Cubans Not So Libre
Havana's spies in Miami face long prison time
Nearly a year has passed since Elian Gonzalez returned to Cuba, but in South Florida, home to the nation's highest concentration of Cuban-Americans, hatred of Fidel Castro's Communist regime remains virulent. The latest focus of their animosity: five Cuban spies on trial in Miami for the past six months for crimes including fraud and espionage conspiracy.
In the fall of 1998, 14 Cubans living in the United States were accused of attempting to steal American military secrets and of infiltrating Miami-based Cuban exile groups. Five of the 14 pleaded guilty; four others fled. The remaining five admitted they were part of one of the largest spy rings ever uncovered in the United States--but they insisted that their ragtag operation lacked the sophistication to do any real damage. Indeed, the agents regularly met at fast-food joints like Denny's and Burger King, where they spent more time jawing about personal woes and financial problems than exchanging classified information. U.S. military officials confirm that the Cubans did not steal any secrets--almost all of the material they acquired was publicly available--but prosecutors say that even attempted spying is illegal.
Early warning. Prosecutors maintained that one of the five agents, Gerardo Hernandez, charged also with murder conspiracy, helped plan the 1996 attack by the Cuban Air Force on two unarmed planes that Brothers to the Rescue, an exile group, was flying perilously close to Cuban airspace. Four Cuban-Americans died in the incident, which provoked international outrage. Hernandez denied having been involved.
The trial, which featured 90 witnesses and 2,000 pages of decoded documents, illuminated some of the anti-Castro plots by Miami-based exile groups. The defendants argued that their clandestine network was a sort of "early warning system," the only way to protect Cuba from repeated, and often illegal, attempts by Castro foes to oust their enemy. As evidence, the accused spies pointed to a Cuban exile who acknowledged during the trial that he had plotted to assassinate Castro.
After five days of deliberation, a federal jury at week's end convicted all five defendants. Their sentences could range from 10 years to life in prison. These are heavy prices to pay for an espionage operation that seemed by all accounts to be more reminiscent of Austin Powers than of James Bond. But the Cold War is still being fought across the choppy Florida Straits, and, on this side, any friend of Fidel's is nothing but an enemy of the United States.
This story appears in the June 18, 2001 print edition of U.S. News & World Report.