Published Thursday, January 4, 2001, in the
Miami Herald
Castro role in defection reported at spy trial
By Gail Epstein Nieves. gepstein@herald.com
Although Fidel Castro isn't on trial with five of his intelligence agents,
jurors heard Wednesday that the Cuban president closely monitored -- and
applauded -- the double defection of agent Juan Pablo Roque, who secretly
slipped back to Cuba the day before the 1996 Brothers to the Rescue shoot-down.
Four days after the Brothers' two Cessna airplanes were shot into the sea,
killing four men, the chief of Cuban intelligence sent a shortwave radio message
to his South Florida operatives, commending them for the "success'' of
Roque's defection plot, according to testimony in the Cuban spy trial in federal
court in Miami.
The message alluded to Castro in his capacity as "commander in chief''
and referred to his hands-on role in planning intelligence actions.
"The commander in chief has met with all of us on two occasions in
order to analyze steps to be taken to continue the operation. He was very
pleased with the job done,'' said the message, written Feb. 28, 1996, and read
to jurors by FBI translator Susan Salomon.
The message did not refer to Operation Scorpion, the code name for what
became the Brothers shoot-down. It was not clear from testimony whether Castro's
pleasure extended to the shoot-down.
Cuba's intelligence headquarters sent its operatives another shortwave
broadcast on March 1, 1996, delivering "our profound recognition'' for "Operation
German'' -- a code name for Roque's defection, according to the government.
"Everything turned out well,'' the message was quoted as saying. "The
commander in chief visited him twice, [Roque] being able to exchange the
details of the operation. We have dealt the Miami right a hard blow, in which
your role has been decisive.''
The FBI intercepted the radio broadcasts but could not interpret their coded
contents until seven months later, Salomon testified. Agents broke the code
after seizing computer disks from the apartment of co-defendant Gerardo Hernández.
Another radio broadcast revealed that on June 6, Hernández and
co-defendants René González and Antonio Guerrero were promoted in
the Cuban military. Prosecutors contend that Hernández was being
rewarded for providing key information to Havana that facilitated the
shoot-down.
But defense attorney Paul McKenna, cross-examining Salomon, brought out that
June 6 is the anniversary of Cuba's Ministry of the Interior, the powerful
agency in charge of domestic security.
Pro-dialogue exile group loses officer
By Elaine de Valle. edevalle@herald.com
A leading Cuban exile group that promotes dialogue with Fidel Castro's
government may have less of a presence in South Florida this year.
Elena Freyre, an executive director of the Cuban Committee for Democracy
(CCD) since 1998, resigned last month after weeks of tension with the new
president and members of the board of directors.
"Philosophical differences'' is how Freyre categorized the problems
Wednesday.
CCD treasurer Gladys Perez went on the group's radio show, Radio Transición,
on Wednesday and said the Miami office was not needed and would be closed,
leaving only one executive director, Sean Garcia, in the Washington, D.C.,
office.
Observers said Freyre's strained relations with board members reached a peak
last month after Alejandro Portes, the new president, wrote an article for The
American Prospect and the CCD newsletter that criticized mid-level Cuban
functionaries for living in luxury while many Cubans suffer shortages.
"That was the last drop in the cup,'' said Francisco Aruca, another
anti-embargo radio commentator who also discussed the shake-up on his radio
show, Ayer en Miami.
The article caused some commotion in Cuba and endangered a conference
between Cuban exiles and island Cubans -- titled The Role of Cuban-American
Capital in the Future of Cuba -- planned for two days in Miami and two days in
Havana within the next few months.
Said Freyre: "I wasn't bothered because the Cuban government was
bothered. Constructive criticism is good.'' It was the timing that bothered her,
she said, because it came while negotiations for the conference were still
taking place.
Freyre hopes the conference still happens, and she holds no grudge against
the CCD: "I hope that they reach their goals.''
Freyre said she will still be involved in Cuban affairs as Florida
chairwoman of Americans for Humanitarian Trade with Cuba and in other projects
she said she will announce at a later time.
Copyright 2001 Miami Herald | 