For the past 50+ years, presidents and prime ministers and councils and human rights organizations and leaders and individuals have spoken out and against the murderous and tyrannical Castro regime. Words, however, have little to no effect neutralizing the dictatorship's guns, tanks, and its machine of repression that it feeds daily with the blood of the innocent. Strongly worded documents have also been drafted and endorsed by countless countries, organizations, leaders, or groups decrying the endless crimes against humanity committed by the Cuban dictatorship. These documents, though well-intentioned, have unfortunately served (to put it nicely) only to somewhat alleviate the shortage of toilet paper on the island. The regime simply does not care what the world thinks--their goal is to maintain their death grip on power and annihilate anyone who dares challenge them.

There is, however, something the regime cannot do without and its very existence depends on it being able to maintain an uninterrupted flow: MONEY. Without money, the Castro family and the chosen elites cannot purchase estates abroad and fatten their already obese bank accounts. Without money, Cuba's dictatorship cannot obtain private jets and luxury German automobiles, or build the lavish compounds they reside in while the rest of country lives in squalor. Without money, the regime cannot finance its repression and if they were ever truly cut off from it, their collapse would come quickly and decisively.

On Friday, a judge in Miami signed a writ of garnishment ordering Cuba charter companies here in the US to hand over the fees they pay the Cuban government for the right to fly to and land in Cuba. The writ was signed by the judge in order to settle Ana Margarita Martinez's lawsuit against the Cuban dictatorship where she was awarded a $27-million judgment in a US court of law. It has been almost 10 years since her victory in court, but up until now Ms. Martinez has had great difficulty collecting what is legally due to her. To her credit, she has never given up seeking justice and in what can only be described as a courageous act when you consider the criminal nature of the Castro regime, she has tenaciously gone after them where it hurts: their wallets.

Friday's writ of garnishment puts the Cuba charter companies--literally and figuratively--between the devil and the deep blue sea; they either pay the devil (Castro, Inc.) his due, or they obey the writ and watch their businesses sink into the sea when the Castro regime revokes their rights to sell trips to the island for non-payment. As was expected, the charter companies filed an appeal in Federal Court on Monday through their attorney, the infamous Ira Kurzban. But that only buys them a few more months, which is not much time when you consider the fact that Ms. Martinez's claim is lawful and there is a strong possibility it will be upheld.

The ramifications of this writ if charter flights are suspended is not only the Cuban regime's loss of income from the fees, but the loss of millions of dollars of revenue provided by the thousands of Cuban Americans that travel monthly to the island. A large number of them take wads of cash to spend as tourists and duffel bags filled to capacity with articles they can sell to citizens of the imprisoned island. Although there are also a number of Cuban Americans that travel there only to see their family members, too many of them travel for other reasons and provide a seemingly endless supply of hard currency to a regime that is more than happy to relieve them of the cash.

In all fairness, some will point out that if the trips are indefinitely suspended this will cause Cuban Americans who want to visit their families great hardship since they will either have to pay more to go through a third country, or will not be able to afford to go at all. Unfortunately, this is what happens when you deal with a despotic and criminal regime. The hardship this ruling may cause is not the fault of Ms. Martinez, or her lawsuit, or the judge who signed the writ, or the embargo, or US policy towards Cuba: the fault lies with the oppressive regime in Cuba.

You can read more about this latest development HERE.

Ana Margarita Martinez's press release regarding the ruling is below the fold.

LAWYERS SEEK TO COLLECT 10-YEAR-OLD JUDGEMENT AGAINST CUBA

Court ruling in favor of ex-wife admitted is “legal debt”

(Miami, FL/February, 2010) – Attorneys for Ana Margarita Martinez, the one-time wife of a self-admitted Cuban spy who used her as part of his cover, filed writs of garnishment on eight charter companies in Florida that they say regularly operate charter flights to Cuba.

The flights provide the Cuban government, which owes Martinez more than $27 million from a civil suit against the Republic of Cuba she won in a Miami court nearly a decade ago.

“These writs are not about politics or U.S.-Cuba relations, and they are not about the right to travel to Cuba.  They are not a political act or an effort to hurt U.S. businesses or interfere with air travel to Cuba,” Martinez said in a written statement late Friday.

“These writs seem to be the only way to collect a legal debt from the Cuban government -- by intercepting, before it leaves the United States, funds that would otherwise be transferred to entities in Cuba that are owned and controlled by the Cuban government,” Martinez said.

“America is a country of laws. Those who do wrong here must compensate their victims for the harm they suffer.  I was a single mother of two young children.  A spy sent here by the regime in Cuba lured me into marriage and used me and my children as cover for his illegal operations in America, and that is the least of the harm he did to us.  As detailed in my complaint filed nearly 10 years ago in a Miami court, that spy of the Cuban government gravely victimized both me and my children in numerous ways.”

In 2001, former Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Alan Postman agreed. “The judge awarded a judgment on my complaint and ordered Cuba to pay damages to compensate for the harm done to me and my children and to deter Cuba from hurting others in America,” Martinez said.

Juan Pablo Roque married Martinez in 1995, two years after he arrived in Miami from Cuba. He disappeared from their Kendall home a day before the Feb. 24, 1996, Brothers to the Rescue shoot down.  A day later, Cuban MiGs shot down two planes belonging to the group, of which Roque was a member, killing four fliers.  On Feb. 26, Roque turned up in Cuba and admitted in a television interview that he had been sent to Miami to infiltrate the exile community.

In 2001, Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Alan Postman ordered the Cuban government to pay Martinez $27.17 million for her pain and suffering as a victim of Roque's spy scheme and in punitive damages because Roque used his sham marriage to infiltrate South Florida's Cuban exile community and the Brothers groups.

Ten years later, the debt is still unpaid.

“Cuba has plenty of money to campaign abroad and promote itself as a tolerant law-abiding country,” Martinez said.  “It has plenty of money for a massive state security system and concerts. Yet Cuba ignores its legal debts to those it has hurt in the United States and refuses to recognize lawfully entered judgments of American courts.”

Martinez’s attorneys said they had no choice except to identify money intended for transfer to entities in Cuba owned and controlled by the Cuban government, and ask the court to take those funds away from the Cuban government before it leaves the United States, so that money can be applied toward Cuba's lawful debt.

“It is not my intent to take away any money or property of any U.S. business or citizen or to interfere with their business; nor am I trying to interfere with travel to Cuba,” Martinez emphatically said.  “I am only trying to intercept, before it leaves America, money that will otherwise be transferred to the Cuban government or to entities in Cuba that it owns and controls.  That seems to be the only way Cuba will ever pay its legal debts to me, and others like me in America, whom Cuba has hurt.”

“No amount of money can erase the harm to me and my children caused by the illegal acts of that regime.  But I certainly hope that my efforts to collect the debt Cuba legally owes will show Cuba that American laws will be enforced in the United States, and may dissuade the Cuban government from victimizing others.”

For more background on Martinez’s story, see the following links:

Time Magazine article: http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1101010702-152638,00.html

Miami Herald: http://www.fiu.edu/~fcf/lettgopain97ana.html

New York Times article: http://www.nytimes.com/1999/08/15/us/ex-wife-is-suing-cuba-over-a-spy-s-deception.html

Los Angeles Times article: http://articles.latimes.com/1999/aug/05/news/mn-62842