Miami's Cuban Connection

Is U.S. Relying On Cuban Spy For Critical Testimony?

The question of whether a key federal government informant was a Castro agent looms over a high-profile weapons case in South Florida.

A key witness in a major weapons case against one of Fidel Castro's sworn enemies was stopped by the Coast Guard 40 miles from Key West in 1999 as he attempted to return to Cuba. With him were a crock pot, a VCR and photographs of a Cuban exile paramilitary training camp in Miami-Dade County.

Was Gilberto Abascal spying for Cuba?

At the time, U.S. officials determined that Abascal and a married couple with him who brought along their 3-year-old, U.S.-born daughter on the ''small pleasure craft'' were simply homesick, disillusioned expatriates, according to federal court records filed Friday. The FBI decided there was no nefarious reason for the group to have photos of Alpha 66's Miami-Dade operations.

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/breaking_news/14625061.htm

Spy Vs. Spy Alive

I couldn't help myself. Spy Vs. Spy defined the ridiculous side of the Cold War era, which we are still living in Miami, to a certain degree. The cartoon, made famous in Mad Magazine, was created by a Cuban, Antonio Prohias, who died in 1998. These posters were on exhibit at Cuba Nostalgia.

Star FBI Informant in Exile Weapons Case Arrested

From the Herald's Jay Weaver:

"The federal government's star witness in the high-profile weapons case against two Cuban exiles has been arrested on a battery charge stemming from a parking dispute at a Hialeah Gardens condominium complex.

"Police charged Gilberto Abascal earlier this month with a misdemeanor after he allegedly grabbed a condo association president by the jaw and pushed him against a wall because the man had placed a ''no parking'' warning on Abascal's motorcycle."

Abascal is expected to testify against Santiago Alvarez and Osvaldo Mitat at their upcoming trial. Abascal photograph courtesy of El Nuevo Herald.

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/local/14596315.htm

Spy Conference to Focus On Cuba

A "spy conference" in Raleigh, North Carolina this summer will focus on Cuba.  It's called Castro and Cuba: The Inside Story.

"From revolution to Cold War KGB leader, Castro and his era will end soon. Hear the experts take you from the Bay of Pigs through the Cuban Missile Crisis, the intrigue of Castro’s role as the “Bridgehead” for the KGB-led Non-aligned Movement - including new revelations from the intelligence world – and estimates of what will happen to Cuba and its relationship with the U.S. after Castro."

http://www.raleighspyconference.com/home/

FBI Informant Says Posada Came to U.S. Aboard Boat

   A confidential informant who is helping the FBI in their weapons case against Miami developer Santiago Alvarez, now says that Cuban exile militant Luis Posada Carriles was smuggled into Miami on the boat Santrina. Gilberto Abascal, interviewed Friday, said the old shrimpring Santrina brought Posada to Miami after picking him up in Isla Mujeres, Mexico. It's the first time one of the five official passengers on the boat relays Fidel Castro's version of Posada's entrance into the United States. Posada and his Miami allies have long maintained that he entered the U.S. through the Mexican border. Documents filed by the Feds in court this week also show that Abascal was contacted on several occassions by Cuban government officials, fueling speculation among some in the exile community that he is a double agent, which he denies. Read more in the Miami Herald tomorrow.

Che Guevara's Capturer Hugged Che Before He Was Executed

Brigade 2506 President Felix Ismael Rodriguez, the former CIA operative who tracked down Ernesto "Che" Guevara in the Bolivian jungles and was there when Che was shot to death, said he shook Che's hand and embraced him before his executioner came into the room with an automatic rifle. "I walked in and gave the order to untie him," Rodriguez told Miami's Cuban Connection in a recent interview. "Che had asked if we could untie him and let him sit down. He had to look at my boots at that time. Later, the order came from the Bolivian government to shoot him. I tried in all my power to stop them because of my instructions to take him to Panama for the CIA...At the end, I asked him if he wanted something for his family. He said sarcastically 'just tell Fidel that soon there will be a revolution in the Americas.' He knew Fidel had betrayed him. He said 'Tell my wife to marry again and try to be happy.' We shook hands, hugged. I left the room and someone came in and shot him."

For Rodriguez, it was an ultimate irony that Che had to look at his boots before he was killed. Years earlier, as the Cuban military beat Brigade 2506 at the Bay of Pigs, Nestor Pino, an exile paratrooper captured by the Cubans, was being beaten by soldiers. Suddenly, two boots appeared in front of his face. "I thought that the boots belonged to someone important because they didn't have any dust on them," Pino said this week. "When I looked up, it was el Che looking down at me. He said "we're going to kill you all."

Rodriguez said he remembered Pino's brush with Che when Che looked at his boots in Bolivia. Rodriguez said the man who shot Che was named Suboficial Mario Teran of the Bolivian military. 

Detroit: Cuban Spies Should be Freed

Cubadebate.cu, a Cuban government-run website, reports that Detroit's city council passed a resolution March 29 in support of five Cuban spies whose case is on appeal. The story says Detroit's politicians feel that Miami's exile community swayed the jury and the men did not receive a fair trial. The members of the "Red Avispa" have been hailed as heroes in Cuba for allegedly fighting anti-Castro terrorism.

http://www.cubadebate.cu/

FIU Prez: I Harbor No Info. Cuban Gov. Could Use

Florida International University President Modesto "Mitch'' Maidique says he's stumped by an FBI report that maintains two members of FIU's staff were spying on him and reporting the details to the Cuban government.

   Maidique told The Miami Herald that he doesn't have any information that could be of value to the Cuban government.

  FIU professor Carlos M. Alvarez and his wife, Elsa, an FIU counselor are both accused of being agents for Cuba for more than two decades.

   "I'll believe it when I see it," Maidique said Tuesday.

   An FBI affidavit said the Alvarezes gathered information about Maidique -- including a visit he made to the White House -- and provided it to Cuban intelligence handlers.

   "Both Carlos and Elsa Alvarez reported on prominent university-level academics in South Florida," the affidavit said. "These targets included colleagues of the Alvarezes at FIU, and included Modesto Maidique. . . . This information has been verified by data taken from the home computer of the Alvarezes, which shows them reporting on the activities of President Maidique, including an invitation he received to attend a function at the White House."

   Maidique has said very little publicly about the Alvarez case, referring questions from reporters mostly to written statements and university spokespeople. But on Tuesday, he played down the FBI's contention that he was being spied upon.

   "There's nothing that I know that I believe would be of particular value to the Cuban government," Maidique said. ‘‘That's why the whole thing is so enigmatic to me."

   Maidique answered a reporter's questions about the Alvarez case following a meeting with The Miami Herald's editorial board in which he focused on FIU's ambitions for a new medical school.

   Maidique acknowledged that the Alvarezes were friends of his, but said they never probed him on politically sensitive issues.

   "I don't remember them every questioning me on anything political, the White House, Cuba -- it was just not part of our relationship," Maidique said. "I'm not saying it didn't come up. I just don't recall it."

   He added that FIU, by nature of its public status, harbors few sensitive secrets.

   "I run an academic institution, which by definition is absolutely open," Maidique said. "There [are] virtually no secrets. Everything is done in the sunshine."

Defector Spills the Dirt on Fidel

As part of Fidel and Raul Castro's inner circle, Delfin Fernandez learned titillating secrets - everything from why the Cuban leader incinerates his dirty underwear to  his cravings for "pata negra" Spanish hams. Click below for full story.

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/14163977.htm

Militant Posada Coming To Town

    The U.S. government will not free Cuban exile militant Luis Posada Carriles, who has been detained in a federal immigration facility in Texas since May, according to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. But Posada may be heading to South Florida anyway, according to court records.   A U.S. District Judge has authorized lawyers for Santiago Alvarez and Osvaldo Mitat, two friends of Posada who were arrested last year on federal weapons charges, to have Posada brought to South Florida by federal marshals in the next few weeks as a potential witness in the Alvarez case. Photo: Posada's lawyer, Eduardo Soto, at a news conference Wednesday.