'Wasp Network' stung in Miami
By Toby Westerman. WorldNetDaily.com.
Tuesday January 9 2001.
The exposure and ongoing trial of a Cuban spy ring has revealed the largest
espionage cell in the U.S. since the collapse of the Soviet Union, yet most of
the establishment press -- with the exception of the Miami Herald -- has given
scant coverage to the issue.
Five members of a 14-member espionage team called "La Red Avispa"
-- the Wasp Network -- are on trial in a Miami federal courtroom following an
exhaustive FBI investigation.
The Wasp Network engaged in a wide range of activities, including locating
vulnerable points of entry into the state of Florida for the importation of arms
and explosives, infiltration of the U.S. Southern Command, and the attempted
subversion of anti-Communist organizations in the U.S.
After breaking up the network's operations in September 1998, the FBI
amassed some 10,000 pages of information on the Cuban espionage cell. Federal
agents discovered that, among other projects, the members of the spy network
counted planes outside a military base, attempted to send a letter-bomb to an
anti-Castro activist, and placed one of their number -- employed as a custodian
-- at the Boca Chica base of the Southern Command to observe military activity
there.
Of the original 14, four fled and are believed to be in Cuba, five pleaded
guilty and five have declared their innocence. Those pleading innocent said they
were only keeping an eye on the anti-communist Cuban exiles.
Although the ring was engaged in classic acts of espionage, those who
pleaded guilty, as well as the defendants standing trial, are not facing charges
of spying, but rather are being charged as "unregistered foreign agents."
The reputed spymaster of the Wasp Network, Gerardo Hernandez, is facing
murder charges. Hernandez, who is also a captain in Cuba's military
intelligence, is charged with the deaths of four men shot down by Cuban MiG
aircraft over the Florida Straits in February 1996.
The four men who were shot down had been members of the Cuban exile group,
Brothers to the Rescue, which seeks to aid those opposed to the regime of Cuban
President Fidel Castro.
Federal prosecutors allege that Hernandez provided the Cuban government with
the flight plans of the plane the men were flying, enabling easy interception.
Sentences for those pleading guilty have run from 3½ to 7 years in
prison, despite pleas of contrition. According to a Miami Herald report, two of
the confessed spies, Linda Hernandez and her husband Nilo, profess to having
found a new appreciation for God and freedom.
Hernandez recounted that her espionage career began in 1992, when Cuban
intelligence directed that she and her husband were to move from New York City
to Miami.
Although born in the U.S., Hernandez returned to Cuba shortly before the
communist takeover, and spent her youth in Cuba, returning to the U.S. in the
mid-'80s. In declaring her sorrow for her actions, Hernandez stated that the
Cuban government "controlled every move and thought" of those living
under it.
How deeply Cuban foreign intelligence has penetrated into the United States
remains unclear. When WorldNetDaily asked about other Cuban intelligence cells
in the U.S., Miami FBI spokeswoman Judy Orihuela refused to speculate on their
existence or possible extent of activities.
Although FBI documentation on the Wasp Network is voluminous, Orihuela is
unable to comment about the impact of the group on U.S. security, as trial judge
Joan A. Lenard has issued a "gag order" on all aspects of the
proceedings. Similarly, the U.S. attorney's office is unable to comment on the
spy trial.
When contacted by WND, Mariela Ferrentti, spokeswoman for the Cuban American
National Foundation, a leading Cuban exile group, declared "vindication of
the Cuban American community" based upon what has already come to light
from the investigation of the Wasp Network.
Ferrentti says what is currently known about Cuban intelligence activities
is "nowhere near" the actual lengths "to which [Cuban] agents are
going [in order] to wage war against the people of the U.S."
The trial of the Wasp Network members comes at a particularly inopportune
time for the Cuban government. Havana is concentrating on the abolition of U.S.
sanctions against the island -- described as "genocidal" by the Cuban
government, despite a 5.6 percent increase in its gross domestic product this
year -- and the repeal of the Cuban Adjustment Act, which allows asylum for any
Cuban reaching U.S. land.
The Wasp Network's activities, however, take on a special relevance in light
of the visit last month in Cuba of the chief of the general staff of China's
Peoples Liberation Army. While in Havana, Gen. Fu Quanyou proclaimed that he
hoped his visit would "strengthen bilateral ties between both [Cuban and
Chinese] armies [which are] in search of the common goal of building socialism."
Toby Westerman is a frequent contributor to WorldNetDaily.com and WorldNet
magazine.
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