit said they have also established foundations and have donated millions of dollars to local charities, including the local veterans hospital, Jackson Memorial Hospital, human rights groups, and other local schools, hospitals and universities. Each family received about $20 million, several family members said.

Money seems to have brought little solace for the families.

Mirta Costa blames her husband for not convincing her son to stay grounded the day he was killed. Osvaldo Costa said no one could have talked their son out of flying.

Carlos Costa's car, his room, his smell, are testaments to the difficulties of letting go. ''It's like we have him here with us,'' Osvaldo Costa said.

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