Michael Eskenazi. TIME Magazine. Feb. 21. Web-only news
The arrest of a top INS official, accused of spying for Havana, plays right into the hands of the pro-embargo lobby
The roller coaster of U.S.-Cuban relations took a sharp dip Thursday with the arrest of a top Immigration and Naturalization Service official accused of spying for Havana. Cuban-born Mariano Faget, one of the most prominent INS agents in Southern Florida, is accused of relaying U.S. defense
secrets to Cuba and of helping Cuban spies infiltrate American borders. The FBI got wind of Faget's activities when a surveillance investigation called Operation False Blue allegedly found him engaged in unauthorized correspondence with Cuban intelligence officials. The bureau then set up a sting in
which American agents told Faget of a Cuban intelligence officer who was trying to defect to the U.S. Faget is alleged to have immediately placed a call to a New York Cuban-born businessman who was in contact with Cuban authorities. In a Friday press conference, an FBI official would not reveal
further details of the case but said the bureau expected to make additional arrests.
The charges against Faget puts another roadblock in the way of attempts to lift the United States' 38-year-old trade embargo against Fidel Castro's Cuba. Just months ago such a move appeared to be on the horizon — President Clinton talked last summer of revamping America's "archaic
Cuba policy" and travel restrictions to the island were eased, paving the way for top U.S. officials to visit Havana. But then the Elian Gonzalez imbroglio erupted, a case that has increased passions for both keeping and easing restrictions. And now Operation False Blue will surely help the
pro-embargo lobby as well as hardening anti-American attitudes among Castro's top brass.
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