Yahoo! December 7, 2000
Cuba Spy Trial Begins in Miami
By Catherine Wilson, Associated Press Writer
MIAMI, 6 (AP) - Five men accused of spying for Cuba went on trial Wednesday,
with a prosecutor charging that they served as Fidel Castro (news - web sites)'s
eyes and ears in Florida for years.
The defendants - three Cuban intelligence officers and two U.S. citizens -
used coded computer disks, high-frequency radio transmissions and electronic
phone messages to infiltrate U.S. military bases and Cuban exile groups,
Assistant U.S. Attorney David Buckner said.
"All of these things paint a portrait of a sophisticated and highly
motivated espionage cell operating in the midst of our community,'' Buckner told
the federal jury in his opening statement.
Priorities for the spy ring included getting access to the U.S. Southern
Command Headquarters after it moved to Miami from Panama in 1996 and
discrediting the Cuban-exile group Brothers to the Rescue, Buckner said.
Two Brothers to the Rescue planes were shot down by a Cuban MiG while
searching for rafters over international waters in 1996, killing four. The
government accuses suspected ringleader Gerardo Hernandez of providing
information about their flights to Cuba.
Defense attorney William Norris said the five obtained only public
information, not U.S. secrets. The information was transmitted clandestinely
because there are no diplomatic relations between Cuba and the United States, he
said.
Attorney Paul McKenna, who represents Hernandez, blamed Brothers to the
Rescue founder Jose Basulto for the downing of his group's planes, saying he had
provoked Fidel Castro's government for months.
"The Cubans were justified in shooting the planes down,'' McKenna said.
One juror is scheduled for heart catheterization Thursday, and the trial
will resume Monday.
There are no Cuban-Americans on the 12-member jury.
The five defendants were arrested in 1998 on an indictment against a
14-member ring. Five others secured plea bargains requiring them to cooperate,
and four more are fugitives believed to be in Cuba.
The five defendants acknowledge acting on orders from the Cuban government
but say they were feeding information about militant Cuban exiles in Miami to
the FBI (news - web sites) during an outbreak of bombings at Cuban tourist
centers in 1997.
Hernandez and co-defendants Ramon Labanino and Antonio Guerrero face life in
prison if convicted of the most serious espionage conspiracy charge. Ruben Campa
and Rene Gonzalez would face 10-year terms if convicted as unregistered foreign
agents.
Hernandez also is charged with murder conspiracy for the downing of the
Brothers to the Rescue planes.
On the Net:
Brothers to the Rescue:
http://www.hermanos.org
Elian Gonzalez Turns Seven in Cuba
By Vivian Sequera, Associated Press Writer
CARDENAS, Cuba 6 (AP) - Fidel Castro took turns on the stage with clowns and
a children's drama troupe Wednesday as Cuba celebrated the seventh birthday of
Elian Gonzalez, the castaway whose custody battle ended with a victory by the
communist president over his enemies in Miami.
"Fidel! Fidel!'' scores of boys and girls in white shirts and blue or
red Communist Pioneer neckerchiefs squealed as the Cuban leader showed up with
his security guards for the festivities in the outdoor patio of the school where
Elian attends the second grade.
"All of us must work to ensure that this boy is a symbol ... for all
the children in the world,'' Castro told the group of about 1000 people gathered
for the event. Elian must be "a model student, an example .... so that
people will remember him all their lives,'' he said.
Recalling Elian's birthday celebration in the same patio last year, when the
boy was in the United States, Castro noted "a great difference'' between
the two Dec. 6 celebrations.
"It was a sad day,'' the Cuban leader said of Elian's birthday last
year. "There was an empty desk.'' There was "a great sadness in his
school, in his family, in the nation.''
"We never lost hope, we always knew that our little friend was going to
return,'' he said.
"Happy birthday, Elian!'' Cuba's official radio stations repeated in
messages during Wednesday morning broadcasts. The afternoon birthday party in
Cardenas, a two-hour drive east of Havana, was broadcast live by state
television and radio across the Caribbean island.
Castro sat in the front of rows of chairs arranged for a show by clowns with
multicolored wigs, boys and girls singing folk songs. A children's drama troupe
in costumes wheeled out a huge cake with light blue frosting with white trim.
On Castro's right sat Elian's father, Juan Miguel, who traveled to the
United States to retrieve his son. On the elder Gonzalez's lap sat Elian's
little half-brother, a toddler who pattered around the stage later as Castro
spoke.
Elian stood behind cake as the schoolchildren first sang a traditional Cuban
birthday song, then a tune entitled "For an Elfin Prince,'' which was made
popular during communist Cuba's battle to bring the boy back to his homeland.
Castro's presence underscored the great importance his government placed on
the Elian's birthday. Schoolchildren across the nation held similar birthday
celebrations in Elian's honor.
Elian's father gave thanks to Castro, and to the American people who backed
him, for their support of his fight to bring his boy home.
"Today we have our son with us ... a Cuban boy just like any other
child in Cuba,'' Gonzalez said.
State media on Tuesday night for the first time released video of a July
meeting between Castro and Elian, and the government has granted national and
foreign media unusual access to cover the festivities - albeit from a distance.
In the video, shot two weeks after Elian's return, the Cuban leader
stretched out his long arm to greet the boy, who put out his own small hand.
Castro joked and talked softly to Elian, assuring him that he was a friend of
his father and grandparents. At one point, he kissed him on the head.
The Rev. Joan Brown Campbell, the American minister who played a central
role in the fight by Elian's father for the child's repatriation, attended the
boy's birthday party in Cardenas. Campbell said earlier she would bring Elian a
new camera and film for his birthday.
"It is a wonderful day,'' Brown Campbell later told the gathering. "We
were not always sure that Elian would be back where he belonged. But Elian was a
very brave little boy, and Juan Miguel an extraordinary father.''
"You have many, many people in the United States ... who wish you a
happy birthday, Elian,'' she said, directly addressing the boy. "You are
back where you belong and we are very grateful.''
To Elian's relatives in Cardenas, she said: "I want to thank you for
the opportunity of this wonderful family. This is a very loving family and Elian
is a very lucky little boy.''
On Elian's birthday last year, while the little boy was still with his Miami
relatives, Castro traveled to Cardenas to join Elian's classmates in cutting a
cake.
On that day back in Miami, dozens of American children in school uniforms
and Santa Claus caps brought Elian gifts and sang Christmas carols in English
and Spanish.
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