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Subscribe to RSSIn what could be the setting for a gripping thriller, Cuba and the U.S. are reportedly locked in a standoff this weekend, with the fate of an American contractor hanging in the balance. NBC's Michael Isikoff reports.
HAVANA, Cuba — It seems straight out of a Cold War spy movie. A group of Cuban undercover agents sneak into the U.S. and set up a secret pro-Castro network in south Florida — receiving instructions in code through late night radio transmissions from handlers in Havana. But the FBI gets wind, tails the agents, intercepts their messages and busts them, sending the agents off to federal prison, their ringleader for life.
Today, the story of those spies — called La Red Avispa, or the Wasp Network — rolled up by the feds 14 years ago is barely known in the United States. But its members, now known as the Cuban Five, are national heroes in Cuba — the subjects of mass demonstrations, their pictures on billboards and posters – and their petitions for freedom are championed around the world by Nobel Prize winners, celebrities like Danny Glover, even former President Jimmy Carter.
And they may now prove key to the tense impasse between Havana and Washington over the fate of jailed American contractor Alan Gross, arrested three years ago Monday for distributing sophisticated satellite equipment to Cuba’s tiny Jewish community and later sentenced to 15 years in prison for "acts against the independence and/or territorial integrity of the state." (Gross says he was only bringing Internet access to Cuba.)
While the U.S. is demanding that Cuba release Gross, who visitors say is angry and frail, having lost 110 pounds in prison, Cuban officials say they are willing to do so only if President Barack Obama will release the Cuban agents.
"I understand what Mr. Gross is going through," Gerardo Hernandez, 47, the Cuban Five ringleader, said in an exclusive interview with NBC News in October at his current home --a federal prison outside Victorville, Calif. "I understand his sufferings and that of his family. … If an agreement can be reached, to stop the sufferings of six families, then I welcome it."
The idea of a swap — the release of Gross for Hernandez and his confederates among the Cuban Five — faces legal and political hurdles.
NBC News
A billboard in Cuba shows the Cuban Five -- Gerardo Hernández, Antonio Guerrero, Ramón Labañino, Fernando González, and René González.
An Obama administration official told NBC News that the "imprisonment of Alan Gross, an international development worker, is not comparable in any way to that of the five Cuban agents," noting that the Cubans were afforded their "due process rights" and convicted of serious crimes.
Cuban Five ringleader Gerardo Hernandez
Members of Congress have denounced Cuba for holding Gross "hostage" to the release of the Cuban Five. "The Castro regime has no regard for human rights or international law," said Democratic Sen. Robert Menendez of New Jersey, a senior member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and frequent critic of the Castro regime. "The Cuba Five should serve their sentences for spying."
And Hernandez, who sports a trim goatee and displays a hearty laugh despite 14 years in prison, might not make the ideal candidate for a pardon or commutation from Obama — a precondition for a swap to take place. Asked if he regretted any of his actions, he smiled and said, "I regret that I got caught." In a follow up phone interview, Hernandez readily acknowledged that "we violated some U.S. laws" — mainly failing to register as foreign agents with the U.S. Justice Department. "We came here with fake passports. Fake identities." But, he added, "We act out of necessity."
As Hernandez and Cuban officials tell it, the Cuban Five was not sent to spy on the U.S. government. In fact, the members weren’t accused of stealing any U.S. secrets (although they were convicted of conducting surveillance of U.S. military bases.) Instead, the mission of the Wasp Network, they say, was to infiltrate anti-Castro exile groups in South Florida who Havana suspected of plotting terrorist attacks inside Cuba. Among those attacks: the notorious bombing of Cubana Flight 455 over the Caribbean in 1976, killing 73 passengers (including teenage members of a Cuban national fencing team) as well as a string of hotel bombings in Havana in 1997 that killed an Italian businessman and were believed to have been aimed at disrupting Cuba’s nascent tourist industry.
"Cuba doesn’t have drones to neutralize the terrorists abroad," said Hernandez. "They need to send people to gather information and protect the Cuban people from these terrorist actions. … I think it’s the same feeling that Americans have that defend their country and love their country when they go to infiltrate al-Qaida and send information here to avoid the terrorist acts. And the U.S. has to understand that Cuba has been involved in the war against terrorism for 50 years.”
Alan Gross in an undated family photo, left, and in 2012, after losing 110 pounds while imprisoned in Cuba.
While admitting his role in spying on anti-Castro exiles — "I would do it again," he said — Hernandez adamantly denies the most serious charge against him: conspiracy to commit murder. His conviction on that count, which has earned him a life sentence, was based on his alleged complicity in the February 1996 shoot-down by a Cuban fighter jet of two Cessna planes flown by members of the Cuban exile group Brothers to the Rescue, killing four men.
The anti-Castro group had provoked Cuba by dropping anti-government leaflets over Havana. At the trial of the Cuban Five, prosecutors introduced messages between Hernandez and his controllers in Havana suggesting he had prior knowledge of the shoot-down. But Hernandez insists that prosecutors misinterpreted the messages and he knew nothing that wasn’t already public.
"No, sir, absolutely not," Hernandez replied when asked if he knew in advance about the incident. "All I knew was what everybody knew: that Brothers to the Rescue through the years has violated many times Cuban air space, that there have been 16 diplomatic notes from Cuba complaining over that situation."
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Ricardo Alarcon, president of the Cuban National Assembly
Ricardo Alarcon, president of Cuba’s National Assembly (the Parliament) and a longtime Castro confidante, said this week in Havana that "the Cuban government publicly, front page in our papers, months before that incident had warned that we are not going to allow any more intrusions into our air space. … The order, the decision (to shoot down the planes) came from the highest level. Fidel Castro himself had said that publicly, that he was responsible for that decision."
U.S. Appeals Court Judge Phyllis Kravitch of Atlanta concluded in 2008 that prosecutors never proved their case tying Hernandez to a plot to shoot down the planes, but she was outvoted two to one and his conviction on the murder conspiracy charge was upheld. Now Hernandez and his lawyers are appealing on another ground: that hundreds of thousands of dollars in secret U.S. government payments to anti-Castro journalists in Miami — newly discovered through Freedom of Information Act requests — inflamed the Miami community against the Cuban Five and made it impossible for them for them to get a fair trial. The payments were mostly made for appearances on Radio Marti, a TV and radio operation funded by the Broadcasting Board of Governors, an independent agency that oversees international broadcasting sponsored by the U.S. government.
Slideshow: Castro through the years
In court papers, lawyers for the Cuban Five have cited articles by some of the journalists, including one that denounced the "genocidal character" of Castro’s regime and another that speculated that the real purpose of the Wasp Network was to introduce "chemical or bacteriological weapons" into south Florida. “"his information was spread throughout the Miami area and helped inflame the community against these guys," said Martin Garbus, Hernandez’ lawyer. "It was total madness. … When the case was brought, the anti-Castro feeling in the Miami area was at a fevered pitch."
Keystone / Getty Images
Ever since U.S.-backed Cuban President Fulgencio Batista was forced from power by rebels led by Fidel Castro in 1958, the relationship between the two nations has been fraught with difficulties.
U.S. prosecutors dismiss as “implausible” and "unfounded" the idea that the Radio Marti payments were part of a U.S. government effort to influence the jury in the Cuban Five case.
"The jury (in the case) was carefully selected, following a searching voir dire (jury selection process) that the appellate court deemed a high model for a high-profile case, and that the trial comported with the highest standards for fairness and professionalism,” wrote Caroline Heck Miller, an assistant U.S. attorney in Miami, in a court filing in July asking a judge to reject Hernandez’ motion for a hearing into the payments to the journalists. She also noted, as federal prosecutors have repeatedly done when the issue has come up, that “no Cuban-Americans – the audience (Hernandez) hypothesizes as the target of the government campaign he imagines — served on the jury."
Unless Hernandez can somehow persuade a court to reopen his case – or barring a prisoner swap with Gross — he would seem to have few options.
American imprisoned in Cuba may have cancer, doctor says
Rene Gonzalez, another member of the Cuban Five who was not convicted of the conspiracy-to-commit-murder charge, was released from federal prison on probation late last year, but has not yet been allowed to return home to Cuba to live.
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Adriana Perez, wife of imprisoned Cuban agent, Gerardo Hernandez
The Cubans are doing their best to ratchet up the pressure. Just as Judy Gross has launched a public relations campaign in the United States to free her husband, appearing at a National Press Club press conference on Friday, this week the Cubans made Hernandez wife, Adriana, available for an interview with NBC News. A chemist in the food industry in Havana, she wept as she described the pain of separation from her husband — and how it has left her unable to bear children. "Every detail, every single moment reminds me of him," she said. "I believe there are many people in the U.S. and the American people as a whole, who could convey to President Obama that there is a woman here suffering."
Hernandez, too, says missing his wife is the hardest part of his life in prison. And he has few illusions about his prospects of being freed. "The only thing I know for sure with me is that I have two life sentences and live with that every day," he said. "And to keep your sanity and your mind, you have to be realistic. But I would be dishonest to say that I don’t have hope."
Michael Isikoff is NBC News' national investigative correspondent; NBC News Producer Mary Murray also contributed to this report.
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If they throw in a starting left hand pitcher for the Boston Red Sox...it's a deal !!!!!
I appreciate this post! Right as the frustration level started to peak I read this. Thank you for the levity.
He's guilty as hell, leave him let him serve his time in Cuba. It’s a very common thing for
these guys to setup what you'd call a mini telecommunication hub is these third
world countries for the termination of Voice over internet (VoIP) bypassing the local systems. It’s a huge
business where companies like AT&T would buy these illegal voice traffic. Essentially
how this works is, they illegally tie these mini telecommunication hubs into
local telecommunication systems of these counties and terminate voice traffic
coming mainly from the US…pure
profit, can be millions of dollars a week depending on the volume.
Gotta' cry "BS" on this one. You cannot tell me that someone his age had no idea about what he was doing, and the consequences thereof. I think the Cuban's hit the nail on the head with their charges.
That being said, it should not detract from the US government trying to trade spies for spies, but that all depends on how well a trade it is. Other than that, he should keep his mouth shut, or find another profession.
Ironic reading here. I feel for Mr Goss however-IF I was going to a foreign country with computer stuff or internet stuff-I THINK I would check with that country to verify what I am bringing is legal and OKAY? DUH!!! Now for ms Perez wife of the ringleader---I feel for you and your plight to not have your hubby home with you. However, reading this article and seeing YOUR DEFIENT hubby not apologetic or anything I AM NOT SORRY for you! For one thing your hubby gets home and you have kiddos they will only be like the talibannies they will only produce and brainwash the kids to commit other things or terror. Sorry~!! Perhaps your husband should show some sorrow for his actions. Now next news story!
You cannot isolate the situation with Gross from what what the U.S. government and its courts did to the Cuban Five. There is a pending Senate resolution which does this and will do nothing to resolve the current situation.
The U.S. government needs to seriously reconsider its reactionary anti-Cuba policy. It has legally declared war against Cuba with the enactment of the illegal Trade Embargo, it disllows its own citizens the right to come and go as they please when it comes to Cuba travel, and it meated out harsh sentences to the Cuban Five that were defending their country by gathering intelligence on illegal terrorist groups - one of which put a bomb on board an Air Cubana flight that killed all on board in midair.
If you want Gross released you need to begin by releasing the Cuban Five....
Which war is that?
The US can trade with whomever they wish. Cuba can trade with whomever they wish. What is the problem?
Wrong forum. Need to discuss the travel restriction of the Cubans with the Cuban government.
Problem is they were defending their country in my country.
Nah, Gross shouldn't have been down there and the Five shouldn't have been up here. Seems everything is as it should be already.
Spy swaps were usually done on the down low, but this case is getting way to much press for the swap to happen. If the 5 were here doing what they claimed, then the guy has a point about the US doing it with other terrorist organizations.
What would the US do if cuban planes flew into our airspace and tried to drop leaflets over NYC or DC? I think it's time to end the embargo and re-establish diplomatic relations with Cuba. I'm really dying to go there on vacation!
Don't need diplomatic relations. Gross is already on an all expense vacation paid for by the Cuban government. Shouldn't be difficult to join him.
So the United States is AGAINST terrorism unless it's right-wing cuban-american trash in South Florida, or Al-Qaeda sympathizing "freedom fighting" trash in Libya....hypocritical much? Here's an idea, how about the United States quit trying to bully Cuba, minds its own damn business, enforce the laws of this country and put cuban-american terrorist organizations like Alpha 66 behind bars, and return the five anti-terroist heroes to Cuba.
Yeah, I know it won't happen, that would imply that the United States is actually an enlightened world leader and not a corrupt to the core crumbling empire.
Oh well, keep fighting the good fight...
Argh! Well put and very sane advise.
I believe the 5 cubans should be sent home to Cuba with their families. And all the violent comments only reflect badly on the "American" people who don´t share these values and agree that peace and dialogue are the best tools to resolve any conflict.
What makes our spy worth five of theirs?
Propaganda. The Cuban 5 were not spying on the Government. How can this title be printed? Won't anyone take a few days a become educated on this matter? These 5, infiltrated Cuban-American terrorist groups who had previously organized attacks in Cuba: Attacks that killed civilians. These 5 were trying to stop future attacks. They never spied on the U.S. government. They are not spies- but now that M Isikoff has flagrantly deemed them so, the average idiot lemming will propagate this misinformation.
We have engaged in doing harm to Cuba for decades. In spite of all our embargoes and sanctions they still live better than most other South American countries. Let the men go home and open up normal and cooperative relations with our brothers and sisters in Cuba.
You have a brother and a sister in Cuba?
sounds like either another American who figures he can do whatever he wants in a foreign land either that or he's CIA and knew the risks, however I get the feeling that he is just a guy who figured if he got into trouble in a sh*thole country that someone would come to his aid, guess he figured wrong and found out that one of the last hardline communist countrys doesnt mess around when it comes to their laws concerning moving into the present, there are reasons cuba is still in the dark ages.
Will the really terrorist please stand up?
This guy was in Cuba illegally under US law. If we traded the Cuban spies for him, we would just have to jail his sorry butt. Best we just keep their spies and they can keep ours.
The real terrorists are CIA, FBI and the military who engaged in assassinations of democratically elected people not favorable to US hegemony of the world. We are a nation of military terrorists who quietly support murder by our silence and apathy. When it comes back to bite us it will be unsavory and destructive to our society. The disenfranchised will rise up against the establishment. And I hope soon. These government agents will rob this nation by milking the government through two and three retirement pensions over 40 years of pathetic government employment. They are a drag on true economic development. Let them eat cake. If I became a focus point of government opposition they would arrest me for treason. The rule of law is nothing more than slavery to the plutocracy.
Thomas feel free to leave. I hope you find some place that will treat you better. My shipmates and i have stopped many from entering the U.S , but no one from leaving.
The only ones who seem to know a little bit about this are chipsalom and bp storm. These are some facts that have elluded most of the people here: USA has conducted terrorist attacks on Cuba; Cuba has not conducted terrorist attacks on USA. USA has tried to kill the President of Cuba hundreds of times. Cuba has not tried to kill any USA President ever. Since the 70s Cuba has social democracy at work, in which all population is envolved in decision making policies, which means real democracy. USA does not. We, the USA have something which 80% USA citizens cannot call democracy, as they have stated in polls. We, in the USA are allowed to go and vote for a system that is already set and we really don't have a voice and actually 80% of us, USA citizens don't believe there is real democracy. And we are right. In this case. We are only allowed to go to the polls every 4 years to go back to our homes (the ones who still have homes) and go to our bussiness and to go buy goods but we don't really have much to say about the policy making laws of our country. We are free to die from drones without a trial. Obama passed a law stating exactly this. We, the USA is creating more terrorists that we can kill. We have political prisoners like Mumia Abu Jamal, Leonard peltier and Bradley Manning, to name just a few. The USA harbors terrorists like Luis Posada Carriles.
These Cuban 5 are Cuban political prisoners who actually said to the CIA why they were in the USA and when we, the USA felt like it could take advantage for political reasons of arresting them, we went ahead and did it. Then after 9/11 once their false accusations were set on stone, they have been imprisoned and the key was thrown away. Their families have not sen them in years since they are not granted visas to visit with them. Even Iran let the mothers of the three hikers to visit with their sons and daugther several times in prison!
This is just to clarify some wrong notions that people who are talking here have. Just empowering people. That is all. Like Martin Luther King said : "Nothing in the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity"
And my answer to if I would exchange is get help from organizations like www.nonviolentpeaceforce.org and see how we can make a better world, with less terrorism starting with us, the USA. So, yes, please bring back the terrorist to the USA and give back the five peace workers that we have imprisoned here based on lies to make it look like we are fighting terrorism.lol
The
only ones who seem to know a little bit about this are chipsalom and bp storm.
These are some facts that have eluded most of the people here: USA has
conducted terrorist attacks on Cuba; Cuba has not conducted terrorist attacks
on USA. USA has tried to kill the President of Cuba hundreds of times. Cuba has
not tried to kill any USA President ever. Since the 70s Cuba has social
democracy at work, in which all population is involved in decision making
policies, which means real democracy. USA does not. We, the USA have something
which 80% USA citizens cannot call democracy, as they have stated in polls. We,
in the USA are allowed to go and vote for a system that is already set and we
really don't have a voice and actually 80% of us, USA citizens don't believe
there is real democracy. And we are right. In this case. We are only allowed to
go to the polls every 4 years to go back to our homes (the ones who still have
homes) and go to our business and to go buy goods but we don't really have much
to say about the policy making laws of our country. We are free to die from
drones without a trial. Obama passed a law stating exactly this. We, the USA is
creating more terrorists that we can kill. We have political prisoners like
Mumia Abu Jamal, Leonard Peltier and Bradley Manning, to name just a few. The USA
harbors terrorists like Luis Posada Carriles.
These
Cuban 5 are Cuban political prisoners who actually said to the CIA why they
were in the USA and when we, the USA felt like it could take advantage for
political reasons of arresting them, we went ahead and did it. Then after 9/11
once their false accusations were set on stone, they have been imprisoned and
the key was thrown away. Their families have not seen them in years since they
are not granted visas to visit with them. Even Iran let the mothers of the
three hikers to visit with their sons and daughter several times in prison!
This
is just to clarify some wrong notions that people who are talking here have.
Just empowering people. That is all. Like Martin Luther King said :
"Nothing in the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and
conscientious stupidity"
And
my answer to if I would exchange is get help from organizations like
www.nonviolentpeaceforce.org and see how we can make a better world, with less
terrorism starting with us, the USA. So, yes, please bring back the terrorist
to the USA and give back the five peace workers that we have imprisoned here
based on lies to make it look like we are fighting terrorism.
The only ones who seem to know a little bit about this are chipsalom and bp storm.
These are some facts that have eluded most of the people here: USA has
conducted terrorist attacks on Cuba; Cuba has not conducted terrorist attacks
on USA. USA has tried to kill the President of Cuba hundreds of times. Cuba has
not tried to kill any USA President ever. Since the 70s Cuba has social
democracy at work, in which all population is involved in decision making
policies, which means real democracy. USA does not. We, the USA have something
which 80% USA citizens cannot call democracy, as they have stated in polls. We,
in the USA are allowed to go and vote for a system that is already set and we
really don't have a voice and actually 80% of us, USA citizens don't believe
there is real democracy. And we are right. In this case. We are only allowed to
go to the polls every 4 years to go back to our homes (the ones who still have
homes) and go to our business and to go buy goods but we don't really have much
to say about the policy making laws of our country. We are free to die from
drones without a trial. Obama passed a law stating exactly this. We, the USA is
creating more terrorists that we can kill. We have political prisoners like
Mumia Abu Jamal, Leonard Peltier and Bradley Manning, to name just a few. The USA
harbors terrorists like Luis Posada Carriles.
These Cuban 5 are Cuban political prisoners who actually said to the CIA why they
were in the USA and when we, the USA felt like it could take advantage for
political reasons of arresting them, we went ahead and did it. Then after 9/11
once their false accusations were set on stone, they have been imprisoned and
the key was thrown away. Their families have not seen them in years since they
are not granted visas to visit with them. Even Iran let the mothers of the
three hikers to visit with their sons and daughter several times in prison!
This is just to clarify some wrong notions that people who are talking here have.
Just empowering people. That is all. Like Martin Luther King said :
"Nothing in the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and
conscientious stupidity."
And my answer to if I would exchange is get help from organizations like
www.nonviolentpeaceforce.org and see how we can make a better world, with less
terrorism starting with us, the USA. So, yes, please bring back the terrorist
to the USA and give back the five peace workers that we have imprisoned here
based on lies to make it look like we are fighting terrorism.
I agree that Carriles is a terrorist, but Peltier and Jamal are cop killers and Manning should be hanged for treason.
Since Fidel Castro took over in Cuba, there have been assassination plans and attempts, a poorly planned and executed invasion, and numerous terrorism actions to include killing fishermen, downing a Cuban plane with a bomb, and bombing Havana hotels to discourage tourism. These actions have been funded by the CIA or Cuban exile groups. It is estimated that over 3,400 Cuban citizens have been murdered throughout the years in these terrorist attacks.
After each of these terrorist acts, the Cuban government warned the United States relative to its findings and asked American authorities to take measures against these groups operating from the US.
If these actions had taken place on American soil, President Bush may have said something like “We must take the battle to the enemy, disrupt his plans and confront the worst threats before they emerge. “ And he did.
The same actions that Bush advocates under similar circumstances were taken by Fidel Castro. In 1990 the Cuban government started its own intelligence operation in the U.S. Its purpose was to infiltrate the groups in Florida in a bid to forestall attacks.
In 1998 after meetings between a Cuban envoy and the White House Chief of Staff and the National Security Advisor, an agreement was reached to share terrorism intelligence. As part of this agreement the FBI would send a team to Havana to receive intelligence about terrorist activities. This data was then provided to the FBI team in Havana. The US, instead of cracking down on the terrorist groups, asked the FBI to find out the source of the Cuban government's intelligence dossier on the terrorist networks in Florida.
As a result five men (Antonio Guerrero, Fernando Gonzalez, Gerardo Hernandez, Ramon Labanino and Rene Gonzales) were arrested in Miami in September 1998. The charges against them were: conspiracy to commit murder in a first degree, conspiracy to commit espionage, conspiracy to commit crime against the United States, false identities and documents, and being non-registered agents of a foreign government.
The impossibility for the Five to receive a fair trail in Miami should have been obvious to all. Miami is the home to approximately 600,000 people of Cuban origin and the jury chosen was 20% Cuban-American. In addition the City of Miami honoured a famous terrorist accused in over 100 bombings and convicted in the Cubana Airlines bombing by commemorating Orlando Bosch Day. While the US Government thought it possible for the Cuban Five to receive a fair trial in Miami, it requested a change of venue in a lawsuit against Attorney General Ashcroft related to the Elian Gonzalez affair.
The trail result was as could be anticipated by the prosecution with guilty verdicts on all 26 charges. What was especially indicative of the bias of the jury was that at the end of the trial the Prosecutor requested that the murder charges against Gerardo Hernández be withdrawn due to a lack of proof. This motion was refused by the judge and he was indeed found guilty even though the Prosecution itself deemed the evidence presented to be insufficient.
The sentences against the Five ranged from double life sentences to 17 years. It should be noted that the three life sentences dispersed were the same as given to spies Aldrich Aimes and Robert Hannsen, actual spies that gave thousands documents of classified information to the Soviet Union. The five were each dispatched to separate maximum security prisons throughout the US and spent 18 months in solitary confinement.
In August 2005, a three judge panel of the US Court of Appeals in Atlanta unanimously overturned the convictions. In September 2005 US Attorney U.S. Attorney Alexander Acosta submitted a request that all 12 judges of the Court of Appeals reconsider the panel’s decision. Exactly one year after the victory that granted the Five a new trial, the panel voted 10 to 2 to deny the five a new trial, and instead affirmed the trial court. They are national heroes in Cuba, and countries throughout the world have called for their release.
This fiasco is what happens when US foreign policy towards Cuba is dictated by a group of thugs in Miami.