It’s got to be just a few rotten apples, no?
But there’s no spies in, say, the US Department Immigration, right?
35 thoughts on “Cuban spies among us?”
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…an island on the net without a bearded dictator
…an island on the net without a bearded dictator
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The FBI spies on all Cuban exile organizations. So does the DGI. Sometimes the FBI and DGI spy on the same organizations and even exchange information. Sometimes the FBI has double-agents who work for the DGI but report to the FBI. Sometimes the DGI has double agents that work for the FBI but report to the DGI. The FBI and the DGI sometimes know about each others’ double agents and continue dealing with them anyway. It’s all very incestuous and it all boils down to one thing: The FBI and the DGI both perceive Cuban exiles as “the enemy.”
The one bright spot in all this:
In order to pay these spies for their time, Cuba has to have a lot of money outside of Cuba in order to adequately launder the money’s origin. Given the plundering of Cuba by the castros, Cuba doesn’t have all that much money, so that means all that money is likely most of what the castro government has.
Many of the countries harboring Cuban money have had state-owned businesses with a bad history of doing business with the castro government. So naturally, Cuba is deep in debt to those countries.
Now, let’s recall the doctrine of odious debt, which castro soooo championed as a way not to pay the debts of previous Cuban governments. It’s actually what will bring the castro government down. Here’s how:
Fearing that raul can’t hold it together, and that in the wake of regime change castro’s debts to their countries will be declared odious debt that cannot be collected, many of these countries harboring Cuban accounts are likely to freeze and seize any known Cuban assets in their countries, counting on asking forgiveness to be more profitable than waiting for permission that might not come. In effect, it will be taking away the money raul was counting on to stay in power—thus a self-fulfilling prophecy.
My guess is that this is going on even as we speak.
Rep. Lincoln Diaz-Balart said there are other Cuban spies in academia. What is the FBI waiting for to arrest FIU Professor Marifeli Perez-Stable, a cohort of the admitted and convicted spies Carlos and Elsa Alvarez for more than three decades?
http://heraldwatch.blogspot.com/2006/11/herald-needs-to-clean-up-its-own-house.html
and
http://blogs.herald.com/cuban_connection/2007/02/us_couple_snoop.html
From: de la Cova, Antonio Rafael
Subject: FBI debriefing of Cuban DGI officer Jesús Raúl Pérez Méndez
Date: November 27, 2006 12:24:49 AM EST
To: dlandsberg@miamiherald.com
Cc: TFiedler@miamiherald.com, jweaver@miamiherald.com
1 Attachment, 23.9 KB
Mr. David Landsberg, Publisher
The Miami Herald
Dear Mr. Landsberg: Attached you will find a bilingual copy of an FBI debriefing report of Jesús Raúl Pérez Méndez, taken when he defected in Miami on July 13, 1983. Pérez Méndez at the time was chief of the Department of the Community Abroad of the Cuban Institute of Friendship with the Peoples (ICAP) and was also a captain in the Cuban Directorate General of Intelligence (DGI).
In 1987, when I was the editor of Crónica Gráfica magazine in San Juan, Puerto Rico, I was shown a copy of the original document, typed on a sheet emblazoned with the FBI logo and routing markers, by an intelligence officer of the Police of Puerto Rico. The policeman was part of a Task Force on Terrorism between his agency and the FBI investigating the Cuban connection in Puerto Rican terrorism. I was not allowed to photocopy the original document, but was permited to transcribe it as it appears attached here. I have made no omissions or additions to the original draft as it was shown to me. The police intelligence officer wanted my opinion regarding the authenticity of the statements made by Pérez Méndez, since our magazine had published various articles on Cuban espionage and subversion in the United States and Puerto Rico. One of the Castro agents mentioned in the debriefing, Raúl Alzaga Manresa, resided in Puerto Rico.
According to a recent statement by retired DEA agent Juan Pérez, who lives in Miami, Pérez Méndez was supposed to defect to the DEA and the CIA in New York City, but was handled by the FBI upon his arrival in Miami in 1983. Pérez Méndez was immediately relocated under the federal witness protection program. He publicly surfaced for the first time after twnety-three years when he appeared on the Miami TV program “Polos Opuestos” directed by María Elvira Salazar on November 9 and 10, 2006. he defector’s face was blotted out during the interviews to maintain his anonimity. He was accompanied on the program by retired Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) agent Sergio Piñón, who resides in Miami.
Pérez Méndez stated during the TV interviews that he was asked by the FBI to testify before the U.S. Congress soon after his arrival in Miami, but feared doing so due to the retaliation that the Castro regime would take against his family that remained in Cuba. He also said that his U.S. government handlers moved him around various covert locations after learning that Cuban and Soviet intelligence agents were on his trail.
Pérez Méndez acknowleged during his TV interviews that he “gave birth” to the Antonio Maceo Brigade (BAM). This group was created by the DGI in 1977, with Cuban Americans under the age of thirty, whose mission was to act as agents of influence in the United States on behalf of the Cuban Revolution. Pérez Méndez added that he was also in charge of recruiting agents of influence in U.S. academic circles. He refused to mention during his TV interviews the names of those that he dealt with in what amounted to espionage activities. Pérez Méndez concluded that he is writing a book that will explain how Cuba uses agents of influence in the United States.
Since Pérez Méndez is apparently still under the witness protection program, I am sure that his handlers will edit his book. Therefore, I have decided to publicly release the information that he provided during his debriefing in 1983, in the hope that upon this becoming public knowledge, he will be allowed to give a full account of everything that he knows.
In 1993, I wrote an academic study entitled “Academic Espionage: U.S. Taxpayer Funding of a Pro Castro Study” for the Institute for U.S. Cuba Relations in Washington, D.C. The report was translated into Spanish and published in Miami’s “Diario las Américas” newspaper. I used only one quote from the Pérez Méndez debriefing, which indicated that one of the participants of that project, Professor Marifeli Pérez-Stable, “was a DGI agent who responded to Cuban intelligence officials Isidro Gómez and Jesús Arboleya Cervera. Pérez-Stable, who had organized another DGI front group called the Cuban Culture Circle, was receiving $100 for every person that traveled to Cuba through that organization. According to Pérez-Méndez, Pérez-Stable replaced DGI agent Lourdes Casal after her death in Havana, and the DGI and ICAP prepared the yearly plans for Pérez-Stable.”
Pérez-Stable is currently on the board of contributors of the Miami Herald and is also a professor at Florida International University (FIU). Three other FIU professors, Carlos Alvarez, Lisandro Pérez, and Guillermo Grenier, were founding members and/or collaborators with Pérez-Stable in the DGI controlled Areito magazine, the BAM, and the Cuban Culture Circle. Professor Alvarez and his wife Elsa Prieto, an FIU employee, are presently awaiting trial in Miami under charges stemming from his admission to FBI agents that for decades they were spies for Cuban intelligence.
The possibility of Castro agents working at the Herald was recently raised when El Nuevo Herald reporter Pablo Alfonso indicated in his resignation letter of November 18, 2006, published in the Diario las Américas, that the Herald “has not investigated how its special reports have been filtrated [leaked] to and continue being filtrated [leaked] to the castroite press before they reach the Herald readers.” Pérez Méndez could shed some light on this issue. He and the FBI can attest to the veracity of the attached document. I believe that the Herald has the responsibility to investigate the statements made by Pérez-Méndez, especially since he indicated that an actual member of your board of contributors has been controlled and financed by Cuban intelligence.
Sincerely,
Dr. Antonio de la Cova
Latino Studies
Indiana University, Bloomington
And if you think that Cuba does not have spies checking out this site you are sadly mistaken.
pototo,
Yeah, there are quite a few notable IP’s here on a daily basis. Lots from FIU, too.
Maybe I’m naive but I find it absurd to think that the FBI cooperates with the Cuban DGI. To say that the FBI spies on exile groups is obvious but the link between them and DGI would have to be substantiated otherwise it’s just meaningless conjecture.
Maybe I’m naive but I find it absurd to think that the FBI cooperates with the Cuban DGI. To say that the FBI spies on exile groups is obvious but the link between them and DGI would have to be substantiated otherwise it’s just meaningless conjecture.
Henry,
It’s the use of the word “cooperates” that should be at issue here. Espionage agencies must be in some kind of “contact” with rival espionage agencies for many reasons.
Henry:
The FBI and DGI do exchange information on Cuban exiles under the cover of “anti-terrorism.” It was more than 20 years ago that this was publicly acknowledged by the FBI. Because you don’t happen to know something does not make it “unsubstantiated” or “meaningless conjecture.” Consult with Professor de la Cova if you have any questions about FBI-DGI cooperation. I hope this doesn’t shatter your faith in this country anymore than the Bay of Pigs, the Kennedy-Khrushchev Pact, the Elián case or any recent or past betrayal has.
BTW, Henry, surely you have heard of Juan Pablo Roque, the Cuban double-spy who worked for both the DGI and the FBI? Curiously, Roque was assigned by both agencies to infiltrate Brothers to the Rescue, despite the fact that the FBI, in particular, knew that he also worked for the DGI. Using the information which Roque provided, Castro was able to shoot their plane in international waters. Roque then “defected” to Cuba. There was a long internal dispute at the FBI as to whether they should forward his last check to Havana. Finally, it was decided not to, despite the “bad effect” that this would have on other double-spys.
Henry, when you are dealing with espionage agencies, whatever their colors, morality is something that doesn’t even enter the picture.
Manuel what makes your claim unsubstantiated is not my ignorance of the deeds you claim but the evidence (or lack thereof) that you provide to support the claim.
The presence of double agents does not mean that cooperation exists between agencies exists. Obviously the double agent is doing the work of one government while claiming falsely that he is working for another.
There was a long internal dispute at the FBI as to whether they should forward his last check to Havana.
Prove it.
Manuel what makes your claim unsubstantiated is not my ignorance of the deeds you claim but the evidence (or lack thereof) that you provide to support the claim.
The presence of double agents does not mean that cooperation exists between agencies exists. Obviously the double agent is doing the work of one government while claiming falsely that he is working for another.
There was a long internal dispute at the FBI as to whether they should forward his last check to Havana.
Prove it.
Henry:
Let me make this even simpler for you: The FBI exchanges information on Cuban exile organizations on a regular basis with the DGI and has done so for more than 20 years (if not more). This is not a state secret. But, as I said, I will let Professor de la Cova, who has actually suffered the effects of this cooperation, instruct you on it if he wishes. Perhaps you will more readily take his word than mine.
As for the check, I should have added that this was before the FBI had confirmed conclusively that Roque was responsible for the shooting down of the Brothers to the Rescue airplane. Still, they must have had their suspicions since the FBI knew that Roque was a double-agent.
Your “Prove It” appears to imply that you don’t believe me, in fact, that you may believe that I am lying or making this up, which I can best characterize as unfortunate on your part. I will try to find the link for you to assuage your doubts about my veracity.
I must tell you that I find your “Prove It” somewhat comical too, since that is the favorite expression of some Castro-harpie on the Democratic Underground blog whenever anyone makes a comment vaguely critical of Castro.
Manuel,
You have to admit that the “chcek” story does sound rather outlandish. I believe Henry was only askingfor proof of same, with no criticism behind it.
As for “cooperation” anyone that knows anything about covert agencies knows that there is a “sharing” of information, if only to mask the sharing of misinformation. I would hardly note this as “cooperation” as cooperation implies both parties working together for the same cause.
Manuel and Henry:
Thank you for calling me to task. I had to search through my files to look for a document on FBI-DGI collaboration against anti-Castro Cuban exile activists in June 25, 1979. I scanned it and just posted it on my website at
http://www.latinamericanstudies.org/espionage/FBI-DGI.pdf
The document is self-explanatory. Cuban agents arriving in Puerto Rico with their sports team gave the FBI a list of 84 Cuban exiles that represented a threat to the Castro regime.
Interestingly enough, the DGI threw in the names of at least five of their own agents into the list to try to hide their role as spies.
Among the Cuban agents on this list are:
Barandela Estevez, Raul
Carballo Diaz, Roberto
Perez Alamo, Duney
Poland, Otto
Tornes Garcia, Luis
Angel Padilla traveled to Cuba in the 1990s and is presently a Castro “dialogue” proponent.
FBI and DEA informants on the list include
Castro Paz, Francisco “Frank” Eulalio
Lopez Estrada, Armando
Other activists, such as the Novo brothers, Alvin Ross, and others, do not appear on the list because they were jailed in the U.S. at the time for anti-Castro activities.
Val:
It sounds “outlandish” if you subscribe, as I do, to the moral norms of civilized society. Espionage agencies are not about morality: they are about results.
The FBI and the DGI are not only agencies sharing information. The U.S. Coast Guard and Castro’s Coast Guard are also in constant communication and literally work hand-in-hand in the interdiction of Cuban refugees. But, of course, they are both involved in the same “humanitarian work.”
De la Cova,
Perhaps I am mistaken but I don’t believe this is the kind of thing Tellechea was referring to when he said: “It’s all very incestuous and it all boils down to one thing: The FBI and the DGI both perceive Cuban exiles as “the enemy.”
In the case you cite the Cuban DGI agent (we assume he was one) reached out to the FBI not as a DGI agent but ostensibly as the head of security for the for the athletes. As you point out, this is also a case of misinformation as the agent included names of Cuban DGI agents so to give them cover. This unsolicited approach is hardly evidence of collobaration or cooperation between the two services. In fact we don’t know how the FBI interpreted the approach.
De la Cova,
Perhaps I am mistaken but I don’t believe this is the kind of thing Tellechea was referring to when he said: “It’s all very incestuous and it all boils down to one thing: The FBI and the DGI both perceive Cuban exiles as “the enemy.”
In the case you cite the Cuban DGI agent (we assume he was one) reached out to the FBI not as a DGI agent but ostensibly as the head of security for the for the athletes. As you point out, this is also a case of misinformation as the agent included names of Cuban DGI agents so to give them cover. This unsolicited approach is hardly evidence of collobaration or cooperation between the two services. In fact we don’t know how the FBI interpreted the approach.
Henry:
The first article from The Sun-Sentinel [February 29, 1996] mentions the $1500 check that Juan Pablo Roque was owed by the FBI for his services at the time of his “defection” to Havana. His “services” included infiltrating Brothers to the Rescue for the FBI. It is not the original source for my reference, but it covers the ground pretty well. When I locate the original source (accessed a decade ago), I will post it too.
http://www.hermanos.org/feb24/roque-fbi.html
The second article from The Miami Herald’s Tropic Magazine [Feb. 16, 1997] reveals in depth the cooperation of U.S. and Cuban intelligence in bringing down the Brothers to the Rescue organization. No punches are pulled by Basulto. Get ready to have your worldview seriously shaken, Henry, although you seem rather adept at dismissing all evidence that contradicts your fairy tale view of the FBI.
Here is the link to the second article:
http://www.hermanos.org/feb24/tropic.html
Manuel,
I take issue with some of your broad assumptions.
You seem to paint a picture that the FBI is largely in “cooperation” mode with Cuban intelligence and also seem to imply that their goals are the same. That is preposterous.
We’ve been through this before. Even with all its faults, and its “betrayals”, and mistakes done by ELEMENTS of the US, such as the Kennedy, Clintons and to a lessor extent, even the Bush family, The fact is our people have had no better friend than the United States. When everyone, and I mean EVERYONE turned their backs on us, this was our ONLY friend that took us in and at least took a moral stand in some capaoity against the regime – allowing us to live and prosper in freedom. Your statements imply that to help the Cuban regime is the policy of the United States, and that really bothers me.
If you are stating that some elements of the US government betrayed us, you are absolutely correct. But I for one, refuse to CONDEMN what has been our only friend for all these years.
Didn’t the FBI work diligently to identify the “Wasp” network and the “five” bastards? Didnt they get Montes convicted? You need to put things in perspective.
The articles I cited above prove my assertion that the FBI and DGI cooperate on matters concerning the infiltration of Cuban exile organizations and routinely exchange information which either side could use to combat “terrorism” (any activity carried out by Cuban exiles to effect the liberation of Cuba). In fact, Basulto suggests a level of collaboration that cannot be characterized as other than criminal.
The following study by Professor Francisco Wong- Díaz (published by the U.S. government and cleared for official release) shows that the DGI effectively controls the flow of information about Cuba to the FBI and has for decades. Its agents feed lies to the FBI while reporting U.S. secrets to the DGI. You think it all started with Ana Belén Montes? It’s been going on for 40 years.
A few facts to contemplate:
Francisco Avila Azcuy ran operations for Alpha 66, all the while reporting secretly to the FBI and Cuban intelligence. Avila planned a 1981 raid on Cuba, telling both the FBI and DGI about it.
José Rafael Fernández Brenes jumped ship from a Cuban merchant vessel in 1988. From 1988-1991, he helped establish and run TV Martí, whose signal was jammed from its inception in 1990, due in part to frequency and technical data provided by Fernández Brenes.
Major Florentino Aspillaga Lombard, the Cuban DGI resident in Plague who defected to the U.S. in 1987 contended that most, if not all, of the Cuban agents recruited by the CIA from the mid-1960s onward were doubles — pretending to be loyal to the U.S. while working in secret for Havana. Four years later, CIA analysts and counterintelligence officers glumly concluded the major was telling the truth. This meant not only that much of what the agency knew about Cuba was wrong, but also that a great deal of what Cuba knew about the CIA was right.
Continue reading (it only gets worse):
http://www.strategicstudiesinstitute.army.mil/pdffiles/PUB744.pdf
I never said the FBI doesn’t have informants in the exile community. de la Cova can certainly vouch for their existence. The fact that Roque ended up being a double agent, againm does not prove that the FBI is teaming up with the Cuban DGI to foul up the exile community. First of all what would be the desired result? Bill Clinton ended up having to sign a law that he didn’t want to sign as a result of the BTTR shootdown. Do you really believe the FBI conspired with the DGI to have the planes shot down?
I never said the FBI doesn’t have informants in the exile community. de la Cova can certainly vouch for their existence. The fact that Roque ended up being a double agent, againm does not prove that the FBI is teaming up with the Cuban DGI to foul up the exile community. First of all what would be the desired result? Bill Clinton ended up having to sign a law that he didn’t want to sign as a result of the BTTR shootdown. Do you really believe the FBI conspired with the DGI to have the planes shot down?
Max,
Don’t forget the Alvarezes.
Max,
Don’t forget the Alvarezes.
Max:
I make no “assumptions. I merely state the facts. If the facts offend you, they should. But there is nothing that I can do to change them.
You are right, of course: “The fact is our people have had no better friend than the United States.” By the same token it is also correct to say: The fact is our people have had no worse enemy than the United States. Both these facts reside very comfortably in my mind. I am sure there is enough room in your brain to accommodate them as well.
Henry:
That’s right, Henry. “[T]he FBI does have informants in the Cuban community.” The FBI also shares the information that it obtains from them with the DGI, as the DGI feeds the information its own agents harvest from the exile community to the FBI (whether true or not).
This, Henry, is known as cooperation. In fact, collaboration would be even better.
There is always contact between intel agencies. This is how governments know when XYZ is just an exercise, and when it is some kind of attempt to make a point. This keeps people from pulling the trigger prematurely.
As for the Cuban exiles, they aren’t all angels. Yes, castro over-uses the excuse of the “Miami Mafia,” and tends to apply it to any Cubano who doesn’t agree with his rob-olucion. But it doesn’t mean there are not actual Cuban and Cuban-American gangsters out there. Gangsters are a threat to castro’s power, and a threat to American law and order.
How else is the United States supposed to tell the difference between an innocent dissident victim of the castros and a hitman for a drug runner if they can’t talk to the Cuban end of things?
Manuel,
I must again strongly disagree. The US has been in the forefront of the fight against tyranny for much of its history – and you have agreed to this. Yes, they have made gross mistakes by misguided govermment officials through the years.
Even with all these faults that I acknowledge, in now way can the US also be a “worse enemy” and at the same time be a best friend because of mistakes in judgement. Tell me, do you live in the United States? Did this country not offer us freedom and moral support when NO ONE ELSE WOULD?
I refuse to condemn this great country that gave our people so much help. This is especially true now when so many shitheads from the far left, the islamofascists, Hollywood, you name it, incessantly criticise the U.S. Even with all its faults, there is NOTHING better. You have to look at the whole picture, not just “cherry pick” what you feel supports your arguments. Even with all the so-called evidence you claim, there are many more incidents of the United States supporting us, giving us a chance to live in freedom, some Americans losing their lives in support of us. Cuba was most prosperous when it had good relations with the U.S.
As for the FBI, it HAS to engage Cuban intelligence, sometimes under the pretense of “spying” on exiles. I am not denying that some elements have not helped us, and even went so far as to imprison exiles fighting Castro. But after looking and surveying all the facts, your view just doesnt stack up. That is like denouncing Abraham Lincoln because he at first supported having slavery if he could keep the Union together. Jose Marti had flaws, yet I don’t condemn him because of them.
Where would we be without the US? Where would the WORLD be without the US? HELLO!!
You, me, and most of us would probably be living in a gulag somewhere.
I know you are not a bad person, and I seriously enjoy some of your posts.
Henry, you’re right..
And that was very recent. Most of these agents risk their lives for us.
Manuel,
I am not for a moment comparing you to the leftists and other idiots. I just think you need to look at ALL the facts, not just the ones that support your views.
As it happens Basulto was on TV tonight talking about the BTTR shootdown as it relates to Ana Belen Montes (because the book about Montes was just released) and he said that the FBI was duped by Roque and that they were embarrassed by the fact that they were duped.
As it happens Basulto was on TV tonight talking about the BTTR shootdown as it relates to Ana Belen Montes (because the book about Montes was just released) and he said that the FBI was duped by Roque and that they were embarrassed by the fact that they were duped.
Henry:
And it was not the first time the FBI has been duped by Castro’s agents (see above). I am glad that you believe Basulto; for then you should have no difficulty at all believing me. Basulto accused the FBI in the Tropic article of complicity in the killing of the Brothers to the Rescue. In fact, he puts the blame equally on the FBI and the DGI, whom he also asserts worked together to undermine his organization. Since you asked me for links, I wish you would at least peruse them.
Max:
We will always disagree cordially. Like Martí, I do not hate this country; but my admiration for it goes only as far as its respect for my own country’s right to freedom.