The Cuban government has struck back at agents trying to lure top amateur baseball players to the major leagues, arresting a cousin of Miami sports agent Joe Cubas and suspending three players for life for conspiring to arrange defections.
Banned were pitcher Orlando ``El Duque'' Hernandez, half-brother of Marlins pitcher Livan Hernandez, who defected in 1995, shortstop German Mesa and catcher Alberto Hernandez. They were accused of putting agent Juan Ignacio Hernandez Nodar in contact with players.
Cuban officials had been nonchalant about player defections on foreign soil, but when they found Hernandez Nodar allegedly recruiting in Sancti Spiritus, Cuba, on Aug. 12, they took action to halt what they called ``continuous incitement, siege and bribery.''
The government also punished a national idol in Mesa.
Livan Hernandez, who dismissed Cubas as his agent in June, said Tuesday in Miami that the Cuban government ``has slammed another door on the face of my family.''
Cuba did not specify the charges against Hernandez Nodar but vows to prosecute by ``the full weight of the law.'' Sources said he might be sentenced to as much as 20 years.
Hernandez Nodar formerly worked with Cubas, who aided the defections of nine players including Livan Hernandez, San Francisco Giants pitcher Osvaldo Fernandez and pitcher Rolando Arrojo, who defected in Georgia just before the Olympics and is playing in the Dominican Republic.
The Cuban government's Prensa Latina news agency said Hernandez Nodar was arrested at the World Youth Baseball Championship in central Cuba. Hernandez Nodar, a resident of Venezuela, was ``carrying out the work of attracting young players,'' Prensa Latina said.
Prensa Latina said Hernandez Nodar and Cubas regularly attended events involving Cuban athletes, encouraging them to defect. It referred to such defections as ``treason to the fatherland.''
Alberto Hernandez, 27, was accused of being at ``the center of a good part of those activities,'' Prensa Latina said. He allegedly knew of agents approaching other players and served as intermediary between agents, defectors and their relatives.
Hernandez Nodar allegedly had ``close ties'' with Orlando Hernandez, 30, who has the highest winning percentage (.737) in Cuba's premier league, and Mesa, 27, who has been compared to former St. Louis Cardinal Ozzie Smith. Prensa Latina said Hernandez Nodar gave them gifts and was preparing to take them out of Cuba ``in a fraudulent manner.''
The three suspended players were interrogated for several hours Monday at Villa Marista in Havana, headquarters of State Security, along with Hernandez Nodar.
The daily newspaper Granma wrote, ``Our country will never permit people to corrupt its athletes in an effort to get them to defect, and thereby profit from them. The efforts and the sweat of a people who struggle and support the development of a healthy and dignified sport must not be harmed by despicable characters, such as [Hernandez Nodar and Cubas].''
Rene Guim, Cubas' publicist, said Cubas was surprised that his cousin was arrested.
``Joe has always assisted the players from the outside,'' Guim said. ``He's never done anything illegal. He simply provides information to players about what's available in a free country and the major leagues. None of us should be shocked by what Fidel Castro does to pull the reins in on anyone's attempt to seek freedom.''
Cubas followed the Cuban team on trips to Argentina, Mexico, Japan, Venezuela and throughout the United States, urging players to defect. In August he arranged for two junior players to defect. He also has secured contracts for Livan Hernandez ($4.5 million), Fernandez ($3.9 million) and pitchers Vladimir Nuñez and Larry Rodriguez ($1.5 million each). Nuñez and Rodriguez signed with the Arizona Diamondbacks expansion franchise.
Recently, however, Hernandez, Nuñez and Rodriguez dropped Cubas as their agent.
Copyright © 1996 The Miami Herald