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Cuban Agents to Get New Trial
By John Pain, Associated
Press Writer.
MIAMI - A federal appeals court threw out
the convictions and life sentences of five
accused Cuban spies Tuesday, ruling that
they did not receive a fair trial because
of community prejudice and extensive publicity.
A three-judge panel of the 11th U.S. Circuit
Court of Appeals in Atlanta ordered a new
trial after agreeing with the arguments
of defense attorneys about the 2001 convictions.
None of the jurors was Cuban, but the defense
argued that prejudice against Fidel Castro
and his communist government runs high in
Miami.
Federal prosecutors had no immediate comment
on the court's decision.
Also overturned was the murder conspiracy
conviction of ringleader Gerardo Hernandez.
He was also convicted for his role in the
deaths of four Cuban exiles shot down by
Cuban MiGs in international airspace in
1996, an event that sparked widespread condemnation.
All five Cubans were convicted in June
2001 of serving as unregistered agents of
a foreign government. Evidence showed that
two of them targeted U.S. military installations
from Key West to Tampa and the ring spied
on Cuban exiles.
The five admit being Cuban agents, but
said they were spying on "terrorist"
exile groups opposed to Castro, not the
U.S. government. The defense said the agents'
primary mission was to thwart extremist
exiles who supported terrorism in Cuba,
including a string of Havana bombings that
killed one tourist and injured 12 others
in 1997.
The five were the only ones who went to
trial after they were indicted in 1998 as
part of the 14-member Wasp Network.
Cuba has made the five a cause celebre,
featuring them on a Web site and issuing
a CD of one spy's jailhouse poetry set to
music. Free the Five committees were set
up in several countries.
Cuban Trova Musician Noel Nicola Dies
HAVANA, 8 (AP) - Noel Nicola, one of the
founders of modern Cuban trova music, has
died of cancer, his friends said. He was
58.
Silvio Rodriguez joined others in a rendition
of one of Nicola's most famous songs - "Es
mas, te perdono," or "Furthermore,
I Forgive You."
Nicola was born in the Cuban capital Oct.
7, 1946, into a family of musicians. He
was composing songs by the time he was 13
years old.
His first onstage performance came in 1968,
next to Cuban greats Rodriguez and Pablo
Milanes.
The trio and several others founded the
modern Cuban trova movement - music has
its roots in the troubadour ballads composed
during the island's wars of independence.
Modern Cuban trovas recall American protest
songs of the 1960s and 1970s that focused
attention on social problems through musical
storytelling.
Nicola performed in more than 30 countries
in Europe, Africa, and North and South America.
He also spent some of his time composing
music for movies and the theater.
Cuban singer Ibrahim Ferrer dies at
age 78
HAVANA, 7 (AFP) - Cuban singer Ibrahim
Ferrer, known worldwide for his work on
the "Buena Vista Social Club"
project, died at a Havana hospital at the
age of 78, his wife Caridad Diaz told AFP.
Ferrer, who had just completed a month-long
tour of Europe, checked into hospital a
few days ago with symptoms of gastroenteritis,
Diaz said.
"He was a very worthy person, to be
admired, not only as a musician but also
as a father and a husband. He completed
his European tour with great bravery,"
she said. "We are deeply affected by
his death."
Ferrer's recent tour took him to the Netherlands,
Switzerland, Austria and Britain, according
to Diaz.
Born in Cuba's second city of Santiago
in 1927, Ferrer was a master singer of son
and bolero who was in semi-retirement and
shining shoes for money when he was recruited
to participate in the "Buena Vista
Social Club" sessions.
US musician and producer Ry Cooder traveled
to Havana in the late 1990s to unite ageing
greats of Cuban music, producing a CD and
later a documentary film with German director
Wim Wenders to worldwide acclaim.
The album won a Grammy in 1998, and in
2004, Ferrer won a Grammy for best traditional
salsa album for his "Buenos Hermanos."
But Ferrer was unable to attend the ceremony
because the United States refused to grant
him a visa.
Swimmers Find Sunken Ship Off Cuba Coast
HAVANA, 4 (AP) - Two teenagers swimming
in seas off eastern Cuba discovered a sunken
U.S. ship from the late 19th century, possibly
a remnant of the Spanish-American War, a
maritime expert said Thursday.
Bronze nails, chains and old-fashioned
containers were among artifacts inside the
ship, said Nicasio Vina, director of Santiago
de Cuba's Investigative Center of Ecosystems
and Biodiversity.
"The teenagers got in touch with our
institution and we were able to verify the
find: a 106-foot boat, the remains of which
were uncovered during the recent passing
of Hurricane Dennis," Vina said in
a telephone interview from Santiago, about
500 miles east of Havana.
The ship was found in eight feet of water
near Siboney beach, about 10 miles south
of Santiago, an area used by U.S. troops
during the Spanish-American War.
Experts have started trying to piece together
the boat's exact origins and how it came
to be off the coasts of Cuba. Vina said
evidence does confirm the boat is American,
and that it was likely involved in the war,
which ended in 1898 with Spain ceding control
of Cuba to the United States.
Objects from the boat will be displayed
in a museum connected to the Investigative
Center of Ecosystems and Biodiversity.
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