CUBA: Phoney Dissidents Infiltrated U.S. Offices in Havana

By Patricia Grogg Reprint | | Print |

Patricia Grogg

HAVANA, Apr 9 2003 (IPS) - Agents of the Cuban government who infiltrated the opposition movement had free access to U.S. diplomatic offices in Havana, according to revelations made by Cuban foreign minister Felipe Pérez Roque in a prolonged press conference Wednesday.

To be admitted into those offices "one has to hold a pass. Mine was special. It says admittance at any time of day," said Néstor Baguer Sánchez, who claimed to be a journalist but is known as "Octavio" to the Cuban Security Services.

A similar story was heard from Odilia Collazo, who identified herself as agent "Tania" of the Cuban Interior Ministry during the summary trials of more than 70 dissidents that took place last Thursday through Monday.

Minister Pérez Roque played video recordings of the testimonies of both for the press Wednesday.

Until last week, Baguer headed the Cuban Association of Independent Journalists and Collazo led the Human Rights Party of Cuba, two groups within the island’s fragmented dissident movement.

Alongside opposition activists Héctor Palacios (this week sentenced to 25 years in prison) and Oscar Elías Biscet (whose sentence will be announced Thursday), Baguer and Collazo were reportedly given free access to use the fax machine, cellular phones and computers of the U.S. Interests Section in Havana.

The U.S. buildings are closely guarded by Cuba’s Protection Regiment for diplomatic headquarters, in addition to the security measures taken by the U.S. mission itself.

The dissidents "have the status of employees there," commented Pérez Roque after showing video recordings of Baguer and Collazo’s testimonies.

The revelations of the Fidel Castro government’s intelligence work within the country’s dissident movement did not cause much surprise in diplomatic circles here.

"It is no mystery that there are agents in service of the government operating within the opposition," said a European diplomat who spoke on condition of anonymity.

During the recent trials of some 75 dissidents for crimes against state security, a half-dozen government agents were identified as having posed as activists and independent journalists.

But Elizardo Sánchez, leader of the illegal and so far tolerated Cuban Commission for Human Rights and National Reconciliation, described the agents as "mere informants", and stressed that others are still "out there" but that they have for the most part been identified.

In a press conference that lasted more than three hours, Pérez Roque once again accused James Cason, chief diplomat at the U.S. Interests Section, of fomenting, financing and leading Cuban opposition groups.

The foreign minister cited the socialist-run country’s right to defend its national security in justifying the crackdown against the dissident movement.

The actions of Cason, who has headed the U.S. mission in Havana since the middle of last year, "mark a deepening of the policy of subversion (of the George W. Bush administration) uncovered against Cuba," said Pérez Roque.

"Mr. Cason should realise that he is not dealing with a naïve people," commented the minister, who presented documents and lists detailing the material and monetary support that Washington allegedly channelled to the dissidents tried in the past week.

Pérez Roque defended the legality of the summary trials, saying the defendants were provided due legal guarantees and that the vast majority of the defence attorneys were hired by their families.

He also rejected outright that any of the defendants had been mistreated or harmed, and he stressed that "actions and behaviours were tried… In no case were ideas" on trial.

According to a list that rights activist Sánchez presented to the foreign press, the sentences confirmed so far range from six to 27 years in prison. Government prosecutors had sought life sentences in 11 of the cases. Some 18 defendants still await sentencing.

Pérez Roque made no mention Wednesday of the trial that took place just hours earlier involving the hijackers who took control of a ferryboat and held its passengers hostage for nearly two days last week.

According to unofficial reports, the government prosecutors are seeking the death penalty for the three hijackers. Under Cuban law, the death penalty can be applied in aggravated cases of piracy and trafficking of persons.

Also in recent weeks, two aircraft flying domestic routes were hijacked and flown to the United States, but the perpetrators have not been handed over to Cuban authorities.

Pérez Roque said that the Cuban government considers these repeated hijackings aimed at reaching the United States are part of an intentional policy of Washington to encourage illegal emigration from the island and bypass existing bilateral agreements on migration.

He blamed the Bush government for violating the accords that have been in force since 1994 and 1995.

The agreements stipulate that Washington will grant 20,000 visas to Cubans each year and that any Cubans intercepted by U.S. authorities in the attempt to illegally enter that country would be sent back to Cuba, which promised not to take reprisals against the would-be émigrés.

From Oct 19, 2002, to Feb 28, 2003, U.S. authorities issued just 505 visas, according to official Cuban statistics.

If that slow pace continues, said Pérez Roque, it would substantiate the existence of a premeditated U.S. plan to stimulate illegal emigration and hijackings.

"There are people who want to create an incident between Cuba and the United States, people who are seeking aggression," stated the foreign minister, apparently alluding to the anti-Castro Cuban exile community in the U.S. city of Miami.