Yahoo! December 21, 2000
Alleged Cuba Spy Targeted CIA Agent
By Catherine Wilson, Associated Press Writer
MIAMI, 20 (AP) - Cuban spies once plotted to kill a CIA (news - web sites)
employee with a mail bomb disguised as a book, according to decoded messages
read Wednesday during the trial of five alleged Cuban agents.
The goal of Operation Parallel was to kill "CIA agent Jesus Cruza
Flor'' in Miami six years ago, according to the messages. He was to be
threatened about his "nearing execution'' before delivery of the bomb.
It was unclear how many of the five defendants are accused of taking part in
the plot. Attorneys are under a gag order, CIA spokesman Anya Guilsher declined
comment and the home phone number listed in the message for Cruza is assigned to
a bank.
The trial includes some 1,300 pages of evidence from decoded messages that
flowed between the Cuban government and Miami-based agents, according to
prosecutors.
Some of the suspects are accused of trying to infiltrate military bases,
including the U.S. Southern Command, which is responsible for Cuba, and the Boca
Chica Naval Air Station near Key West.
Suspected ringleader Gerardo Hernandez faces a possible life sentence on
murder conspiracy and espionage conspiracy charges. The first count stems from
the 1996 incident in which Cuba shot down two planes from the Cuban exile group
Brothers to the Rescue over international waters, killing four. The government
accused Hernandez of providing Cuba with information about the flights.
He and the other four defendants were arrested in 1998. Five others secured
plea bargains requiring them to cooperate, and four more are fugitives believed
to be in Cuba.
Like Hernandez, two other defendants - Antonio Guerrero and Ramon Labanino -
were charged with espionage conspiracy and could face life in prison. The other
two, Fernando Gonzalez and Rene Gonzalez, no known relationship, face possible
10-year sentences on false-identity charges.
Attorneys for Hernandez, Labanino, Guerrero and Fernando Gonzalez have said
the men worked for the Cuban government. But they said their clients did not
commit espionage because they obtained no classified information.
The clandestine methods used to transmit the information they obtained were
necessary because Cuba and the United States do not have diplomatic relations,
according to the defense attorneys.
The trial began this month and is expected to stretch into March.
Fla. Man Appeals to Cuba Over Son
By Kevin Gray, Associated Press Writer
HAVANA, 20 (AP) - A Florida man whose ex-wife fled to Cuba with their
5-year-old son asked Cuban authorities on Wednesday to honor a U.S. court order
granting him temporary custody of the boy, his lawyer said.
Jon Colombini, 31, arrived in Havana on Monday hoping to persuade his
ex-wife, Arletis Blanco, to allow him to return to the United States with their
son, Jonathon.
After three days of visits with the boy and his mother, Colombini was unable
to convince his ex-wife that Jonathon should live with him in Miami, his lawyer,
Michael Berry, said. He said Colombini would press ahead with legal efforts to
get the U.S.-born boy back.
Berry said he had met with high-ranking Cuban officials over the last two
days about the case and described their response as "attentive and
cooperative.''
"We remain optimistic that the Cuban government will honor the court
order granting temporary custody of Jonathon,'' he said. "We expect them to
act in the interests of the child.''
The Cuban government had no immediate comment on the case.
On Nov. 12, Blanco, 29, left the Florida Keys on a 21-foot fishing boat
bound for Cuba with her son, boyfriend Agustin Lemus, 37, and their infant
daughter.
Since returning to Cuba, Blanco has been living with Jonathon in the western
province of Pinar del Rio where she says she wants them to start a new life. She
was under investigation by Florida authorities on embezzlement charges when she
left the country.
Reports show Colombini shares custody of the boy with his ex-wife, but
Colombini has said he wants the boy raised in the United States.
A Dec. 12 court order issued by the Monroe County circuit court in Florida
granted Colombini temporary custody of Jonathon, citing the pending
investigation against Blanco as a reason Jonathon should be returned to him.
Phone calls seeking comment from Blanco's lawyer in Cuba were not
immediately returned.
Followers of the case in Florida have dubbed it "Reverse Elian,'' a
reference to Elian Gonzalez, the 6-year-old boy who was taken from Cuba to
Florida last year without his father's permission. The boy became the focus of a
protracted custody battle before he was eventually returned to his father in
Cuba in June.
Berry said he and Colombini would likely be traveling back to the United
States on Thursday.
Alleged Cuban Spies' Training Noted
By Catherine Wilson, Associated Press Writer
MIAMI, 20 (AP) - Five Cubans accused of spying were given instructions on
subjects ranging from reporting a U.S. invasion of Cuba to such mundane topics
as applying for Blockbuster Video cards, according to decoded Cuban intelligence
reports released at their trial.
They were also told how to create false identities from the birth
certificates of dead people, according to communiques disclosed by prosecutors
Tuesday.
The Wasp Network, as Cuba called it, was assigned to count flights at the
U.S. military base closest to the communist island, infiltrate the U.S. military
headquarters responsible for Cuba and disrupt Cuban exile groups, the coded
messages indicated.
English translations came from the FBI (news - web sites), which decoded
messages in Spanish that were hidden in seized computer files, prosecutors said.
The trial of the five defendants began this month and is expected to stretch
into March.
Suspected ringleader Gerardo Hernandez faces a possible life sentence on two
charges: murder conspiracy and espionage conspiracy. The murder-related count
refers to the 1996 incident in which Cuba shot down two planes from the Cuban
exile group Brothers to the Rescue over international waters, killing four. The
government accuses Hernandez of providing Cuba with information about their
flights.
He and the other four 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 message traffic made public Tuesday outlined a beeper system for
alerting Cuba to any airborne U.S. invasion, with assigned signals to indicate
the number of planes and their models.
Defendant Antonio Guerrero, who worked at the Boca Chica Naval Air Station
near Key West, was assigned to count flights, according to the documents.
The message traffic made public Tuesday stretched over more than 1,300
pages. In many cases, the sender, receiver and dates were not mentioned, but
prosecution witnesses will be able to testify later about the timing of
interceptions.
A 1996 message ostensibly from Guerrero to Hernandez about U.S. military
movements that might threaten Cuba was signed, "A hug from your vegetarian
brother, Lorient.''
In one message, according to the prosecution, Hernandez mused under the code
name Giro about the benefits of being unemployed for five years in the United
States. He lived on funds provided by the Cuban government, which set a budget
of $30,935 budget in 1996, the documents said.
"I am really not interested in getting a job,'' he wrote. He couldn't
decide which was worse - staying off U.S. payroll records or becoming a
traceable taxpayer "and have what I represent not agree with my standard of
living.''
Like Hernandez, two other defendants - Guerrero and Ramon Labanino - were
charged with espionage conspiracy and could face life in prison. The other two,
Fernando Gonzalez and Rene Gonzalez, no known relationship, face possible
10-year sentences on false-identity charges.
Attorneys for Hernandez, Labanino, Guerrero and Fernando Gonzalez admitted
during their opening statements Dec. 6 that the men worked for the Cuban
government. But they said their clients did not commit the crime of espionage,
because they obtained no classified information.
The clandestine methods used to transmit the information they obtained were
necessary because Cuba and the United States do not have diplomatic relations,
according to the defense attorneys.
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