Published Thursday, December 7, 2000, in the
Miami Herald
5 called 'eyes, ears' of Castro
Role in shootdown alleged at spy trial
By Gail Epstein Nieves. gepstein@herald.com
Five alleged Cuban spies became "the eyes and ears of the Cuban
regime'' in South Florida, using short-wave radios, encryption software and fake
identities in an attempt to gather national defense secrets and discredit
exiles, a federal prosecutor told a Miami jury Wednesday.
In the most serious accusation, Assistant U.S. Attorney David Buckner
charged in opening statements of the spy trial that one of the defendants went
so far as to help "bring about the murders'' of four Brothers to the Rescue
fliers.
But Paul McKenna, lawyer for lead defendant Gerardo Hernandez, switched the
blame to Brothers founder Jose Basulto, who he said ignored repeated warnings
not to violate Cuban airspace. A retired Air Force colonel will testify that "the
Cubans were justified in shooting the planes down, and this was not an act of
murder, but an act of war,'' he said.
McKenna and three other defense attorneys did not dispute that their clients
worked for Cuban President Fidel Castro's government. But they told jurors that
the men snooped on military bases and infiltrated exile groups not to hurt the
United States -- an essential element to prove espionage -- but rather to
protect Cuba from bomb-planting "terrorist'' exiles and the threat of a
U.S. invasion.
The five defendants were charged as part of a 14-member ring called the Wasp
Network, or La Red Avispa. Federal agents arrested the group in 1998 at the
conclusion of a major counterespionage operation. Five others reached plea
bargains requiring them to cooperate, and four are fugitives believed to be in
Cuba.
In an unusual move, several defense attorneys began their opening statements
by disavowing any sympathies for Castro or communism. The statements and
testimony are scheduled to continue Monday before U.S. District Judge Joan
Lenard.
Accused are Hernandez, described in court papers as a ringleader and captain
with Cuban military intelligence who lived in North Miami Beach as Manuel
Viramontez; John Doe 2, who lived in Hollywood as Luis Medina; John Doe 3, who
went by Ruben Campa; Cuban defector Rene Gonzalez of Miami; and Antonio
Guerrero, a former janitor at Key West's Boca Chica Naval Air Station.
Medina's real name is Ramon Lavaniño and Campa's real name is
Fernando Gonzalez, their lawyers disclosed Wednesday.
Buckner told jurors that several spies assumed the identities of dead people
and had fake documents made in those names so that no one would know who they
really were.
They used encrypted computer disks, coded phone and short-wave messages, and
diplomatic pouches to communicate with Cuban intelligence bosses, he said. Among
their main goals, he said, were to infiltrate the FBI and U.S. Southern Command
headquarters in the Doral area.
"Taken together, they paint a portrait of a sophisticated and highly
motivated espionage cell operating in the midst of our community,'' Buckner
said. But he told jurors not to expect the marvels of a James Bond movie,
saying, "There are no cars that turn into submarines.''
He said the defendants never obtained any classified information.
Regarding the Brothers shootdown on Feb. 24, 1996, Buckner said Cuban
intelligence ordered Hernandez to "facilitate a bloody confrontation'' that
would end Basulto's repeated "provocation missions.'' Hernandez is accused
of providing the Brothers' flight plan to the Cubans to accomplish that.
After Cuban MiG fighter planes rocketed the two Brothers planes out of the
air over the Florida Straits, Hernandez received a congratulatory note saying, "We
have dealt the Miami right a hard blow,'' Buckner said.
McKenna countered, however, that "there was no need for my client to do
anything'' because Miami air traffic controllers had routinely sent the
Brothers' flight information to Cuba. He said Basulto knew a shootdown would
happen on that day but chose to fly anyway.
Basulto, the sole surviving pilot from the shootdown incident, has denied
that. He insists the U.S. and Cuban governments conspired to shoot the planes
down to deter future violations of Cuban airspace.
Defense lawyers hammered at several themes: that the men never obtained
top-secret data, that they had no intent to harm the United States, and that the
Cuban government shared much of the intelligence with the United States -- like
that gathered on a series of Havana hotel bombings.
Defense lawyers Bill Norris and Joaquin Mendez gave two examples of alleged
intelligence sharing between Cuba and the United States that apparently had not
been made public before. They said the group learned that exiles were buying
small radio-controlled airplanes called drones "to possibly kill Castro.''
And they said a boatload of explosives and guns suspected of being linked to a
violent exile group was intercepted on the Miami River by the FBI.
Hernandez, Guerrero and Medina face life in prison if convicted. Campa and
Gonzalez face 10-year prison terms as unregistered foreign agents.
Defense: Miami secret agents got no secrets
By CATHERINE WILSON. Associated Press Writer. Posted at
6:44 p.m. EST Wednesday, December 6, 2000
MIAMI -- (AP) -- With encryption software, high-frequency radio
transmissions and coded electronic phone messages, federal prosecutors charged
Wednesday that five accused Cuban spies had all the trappings of secret agents.
But the defense said the so-called Wasp Network broken up in 1998 never got
its hands on any secrets and its members were feeding information to the U.S.
government about terrorist plots by Miami exiles against Cuban targets.
The most notorious charge in the case is against reputed ringleader Gerardo
Hernandez, who is accused of passing information used in a Cuban MiG attack on
two planes from the exile group Brothers to the Rescue, which killed four fliers
in 1996.
Hernandez's attorney, Paul McKenna, blamed the group's founder, Jose
Basulto, for the shootdown, saying he provoked the Cuban government for months
with rooftop-level flights dropping leafletting over Havana and by ignored U.S.
government warnings to stop.
``The Cubans were justified in shooting the planes down,'' McKenna said.
``These were missions of provocation, slapping the government of Cuba's face.''
Assistant U.S. Attorney David Buckner did not go into detail during opening
statements about Hernandez's role. But he said Hernandez received a
congratulatory note indicating, ``We have dealt the Miami right a hard blow,''
and later was promoted to captain in the Cuban intelligence service.
Buckner offered ``a portrait of a sophisticated and highly motivated
espionage cell operating in the midst of our community.'' But he warned jurors
not to expect the likes of James Bond, saying: ``This is not the Hollywood
version of spying. There are no cars that turn into submarines.''
The defense acknowledged their clients acted on orders from the Cuban
government but blamed the lack of diplomatic relations between the two countries
for the cat-and-mouse techniques.
William Norris, attorney for Ramon Labanino, went so far as to admit spying
but said it didn't meet the legal definition of espionage because the network
did not obtain classified information.
Hernandez, Antonio Guerrero and Labanino face life in prison if convicted of
conspiring to pass ``national defense'' information to Cuba. Fernando Gonzalez
and Rene Gonzalez face 10-year prison terms as unregistered foreign agents.
Guerrero apparently came the closest to U.S. military secrets while working
in the public works department at the Boca Chica Naval Air Station near Key
West.
But his attorney, Jack Blumenfeld, said he got the job referral for work,
primarily digging ditches, from a state agency after a ``miserable'' job on a
luxury resort hotel's kitchen crew.
By order of the base's commanding officer, there was no guard at the base's
entry gate, and there was a sign near a hangar stating, ``Photos may be taken at
this point,'' Blumenfeld said. Messages indicated the Cuban government knew
about planes flying in and out of the training base before Guerrero did.
Priorities for the spy ring included getting access to the U.S. Southern
Command headquarters, which it failed to do, after a move to Miami from Panama
in 1996 and discrediting Brothers to the Rescue before the MiG attack, Buckner
said. He called the defendants ``the eyes and ears'' of the Cuban government in
Miami.
Spectators included relatives of the shootdown victims. Nelson Morales,
whose brother Pablo was among those killed, said the prosecutors ``are trying to
do something that no one has been able to do and that is punish the three spies
and Fidel Castro.'' He called his brother's killing an assassination.
A juror has a heart catheterization scheduled Thursday, so the trial will
resume Monday with opening statements from Philip Horowitz, attorney for Rene
Gonzalez, and the beginning of prosecution testimony.
The five were charged as part of a 14-member ring. Five others have plea
bargains requiring them to cooperate, and four are fugitives believed to be in
Cuba.
Testimony was promised by both sides from admitted spies, including those
who pleaded guilty in exchange for leniency and others based in Cuba who gave
depositions.
Defense witnesses also will include retired Navy Adm. Eugene Carroll and a
former general. They consider the relationship between Cuba and the United
States to be like David and Goliath, ``but they don't even have a rock to throw
at the giant,'' said McKenna. ``That is how pathetic they are.''
Until Wednesday when their lawyers offered their true names, accused Cuban
intelligence officers Fernando Gonzalez and Labanino had been listed under their
aliases, Ruben Campa and Luis Medina, respectively. Buckner said Guerrero and
Rene Gonzalez were field agents following the officers' orders from Cuba.
On the Net:
Brothers to the Rescue: http://www.hermanos.org/
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