Miami Herald: Plots against Castro outlined

Published Saturday, January 13, 2001, in the Miami Herald

Plots against Castro outlined

Defense refocuses Cuban spy trial

BY GAIL EPSTEIN NIEVES
gepstein@herald.com

Trying to turn the tables on the government, attorneys for five accused Cuban spies spent Friday outlining a play-by-play of anti-Castro plots -- some committed by violent Cuban exiles, others by the U.S. government.

Jurors heard limited testimony about the plots. But just by raising the issue, the lawyers refocused attention from Cuba's spying apparatus and reinforced a key defense argument: that Cuba is justified in infiltrating exile groups as a means of protecting the country from violence.

Retired FBI Agent Stuart Hoyt, an expert in Cuban counterintelligence, confirmed that Cuba has shared information about violent exile groups with the United States, albeit ``on a limited basis.''

Hoyt testified that the FBI made trips to Cuba ``about two or three times'' that he knew about. And ``two officials from Cuba brought some evidence up to be examined, probably over a year ago, less than two years ago,'' he said, not elaborating.

Cuba blames exile terrorists for a string of bombings at hotels and tourist sites. Leader Fidel Castro has criticized the U.S. government for failing to rein in such activists, even after Havana furnished information about them during the past decade.

The value of some of the information was questionable, however, sources involved with the contacts have told The Herald.

On Friday, defense lawyers Paul McKenna and Joaquin Méndez questioned Hoyt -- who remains under FBI contract -- about a ``who's who'' of Cuban exiles linked to anti-Castro plots.

SPY TARGETS

All of the activists were identified as spy targets in Havana-Miami communications seized from the defendants.

They included:

Guillermo Novo, 61, a member of the defunct terrorist group Omega 7 who was convicted in the 1976 bombing murder of former Chilean diplomat Orlando Letelier in Washington, D.C. The verdict was overturned on appeal, and Novo was acquitted in a second trial.

Novo also was one of four Cuban exiles arrested Nov. 17 in Panama City, Panama, in connection with an alleged plot to kill Castro during a Latin American summit there. The men are charged with ``illicit association'' and possession of explosives.

Luis Posada Carriles, 70, a former CIA operative also under arrest in Panama, who authorities say has admitted he planned to assassinate Castro with a car bomb, but changed his mind at the last minute.

Posada has confessed to masterminding about a dozen bombings of Havana tourist spots in 1997, including one that killed an Italian tourist.

Orlando Bosch, who was held in a Venezuelan jail for 11 years on charges of masterminding the October 1976 bombing of a Cuban airliner that killed all 73 people on board. After 11 years without conviction or acquittal, he was released and returned to Miami in 1988. Posada was sentenced to death in absentia for allegedly planning the attack with Bosch.

Hoyt, the Cuban counterintelligence specialist, professed little first-hand knowledge about the attacks.

Defense attorneys McKenna and Philip Horowitz also focused attention on U.S. intelligence operations.

McKenna represents Gerardo Hernández.

Horowitz represents René González.

``Isn't it true the CIA carried out assassination attempts against Fidel Castro?'' asked McKenna.

Assistant U.S. Attorney David Buckner jumped up to object.

Sustained, said U.S. District Judge Joan Lenard.

Are you aware of Operation Mongoose, a Miami-based CIA effort to kill Castro after the 1961 Bay of Pigs failed? McKenna asked.

Again, Hoyt was told not to answer.

Apparently to rebut any suggestion that Cuba alone infiltrates Miami's exile groups, Horowitz asked Hoyt whether the FBI does the same. Yes, Hoyt said, ``probably since exile groups came into play.''

Hoyt gave high marks to Cuba's foreign espionage operation, calling it ``sophisticated'' and ``very good'' despite its financial limitations.

U.S. SECURITY

But under cross-examination by attorneys Jack Blumenfeld and Bill Norris, Hoyt acknowledged that any Cuban spy snooping for ``top secret'' U.S. military secrets would be hampered by a host of security measures.

The attorneys sought to discredit the testimony of witness Joseph Santos, an admitted ex-spy who testified that accused spies Hernández, Fernando González and Ramón Labañino directed him to infiltrate the Pentagon's Southern Command in West Miami-Dade County.

`TOP SECRET'

Co-defendant Antonio Guerrero is accused of trying to learn about ``top secret'' activity at the Boca Chica Naval Air Station at Key West.

Hoyt agreed that just because Guerrero thought the activity was top secret, that didn't necessarily make it so.

The trial will resume Tuesday.