Father of Secrets
A Seattle Santero Speaks of the Mysteries
by Sylvana SilverWitch
interview
Cameron "Frank" Howard (Efun Moyiwa in the religion) is a priest of Obatala in the Santería religion. He is a godchild of Yolanda Rivera, priestess of Oshún, Guillermo Diago in Santo and Pete Rivera and Julito Collazo in Ifá. He has been seriously involved in the religion for over 13 years. He is due to be initiated as a babalawo or "father of the secrets" (high priest) at the beginning of June.
Santería, or more properly La Regla Lucumí, is the traditional religion of the Yoruba people of what is now Nigeria, which was brought to the shores of Cuba with the slave trade. It has certain similarities to the well-known but seriously misunderstood Afro-Caribbean religion of Voudon, though Voudon is more of a mixture of the Fon, Kongo and Yoruba religions whereas Santería is strictly of Yoruba descent.
Sylvana: How did you first become interested in Santería?
Frank: I was planning a trip to Oaxaca, Mexico, to study the Mazatec Indians who live in the mountains there. I had learned their language, even the way they shook hands.... I was prepared. I had read that some of the Mazatecos who lived far up in the mountains practiced a type of divination using corn kernels, so thinking I might get some insight into the way their system worked, I made an appointment with a santera to be "seen" with the shells. Little did I know it would change my life forever.
S: You're a white person; isn't this traditionally an African/Cuban religion? How do you fit in? Do the people accept you? I am a white person; I am interested; how do I pursue it?
F: Though the religion is Afro-Cuban, I run into very few problems fitting in. Though there was suspicion at first because many Anglos come as tourists to the religion, looking to get a few quick initiations, and then they start inventing things. I am accepted and respected because the other santeros know I respect the religion on its own terms, and that I have worked hard in the religion and have knowledge that only comes with hard work, devotion to the orishas and experience. They know that I am not a "fair weather santero." In this religion respect, knowledge and love and devotion to the orishas and the religion is everything. Nowadays, the relationship between our godparents and us is exactly the relationship between a mother and her child or a father and his child, and that's a great blessing. Usually the first step is to be "seen" with Eleggua's shells by a competent santero. Then you take what Eleggua says and go from there. Everything we do in the religion is through following the counsel and with the permission of the orishas. And the orishas are certainly not racist.
S: I have been interested in Santería for a very long time, but I have had a difficult time finding actual people who were willing and able to answer my questions. Why is that? Are there any books you recommend?
F: Well, my wife and I are the only working santeros here in Seattle. And again, in other places Anglos often encounter suspicion because all too often they come in thinking that the santeros are going to sit down and give away all their secrets just for the asking - secrets that have taken a lifetime to accumulate. Without doing the work and paying your dues like everyone else, you won't get very far in this religion. This is not a religion learned by seminar. For instance, I have been in the religion for 13 years now. A good book for starters is Walking With the Night by Raul Canizares. There is a new cassette set out now called Pataki that is also very good. Patakis are the histories of the orishas and much of the wisdom of our religion is contained in them.
S: Why does there seem to be even more secrecy about Santería than about witchcraft? And the secrecy around witchcraft is a lot!
F: There are two reasons for this. One is the religion has been persecuted for centuries, and there is no sign of the persecution stopping any time soon, even in America. The other reason is the religion opens itself to a person slowly and in its own time and its own pace. You don't learn something until you're ready. For instance, you won't learn how to use the shells until you are an initiated santero, because until then the knowledge would be useless or worse. You have to have been given the ashé or spiritual energy of the orishas.
S: What did you do prior to becoming initiated as a priest of the orishas?
F: I have done many things. I was in a punk band and made a couple of albums; I taught martial arts, studied anthropology.... I have a very checkered past.
S: Can you charge for your services? Is this your "work" now? I understand it is different from the Craft, in that the priests are supposed to be supported by the people. Are there enough of the "people" here in Seattle to support you?
F: Santeros always charge for their services. Everything has its derecho or fee, both in respect and in owo or money. Otherwise you would lose your ashé, because you would be giving away what the orishas gave you. You pay your dues, both financially and with hard work, and you have to respect that. You'll find if you give things away too easily people won't respect what you have to give them, or respect you for that matter.
I also work at Microsoft as a software test engineer right now, but that's quickly changing as I find that I have less and less time to devote to that. My wife, who is a priestess of Oshún, and I are opening a botanica or Santería store, and I suspect it won't be long before I will be devoting all my time to the priesthood exclusively.
S: Did you ever think, as you were growing up, that you would one day be an orisha priest?
F: No. It was the last thing I thought I'd be.
S: How did the orishas "choose" you?
F: From the first time I was seen with the shells, Eleggua pointed me out as a person who had to "make the saint," to become initiated as a santero. But it took me years to get there.
S: Which orishas, if you don't mind, are the primary ones you work with?
F: I am a priest of Obatala and my mother is Yemayá, but I work with all the orishas. Soon, very soon I will be initiated as a babalawo or high priest in the religion.
S: Are there different orishas to work on different issues?
F: Certainly. Usually we work with Oshún for matters of love or money, Obatala for justice or perhaps to separate a person from drugs, Eleggua to open a person's roads. But during divination, any orisha may speak up for a person.
S: What is the difference between a santero, a bruja and a babalawo?
F: A santero is a person who has been initiated as an orisha priest and is entitled to work with the orishas as well as the spirits; a brujo is a person who works with the spirits; and a babalawo is a priest of Orunmila, the orisha of wisdom and knowledge. Orunmila was the only witness to the creation of the universe. A babalawo is a sort of high priest in the religion, the name babalawo meaning "father of the secrets."
S: One of the culturally controversial things about the religion is that there has been animal sacrifice; is this still a part of it? Are you able to use the sacrificial aspects in this culture, and how?
F: Ahhh... animal sacrifice. How did I know this was coming? Animal sacrifice is indeed still part of the religion; it always has been and always will. It is the orishas who make the rules, not the people. But this is where the greatest misunderstanding of the religion comes from, and where the continuing persecution of the religion comes from in this country. This is the case even though the poultry industry kills many more animals in one day than all the sacrifices done in the history of this religion. And their methods are less than humane.
You have to understand that death is an inescapable part of life. We all need to feed on other lives in order to survive, whether it be plant or animal. To us all life is the same whether plant or animal. If we are taking a plant to make a bath to help a person, a life is taken. If we feed a chicken to an orisha, a life is taken. And if we have a salad or a chicken sandwich, a life is taken. And one day our lives will be taken. But we must be mindful and thankful for the little plant or animal that has given its life for your survival or betterment. In the religion, an integral part of the ceremony is a ritual where we acknowledge the taking of the animal's life, and at the same time we acknowledge that one day our own lives will be cut short in much the same way. It is still a problem area for us, and the persecution continues despite the fact that in 1993 the Supreme Court unanimously affirmed our right to sacrifice animals.
S: What about the powerful experience known as being "ridden" by the orishas; what is that like?
F: I don't have any personal experience here, because it is my path to become a babalawo, and a babalawo can never have been ridden by an orisha. It is a beautiful experience for those who are blessed with becoming a vessel of an orisha in that way.
S: Is this any different than "channeling" or "invoking" the god forms?
F: Well, when an orisha comes down and rides a person, that person's body is completely taken over by the orisha. The person doesn't even remember what happened. In a sense, that person is told to "go shopping" and the orisha acts through the person's body, often performing acts that defy the laws of physics, at least as they are presently understood by this culture.
S: How or why do the orishas "choose" you?
F: Usually, a person finds out through divination or when an orisha, while riding someone, tells them. But you only know for sure which orisha is the owner of your head when you go for a special ceremony called a planta, where several babalawos use the Table of Ifá to bring down a guardian angel. The Table of Ifá is the deepest form of divination there is.
S: Is there anything that has been a misconception that you would like to clear up for people?
F: I think the issue of animal sacrifice is probably the biggest misconception that we face.
S: Any last words of wisdom before we end?
F: Well, if you are thinking of approaching this religion you must do it with all your heart, with respect... and with patience. Knowledge, wisdom and power are all gained over time. If you watch a hen feeding, you see it peck little bits at a time, but she keeps pecking and pecking, and before long she is full. You can't get everything all at once.
S: Would you like to say anything about your Web page, OrishaNet? It is really great! Let people know how to find you, if you like.
F: I created OrishaNet to give people easy access to accurate information about the religion. If it gives a few people a glimpse of the beauty and wisdom that is this religion, I consider it a success. The address on the World Wide Web is: http://www.seanet.com/~efunmoyiwa/welcome.html
My wife and I will also be opening a botanica soon, Botanica Lucumi. Its grand opening will be from noon to 4 p.m. June 16. Botanica Lucumi, at 8016 15th Ave. NE (phone: 729-1000), is the first store of its kind in Washington.
Copyright © 2006 by the article's author
Tuesday, March 28, 2006
Wednesday, March 01, 2006
Cuban Academics Denied Visas for LASA Meeting
Associated Press
Cuban Academics Denied Visas for Meeting
By VANESSA ARRINGTON, Associated Press Writer1 hour, 26 minutes ago
Cuban academics hoping to attend a gathering of Latin America experts in Puerto Rico were denied visas by the American government, marking the latest in the current U.S. administration's trend of shutting out Cubans.
Some 55 philosophers, economists, and historians were told last week they'd be unable to travel to this month's Latin American Studies Association congress in San Juan. Visa requests for four academics were still pending, said Sheryl Lutjens, an American political science professor at Northern Arizona University.
"These people represent strong scholars who think critically and who are often experts in their area where there are no others," said Lutjens, who co-chairs the association's Cuba section and is currently visiting the country. "This is alarming."
Academic exchange between Cuba and the United States has diminished over the last two years since the administration of President Bush started tightening long-standing trade and travel regulations against the island's communist government.
The "Cubans not welcome" message has reached new and broader extremes in recent months. The U.S. government provoked outrage after denying Cuba participation in this month's World Baseball Classic — a decision that was later reversed. U.S. officials also pressured a major U.S.-owned hotel in Mexico City to kick out 16 Cuban officials attending a meeting with U.S. oil executives in February.
Fewer American scholars are traveling to Cuba, too, wary of complicated U.S. rules that can lead to hefty fines and punishment if broken.
"They have been dissuaded by the new regulations," Lutjens said of other professors and researchers. "People are, I think, confused and perhaps even frightened by the thought that they might be doing something that's not permitted."
Milagros Martinez, a Cuban political scientist at the University of Havana, said about 30 American scholars used to be conducting research in Cuba each month, but now it's down to about two per month.
The Latin American Studies Association, known as LASA, is the largest professional grouping bringing together people and institutions to study the region. Its international congress, held every 18 months, is the world's leading forum for academic discussion on Latin America and the Caribbean. The association has more than 5,000 members.
Nearly 100 Cubans attended the LASA congress in Miami in 2000; more than 80 attended in 2001 in Washington and 67 attended in 2003 in Dallas. None attended the October 2004 congress in Las Vegas, where U.S. visas were denied for more than 60 scholars.
Lutjens said that in its rejection of the latest Cuban requests, the United States cited Section 212f of U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Law, which states that the American president can prohibit entry to foreigners when their visits are deemed "detrimental to the interests of the United States."
U.S. officials in Havana have not made any statements about the latest denials, and generally cite a policy prohibiting comment on individual visa cases.
Copyright © 2006 The Associated Press.
Cuban Academics Denied Visas for Meeting
By VANESSA ARRINGTON, Associated Press Writer1 hour, 26 minutes ago
Cuban academics hoping to attend a gathering of Latin America experts in Puerto Rico were denied visas by the American government, marking the latest in the current U.S. administration's trend of shutting out Cubans.
Some 55 philosophers, economists, and historians were told last week they'd be unable to travel to this month's Latin American Studies Association congress in San Juan. Visa requests for four academics were still pending, said Sheryl Lutjens, an American political science professor at Northern Arizona University.
"These people represent strong scholars who think critically and who are often experts in their area where there are no others," said Lutjens, who co-chairs the association's Cuba section and is currently visiting the country. "This is alarming."
Academic exchange between Cuba and the United States has diminished over the last two years since the administration of President Bush started tightening long-standing trade and travel regulations against the island's communist government.
The "Cubans not welcome" message has reached new and broader extremes in recent months. The U.S. government provoked outrage after denying Cuba participation in this month's World Baseball Classic — a decision that was later reversed. U.S. officials also pressured a major U.S.-owned hotel in Mexico City to kick out 16 Cuban officials attending a meeting with U.S. oil executives in February.
Fewer American scholars are traveling to Cuba, too, wary of complicated U.S. rules that can lead to hefty fines and punishment if broken.
"They have been dissuaded by the new regulations," Lutjens said of other professors and researchers. "People are, I think, confused and perhaps even frightened by the thought that they might be doing something that's not permitted."
Milagros Martinez, a Cuban political scientist at the University of Havana, said about 30 American scholars used to be conducting research in Cuba each month, but now it's down to about two per month.
The Latin American Studies Association, known as LASA, is the largest professional grouping bringing together people and institutions to study the region. Its international congress, held every 18 months, is the world's leading forum for academic discussion on Latin America and the Caribbean. The association has more than 5,000 members.
Nearly 100 Cubans attended the LASA congress in Miami in 2000; more than 80 attended in 2001 in Washington and 67 attended in 2003 in Dallas. None attended the October 2004 congress in Las Vegas, where U.S. visas were denied for more than 60 scholars.
Lutjens said that in its rejection of the latest Cuban requests, the United States cited Section 212f of U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Law, which states that the American president can prohibit entry to foreigners when their visits are deemed "detrimental to the interests of the United States."
U.S. officials in Havana have not made any statements about the latest denials, and generally cite a policy prohibiting comment on individual visa cases.
Copyright © 2006 The Associated Press.
Thursday, February 09, 2006
Miami & Castro locked in bitter embrace
Posted on Thu, Feb. 09, 2006
Passion over Cuba, Castro endures
Miami may be hip, but for Cuban exiles, there's still the Cold War to fight and mixed messages from the Bush administration to decipher.
BY OSCAR CORRAL
ocorral@MiamiHerald.com
Two suspected agents for communist Cuba are taken down in Miami.
A local anti-Castro developer gets nabbed on weapons charges.
A Cuban exile militant sneaks into the United States and shakes the American security system.
Welcome to 21st century Miami, trapped in the anachronistic geopolitics of the Cold War. Osama who? Saddam what? Iraq where?
Here, the daily pathos of Cuba remains center stage to many -- just as it was almost a half century ago.
Passion over Cuba may be aging in Miami -- certainly many of the younger Cubans who arrive here prefer to leave politics behind -- but it is no less urgent to thousands of older exiles. The hot topic on Spanish language radio last week was whether Bush had betrayed the Cuban exile community because he failed to mention Cuba in his State of the Union address.
While younger U.S.-born Cuban Americans -- and more recent Cuban immigrants -- are less virulent and more moderate, the viewpoint of older, more conservative exiles still rules, political analyst and Democratic pollster Sergio Bendixen said. ''Until Cuban exiles get their country back and figure out a way to get rid of Castro, nothing else will matter to them,'' Bendixen noted.
''It absolutely is a throwback,'' said Miami historian and Miami Dade College professor Paul George, who leads guided tours through Miami and Little Havana. ``Cuban exiles are still worried about the Castro issue, and they hinge everything around that issue, the existence of Castro. But the rest of the country has long forgotten that this Cold War period ever happened.''
Well, not everyone. The Bush administration still gives Castro his due with harsh Cold War-era rhetoric and toughened travel policies. Hard-line Cuban-American voters who have twice delivered their votes for Bush expect nothing less.
''Miami is as anachronistic and dinosaur-like as Fidel Castro, because we are a response to him,'' said Miami filmmaker Joe Cardona, who has chronicled generations of Cuban exiles in his films. ``And until that issue is resolved, Miami Cubans will continue living in his world.''
Cuba took center stage in major South Florida cases from Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the U.S. Coast Guard, FBI, U.S. Attorney's Office and Florida International University -- just to name a few of the institutions enmeshed in exile dynamics the past year.
LOT OF ACTIVITY
''There's a lot of activity,'' said Florida International University professor Dario Moreno, who analyzes Cuban exile politics. ``The truth is that the Cuban community is still very hard line and remains trapped in the Cold War environment because Cuba is still trapped there, too. Cuba is the issue that grabs the public's attention, the media's attention, and the government's attention.''
With Castro still alive, and an American president who has vowed to do all he can to bring democracy to Cuba, the tension sometimes seems to boil over. Among the flash points:
• Cuban exile militant Luis Posada Carriles sneaked into the country and asked for asylum. Considered by Castro to be a terrorist, but by many exiles to be a freedom fighter, Posada remains detained in an immigration facility in El Paso, Texas, awaiting word on if he will be released.
• In November, the FBI arrested Posada's biggest financial supporter, Santiago Alvarez, and Alvarez's employee, Osvaldo Mitat, on weapons charges -- a move that irritated many exile leaders, who claimed that the Bush administration was playing into Castro's hands.
• A month later, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice announced the administration would again convene a Cabinet-level commission to revise U.S. policy on Cuba by May.
• The cry against the controversial ''wet-foot, dry-foot'' Cuban immigration policy reached a fever pitch after the Coast Guard repatriated 15 migrants found on a piling on the old Seven Mile Bridge in January. A Cuban exile activist, angry at the Bush administration, launched a high-profile hunger strike and Cuban-American congressional representatives demanded that the Bush administration review the policy.
• The same day the 15 migrants were repatriated, the U.S. Attorney's Office and the FBI announced the arrests of a professor at Florida International University, Carlos M. Alvarez, and his wife, Elsa Alvarez, who also worked at FIU. They are accused of being unregistered covert agents for Cuba. Their arrest was commended by Cuban exile activists, who claim Miami is full of Cuban spies.
• On Jan. 20, the Treasury Department allowed the Cuban national baseball team to play in the World Baseball Classic, a move strongly criticized by Cuban-American congressional representatives.
• Three days later, the Treasury Department announced one of its biggest crackdowns ever on illegal travel to Cuba, a move applauded by Cuban-American leaders.
• And last week, the Treasury Department disrupted a meeting between Cuban government officials and U.S. oil industry representatives in Mexico City when Treasury called the Sheraton Hotel there and informed executives that they could be sanctioned for violating the U.S. embargo on Cuba. Sheraton evicted the Cubans, angering government officials in Mexico and Cuba. ''More than ever you see the political hopscotching . . . and insincerity [by] some of these local politicians in regards to Cuba,'' Cardona said. ``It's getting a little tougher for them to be consistent.''
POLITICS
Some Bush detractors smell political opportunity in Washington's inconsistencies.
''Most people realize that this administration has done almost nothing to perpetuate the views that many of the people held when they voted for them on Cuba politics,'' said Joe Garcia, a consultant for the New Democrat Network. ``I believe Cuba is about to become a focus again. This is all stuff to gear up for the electoral cycle. The spy case was an attempt to put up some points on the Republican side.''
Manuel Vasquez Portal, a former Cuban dissident journalist and poet now living in Miami, has a different view than older exiles. ''I feel that time is being wasted to litigate personal differences, while the principal goal of democracy in Cuba has been lost at certain times,'' he said.
Democratic pollster Bendixen said exiles by now have realized that the federal government's attempts to squeeze the Castro government and help bring democracy to Cuba have been fruitless, but that doesn't mean they're ready to jump ship and register as Democrats.
''I still remember listening to Cuban radio here in the first years of exile, and I can't tell a big difference between what La Cubanisima was saying back then, and what Radio Mambi is saying today,'' Bendixen said.
Passion over Cuba, Castro endures
Miami may be hip, but for Cuban exiles, there's still the Cold War to fight and mixed messages from the Bush administration to decipher.
BY OSCAR CORRAL
ocorral@MiamiHerald.com
Two suspected agents for communist Cuba are taken down in Miami.
A local anti-Castro developer gets nabbed on weapons charges.
A Cuban exile militant sneaks into the United States and shakes the American security system.
Welcome to 21st century Miami, trapped in the anachronistic geopolitics of the Cold War. Osama who? Saddam what? Iraq where?
Here, the daily pathos of Cuba remains center stage to many -- just as it was almost a half century ago.
Passion over Cuba may be aging in Miami -- certainly many of the younger Cubans who arrive here prefer to leave politics behind -- but it is no less urgent to thousands of older exiles. The hot topic on Spanish language radio last week was whether Bush had betrayed the Cuban exile community because he failed to mention Cuba in his State of the Union address.
While younger U.S.-born Cuban Americans -- and more recent Cuban immigrants -- are less virulent and more moderate, the viewpoint of older, more conservative exiles still rules, political analyst and Democratic pollster Sergio Bendixen said. ''Until Cuban exiles get their country back and figure out a way to get rid of Castro, nothing else will matter to them,'' Bendixen noted.
''It absolutely is a throwback,'' said Miami historian and Miami Dade College professor Paul George, who leads guided tours through Miami and Little Havana. ``Cuban exiles are still worried about the Castro issue, and they hinge everything around that issue, the existence of Castro. But the rest of the country has long forgotten that this Cold War period ever happened.''
Well, not everyone. The Bush administration still gives Castro his due with harsh Cold War-era rhetoric and toughened travel policies. Hard-line Cuban-American voters who have twice delivered their votes for Bush expect nothing less.
''Miami is as anachronistic and dinosaur-like as Fidel Castro, because we are a response to him,'' said Miami filmmaker Joe Cardona, who has chronicled generations of Cuban exiles in his films. ``And until that issue is resolved, Miami Cubans will continue living in his world.''
Cuba took center stage in major South Florida cases from Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the U.S. Coast Guard, FBI, U.S. Attorney's Office and Florida International University -- just to name a few of the institutions enmeshed in exile dynamics the past year.
LOT OF ACTIVITY
''There's a lot of activity,'' said Florida International University professor Dario Moreno, who analyzes Cuban exile politics. ``The truth is that the Cuban community is still very hard line and remains trapped in the Cold War environment because Cuba is still trapped there, too. Cuba is the issue that grabs the public's attention, the media's attention, and the government's attention.''
With Castro still alive, and an American president who has vowed to do all he can to bring democracy to Cuba, the tension sometimes seems to boil over. Among the flash points:
• Cuban exile militant Luis Posada Carriles sneaked into the country and asked for asylum. Considered by Castro to be a terrorist, but by many exiles to be a freedom fighter, Posada remains detained in an immigration facility in El Paso, Texas, awaiting word on if he will be released.
• In November, the FBI arrested Posada's biggest financial supporter, Santiago Alvarez, and Alvarez's employee, Osvaldo Mitat, on weapons charges -- a move that irritated many exile leaders, who claimed that the Bush administration was playing into Castro's hands.
• A month later, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice announced the administration would again convene a Cabinet-level commission to revise U.S. policy on Cuba by May.
• The cry against the controversial ''wet-foot, dry-foot'' Cuban immigration policy reached a fever pitch after the Coast Guard repatriated 15 migrants found on a piling on the old Seven Mile Bridge in January. A Cuban exile activist, angry at the Bush administration, launched a high-profile hunger strike and Cuban-American congressional representatives demanded that the Bush administration review the policy.
• The same day the 15 migrants were repatriated, the U.S. Attorney's Office and the FBI announced the arrests of a professor at Florida International University, Carlos M. Alvarez, and his wife, Elsa Alvarez, who also worked at FIU. They are accused of being unregistered covert agents for Cuba. Their arrest was commended by Cuban exile activists, who claim Miami is full of Cuban spies.
• On Jan. 20, the Treasury Department allowed the Cuban national baseball team to play in the World Baseball Classic, a move strongly criticized by Cuban-American congressional representatives.
• Three days later, the Treasury Department announced one of its biggest crackdowns ever on illegal travel to Cuba, a move applauded by Cuban-American leaders.
• And last week, the Treasury Department disrupted a meeting between Cuban government officials and U.S. oil industry representatives in Mexico City when Treasury called the Sheraton Hotel there and informed executives that they could be sanctioned for violating the U.S. embargo on Cuba. Sheraton evicted the Cubans, angering government officials in Mexico and Cuba. ''More than ever you see the political hopscotching . . . and insincerity [by] some of these local politicians in regards to Cuba,'' Cardona said. ``It's getting a little tougher for them to be consistent.''
POLITICS
Some Bush detractors smell political opportunity in Washington's inconsistencies.
''Most people realize that this administration has done almost nothing to perpetuate the views that many of the people held when they voted for them on Cuba politics,'' said Joe Garcia, a consultant for the New Democrat Network. ``I believe Cuba is about to become a focus again. This is all stuff to gear up for the electoral cycle. The spy case was an attempt to put up some points on the Republican side.''
Manuel Vasquez Portal, a former Cuban dissident journalist and poet now living in Miami, has a different view than older exiles. ''I feel that time is being wasted to litigate personal differences, while the principal goal of democracy in Cuba has been lost at certain times,'' he said.
Democratic pollster Bendixen said exiles by now have realized that the federal government's attempts to squeeze the Castro government and help bring democracy to Cuba have been fruitless, but that doesn't mean they're ready to jump ship and register as Democrats.
''I still remember listening to Cuban radio here in the first years of exile, and I can't tell a big difference between what La Cubanisima was saying back then, and what Radio Mambi is saying today,'' Bendixen said.
Saturday, February 04, 2006
Gov't Drive Vs. 'Rich' Hits Average Cubans
Gov't Drive Vs. 'Rich' Hits Average Cubans
AP
By VANESSA ARRINGTON, Associated Press WriterSat Feb 4, 12:30 PM ET
President Fidel Castro is pursuing a campaign against Cuba's "new rich," accusing them of corruption and moral decay in his quest to erase class differences threatening the utopian ideals of his communist regime.
Violators face possible jail time and loss of state jobs as the government tries to eliminate a thriving black market that supplies Cubans and tourists with everything from gasoline and cooking oil to illicit meals of lobster served in small, private restaurants.
Yet "rich" is a mushy term on an island where state pay averages just $12 a month — a wage virtually impossible to live on even with heavily subsidized government services and mostly free housing. Many of Castro's targets are simply poor Cubans who steal from the state to make ends meet.
The 79-year-old leader has railed in recent speeches against these thefts, portraying widespread corruption as one of the greatest threats yet to Cuba's socialist system.
"This country will have much more, but it will never be a society of consumption," Castro told students at the University of Havana in a speech that was televised across the island. "It will be a society of knowledge, of culture, of the most extraordinary human development one can imagine."
Forty-seven years after Castro's revolution, many Cubans still share an ethic of solidarity that stresses spiritual over material wealth. They may not have fancy stereos, but they crowd theaters for plays and concerts. Many express pride that their doctors are helping earthquake victims in Pakistan, even if it means their own medical service is affected.
Still, Cubans also are known for their ingenuity — and many manage to stretch their salaries in underhanded ways.
"If there were abundance, who would rob?" said Oscar Espinosa Chepe, a state-trained economist who became an anti-communist dissident. "Hardly anybody can survive by working honestly in Cuba."
Bakers sell customers a less than two ounce chunk of bread for the three-ounce price and pocket the change from selling the leftovers. Workers at state-run pizza stands sell "extra" cheese, tomatoes and cooking oil on the side. Bus drivers don't give tickets to all paying riders.
Off-shift state truck drivers help neighbors move construction materials — for a price. And employees at state stores take part of the inventory home to sell.
Other people offer services or handmade goods without the required self-employment licenses that the state tightly controls.
In communist Cuba, the black market has no physical location, but is everywhere. From clothes and toys to household supplies and even gasoline, the sale of stolen goods is part of daily life.
"People have always diverted state resources — it happens when there is necessity," said Jesus Blanco, a 51-year-old who works in a bar. "One of the problems is the scarcity of new products coming in."
Blanco said he manages to live honestly on his monthly salary, which is 235 Cuban pesos, about $10. But, he added, both the television and refrigerator in his house are broken, and he doesn't have enough money to fix holes in his roof caused during last year's hurricane season.
Castro has been remarkably frank about the pervasiveness of corruption. He has lashed out at state workers and the self-employed, and accuses private restaurant owners of encouraging illegal activity by buying lobster — which only the state can legally catch — from private fishermen.
Cuba's leader seems particularly angry about service station workers who pilfer gasoline, selling it on the side. "We have to vanquish these deviations, or we die," Castro said.
Cuban socialism offers a broad safety net, with free health care and education, heavily subsidized transportation and electricity, and a ration covering about a third of the average person's monthly diet.
But the quality of some services is low, and monthly pay is swallowed up by additional food costs. Little or no cash remains for necessities like cooking oil or soap. TV sets and new clothing are usually bought with money sent from overseas relatives, so many go without.
The state dramatically boosted electricity rates for those using large amounts in December. Making a phone call to neighboring countries costs from $2.45 to $4.45 a minute, and the cost of unrationed food is high.
Castro says eliminating stealing could help raise living standards for the island's 11.2 million people. He increased government salaries in November, and doubled the minimum wage last May to 225 Cuban pesos, less than $10 a month.
But at the heart of Castro's crusade is a belief in the collective good. Hunger for possessions or prestige based on wealth is seen as a capitalist ill. Altruism, cultural endeavors and universal health care are valued above personal luxuries.
With material resources limited, Cuba must set priorities "significantly different than those given primacy in capitalist countries," Central Bank President Francisco Soberon told economists last year.
"For example, the expense related to saving the life of a child is given priority over the purchase of the latest model of a car for an elite, or lavish architecture for headquarters of global corporations," he said.
But there also is a real "new rich" on the island, although it is tiny.
Cubans with money join diplomats shopping at an upscale grocery store offering luxuries such as microwave popcorn and peanut butter. A golf club counts about 20 Cubans among its 100 members, a privilege costing $70 up front plus $45 every month.
The few relatively wealthy Cubans include people who are married to foreigners or work for foreign companies as well as musicians and athletes with special privileges. Some may even be people who steal from the state on a grand scale.
But most Cubans must scramble for essentials.
Castro's solution to this moral dilemma depends in part on youthful innocence. His government has dispatched thousands of young social workers to replace employees suspected of stealing from state operations. Since the campaign began in October, Castro claims gasoline sales nationwide have increased by $100,000 daily.
Communist officials are holding island-wide meetings urging party members to fight corruption, and Castro prods Cubans to do their part.
But people say that until their economic situation improves, it will be hard to make Castro's ideal a reality.
"The economy is getting a bit better, but I don't think we can live without the black market yet," said Blanco. "Until prices go down, the salary increases won't be felt, and there'll be no room for luxuries."
AP
By VANESSA ARRINGTON, Associated Press WriterSat Feb 4, 12:30 PM ET
President Fidel Castro is pursuing a campaign against Cuba's "new rich," accusing them of corruption and moral decay in his quest to erase class differences threatening the utopian ideals of his communist regime.
Violators face possible jail time and loss of state jobs as the government tries to eliminate a thriving black market that supplies Cubans and tourists with everything from gasoline and cooking oil to illicit meals of lobster served in small, private restaurants.
Yet "rich" is a mushy term on an island where state pay averages just $12 a month — a wage virtually impossible to live on even with heavily subsidized government services and mostly free housing. Many of Castro's targets are simply poor Cubans who steal from the state to make ends meet.
The 79-year-old leader has railed in recent speeches against these thefts, portraying widespread corruption as one of the greatest threats yet to Cuba's socialist system.
"This country will have much more, but it will never be a society of consumption," Castro told students at the University of Havana in a speech that was televised across the island. "It will be a society of knowledge, of culture, of the most extraordinary human development one can imagine."
Forty-seven years after Castro's revolution, many Cubans still share an ethic of solidarity that stresses spiritual over material wealth. They may not have fancy stereos, but they crowd theaters for plays and concerts. Many express pride that their doctors are helping earthquake victims in Pakistan, even if it means their own medical service is affected.
Still, Cubans also are known for their ingenuity — and many manage to stretch their salaries in underhanded ways.
"If there were abundance, who would rob?" said Oscar Espinosa Chepe, a state-trained economist who became an anti-communist dissident. "Hardly anybody can survive by working honestly in Cuba."
Bakers sell customers a less than two ounce chunk of bread for the three-ounce price and pocket the change from selling the leftovers. Workers at state-run pizza stands sell "extra" cheese, tomatoes and cooking oil on the side. Bus drivers don't give tickets to all paying riders.
Off-shift state truck drivers help neighbors move construction materials — for a price. And employees at state stores take part of the inventory home to sell.
Other people offer services or handmade goods without the required self-employment licenses that the state tightly controls.
In communist Cuba, the black market has no physical location, but is everywhere. From clothes and toys to household supplies and even gasoline, the sale of stolen goods is part of daily life.
"People have always diverted state resources — it happens when there is necessity," said Jesus Blanco, a 51-year-old who works in a bar. "One of the problems is the scarcity of new products coming in."
Blanco said he manages to live honestly on his monthly salary, which is 235 Cuban pesos, about $10. But, he added, both the television and refrigerator in his house are broken, and he doesn't have enough money to fix holes in his roof caused during last year's hurricane season.
Castro has been remarkably frank about the pervasiveness of corruption. He has lashed out at state workers and the self-employed, and accuses private restaurant owners of encouraging illegal activity by buying lobster — which only the state can legally catch — from private fishermen.
Cuba's leader seems particularly angry about service station workers who pilfer gasoline, selling it on the side. "We have to vanquish these deviations, or we die," Castro said.
Cuban socialism offers a broad safety net, with free health care and education, heavily subsidized transportation and electricity, and a ration covering about a third of the average person's monthly diet.
But the quality of some services is low, and monthly pay is swallowed up by additional food costs. Little or no cash remains for necessities like cooking oil or soap. TV sets and new clothing are usually bought with money sent from overseas relatives, so many go without.
The state dramatically boosted electricity rates for those using large amounts in December. Making a phone call to neighboring countries costs from $2.45 to $4.45 a minute, and the cost of unrationed food is high.
Castro says eliminating stealing could help raise living standards for the island's 11.2 million people. He increased government salaries in November, and doubled the minimum wage last May to 225 Cuban pesos, less than $10 a month.
But at the heart of Castro's crusade is a belief in the collective good. Hunger for possessions or prestige based on wealth is seen as a capitalist ill. Altruism, cultural endeavors and universal health care are valued above personal luxuries.
With material resources limited, Cuba must set priorities "significantly different than those given primacy in capitalist countries," Central Bank President Francisco Soberon told economists last year.
"For example, the expense related to saving the life of a child is given priority over the purchase of the latest model of a car for an elite, or lavish architecture for headquarters of global corporations," he said.
But there also is a real "new rich" on the island, although it is tiny.
Cubans with money join diplomats shopping at an upscale grocery store offering luxuries such as microwave popcorn and peanut butter. A golf club counts about 20 Cubans among its 100 members, a privilege costing $70 up front plus $45 every month.
The few relatively wealthy Cubans include people who are married to foreigners or work for foreign companies as well as musicians and athletes with special privileges. Some may even be people who steal from the state on a grand scale.
But most Cubans must scramble for essentials.
Castro's solution to this moral dilemma depends in part on youthful innocence. His government has dispatched thousands of young social workers to replace employees suspected of stealing from state operations. Since the campaign began in October, Castro claims gasoline sales nationwide have increased by $100,000 daily.
Communist officials are holding island-wide meetings urging party members to fight corruption, and Castro prods Cubans to do their part.
But people say that until their economic situation improves, it will be hard to make Castro's ideal a reality.
"The economy is getting a bit better, but I don't think we can live without the black market yet," said Blanco. "Until prices go down, the salary increases won't be felt, and there'll be no room for luxuries."
Wednesday, January 25, 2006
FIU Spy case
Miami Herald Posted on Wed, Jan. 25, 2006
SPYING CASE
Couple spied on president of FIU, FBI says
Accused Cuban spies targeted the president of Florida International University, according to a government affidavit.
BY OSCAR CORRAL AND JAY WEAVER
ocorral@MiamiHerald.com
Carlos M. and Elsa Alvarez spied on Florida International University President Modesto ''Mitch'' Maidique, giving details in at least one report to their Cuban intelligence handlers about a White House invitation Maidique received, according to a government affidavit obtained by The Miami Herald.
FBI agents executed a search warrant at FIU Jan. 12, and seized the Alvarezes' computers from their respective offices. That search was a follow-up to the FBI's discoveries in the Alvarezes' home computers, which were linked to those at their offices, according to an FBI affidavit.
The document offers a first glimpse at the information the FBI believes the Alvarezes -- charged with failing to register as foreign agents -- provided to Cuban intelligence agents over the last three decades.
Cristina Mendoza, FIU's general counsel, said university officials sealed off the couple's campus offices and university police have stood guard around the clock. Mendoza said the FBI agents, at the university's request, scheduled their search for the night of Jan. 12 so they would not disrupt the campus during the day.
Mendoza said the FBI has not asked to talk with Maidique, who was close to the couple. They allegedly gathered information about Maidique and other leaders in Miami's exile community.
The Alvarezes' home computers turned up the White House invitation report, as well as others.
''Both Carlos and Elsa Alvarez reported on prominent university-level academics in South Florida,'' the affidavit said. ``These targets included colleagues of the Alvarezes at FIU, and included Modesto Maidique . . . This information has been verified by data taken from the home computer of the Alvarezes, which shows them reporting on the activities of President Maidique, including an invitation he received to attend a function at the White House.''
FIU spokesman Mark Riordan said Maidique declined to comment on the affidavit. Maidique has been to the White House at least a dozen times over the years, Riordan said. Earlier this month, U.S. authorities accused Elsa Prieto Alvarez, 55, and her husband, Carlos Alvarez, 61, of operating as covert agents for Cuba for decades. U.S. prosecutors said Carlos Alvarez, an associate professor at FIU, had spied for Cuba since 1977 and his wife, a psychology counselor at the university, since 1982.
The Alvarezes' home computers were linked to their office computers, and the FBI believes the Alvarezes could ``electronically access student records and faculty information via home and office computer.''
TRAVELS
Carlos Alvarez traveled to Cuba and other countries under the auspices of FIU and other academic institutions. ''While on these overseas trips, and using the cover of FIU academics, Carlos Alvarez would meet with their handlers or supervisors from the DI [Cuba's Directorate of Intelligence] to receive new assignments and tender reports on completed assignments,'' the affidavit said.
The affidavit also sheds light on the requests Cuba sent to Carlos Alvarez to recruit students. Alvarez voluntarily reported to the DI that one of his students was an FBI analyst. Alvarez feared that his DI status might be compromised if his superiors found out that he was interacting with an FBI employee.
The affidavit also attempts to link the professor's recruitment efforts to Puentes Cubanos, or Cuban Bridges, a nonprofit group that is not affiliated with FIU.
''Moreover, in 2002, the DI assigned Carlos Alvarez to begin screening and evaluating students, some of them at FIU, that would be traveling to Cuba as part of an exchange program known as Puentes Cubanos,'' the affidavit said. ``The DI was interested in which of these exchange students would be amenable to recruitment by the DI. Although Carlos Alvarez stated that he never received a follow-up request for actual names of potential recruits, he has stated to FBI agents that he would have provided that information if asked.''
The affidavit does not give a date for Maidique's White House invitation. But Maidique has been a strong supporter of the last three Republican presidents, Ronald Reagan, George Bush, and George W. Bush. Miami Herald archives show that Maidique, a member of the current president's education advisory panel, attended an East Room ceremony at the White House in January 2001.
The Alvarezes used their FIU colleagues to gather information on other people ''of interest'' to the Cuban government, the affidavit said.
''In one instance, Carlos Alvarez inquired of another FIU professor regarding a meeting between a third professor and a member of the Clinton administration who was believed to favor increased academic exchanges between the United States and Cuba,'' the affidavit said.
EXILES SHAKEN
Anti-Castro exile leaders were shaken by the new details.
''My God, that's something!'' said Brothers to the Rescue Founder Jose Basulto, whose group has been infiltrated by Cuban spies.
FIU officials said the FBI interviewed the university's information technology manager before the Jan. 12 search and plans to return to the campus to interview other employees.
Agents compiled the seized materials on two one-page inventory lists and gave them to the university.
Miami Herald staff writer Luisa Yanez contributed to this report.
SPYING CASE
Couple spied on president of FIU, FBI says
Accused Cuban spies targeted the president of Florida International University, according to a government affidavit.
BY OSCAR CORRAL AND JAY WEAVER
ocorral@MiamiHerald.com
Carlos M. and Elsa Alvarez spied on Florida International University President Modesto ''Mitch'' Maidique, giving details in at least one report to their Cuban intelligence handlers about a White House invitation Maidique received, according to a government affidavit obtained by The Miami Herald.
FBI agents executed a search warrant at FIU Jan. 12, and seized the Alvarezes' computers from their respective offices. That search was a follow-up to the FBI's discoveries in the Alvarezes' home computers, which were linked to those at their offices, according to an FBI affidavit.
The document offers a first glimpse at the information the FBI believes the Alvarezes -- charged with failing to register as foreign agents -- provided to Cuban intelligence agents over the last three decades.
Cristina Mendoza, FIU's general counsel, said university officials sealed off the couple's campus offices and university police have stood guard around the clock. Mendoza said the FBI agents, at the university's request, scheduled their search for the night of Jan. 12 so they would not disrupt the campus during the day.
Mendoza said the FBI has not asked to talk with Maidique, who was close to the couple. They allegedly gathered information about Maidique and other leaders in Miami's exile community.
The Alvarezes' home computers turned up the White House invitation report, as well as others.
''Both Carlos and Elsa Alvarez reported on prominent university-level academics in South Florida,'' the affidavit said. ``These targets included colleagues of the Alvarezes at FIU, and included Modesto Maidique . . . This information has been verified by data taken from the home computer of the Alvarezes, which shows them reporting on the activities of President Maidique, including an invitation he received to attend a function at the White House.''
FIU spokesman Mark Riordan said Maidique declined to comment on the affidavit. Maidique has been to the White House at least a dozen times over the years, Riordan said. Earlier this month, U.S. authorities accused Elsa Prieto Alvarez, 55, and her husband, Carlos Alvarez, 61, of operating as covert agents for Cuba for decades. U.S. prosecutors said Carlos Alvarez, an associate professor at FIU, had spied for Cuba since 1977 and his wife, a psychology counselor at the university, since 1982.
The Alvarezes' home computers were linked to their office computers, and the FBI believes the Alvarezes could ``electronically access student records and faculty information via home and office computer.''
TRAVELS
Carlos Alvarez traveled to Cuba and other countries under the auspices of FIU and other academic institutions. ''While on these overseas trips, and using the cover of FIU academics, Carlos Alvarez would meet with their handlers or supervisors from the DI [Cuba's Directorate of Intelligence] to receive new assignments and tender reports on completed assignments,'' the affidavit said.
The affidavit also sheds light on the requests Cuba sent to Carlos Alvarez to recruit students. Alvarez voluntarily reported to the DI that one of his students was an FBI analyst. Alvarez feared that his DI status might be compromised if his superiors found out that he was interacting with an FBI employee.
The affidavit also attempts to link the professor's recruitment efforts to Puentes Cubanos, or Cuban Bridges, a nonprofit group that is not affiliated with FIU.
''Moreover, in 2002, the DI assigned Carlos Alvarez to begin screening and evaluating students, some of them at FIU, that would be traveling to Cuba as part of an exchange program known as Puentes Cubanos,'' the affidavit said. ``The DI was interested in which of these exchange students would be amenable to recruitment by the DI. Although Carlos Alvarez stated that he never received a follow-up request for actual names of potential recruits, he has stated to FBI agents that he would have provided that information if asked.''
The affidavit does not give a date for Maidique's White House invitation. But Maidique has been a strong supporter of the last three Republican presidents, Ronald Reagan, George Bush, and George W. Bush. Miami Herald archives show that Maidique, a member of the current president's education advisory panel, attended an East Room ceremony at the White House in January 2001.
The Alvarezes used their FIU colleagues to gather information on other people ''of interest'' to the Cuban government, the affidavit said.
''In one instance, Carlos Alvarez inquired of another FIU professor regarding a meeting between a third professor and a member of the Clinton administration who was believed to favor increased academic exchanges between the United States and Cuba,'' the affidavit said.
EXILES SHAKEN
Anti-Castro exile leaders were shaken by the new details.
''My God, that's something!'' said Brothers to the Rescue Founder Jose Basulto, whose group has been infiltrated by Cuban spies.
FIU officials said the FBI interviewed the university's information technology manager before the Jan. 12 search and plans to return to the campus to interview other employees.
Agents compiled the seized materials on two one-page inventory lists and gave them to the university.
Miami Herald staff writer Luisa Yanez contributed to this report.
Sunday, January 15, 2006
Cuban Americans foresee rise of a `climate of fear'
Posted on Sun, Jan. 15, 2006
EXILE POLITICS
Cuban Americans foresee rise of a `climate of fear'
The arrest of two spy suspects has spread fear among Cuban exiles who support contact with the Castro government as a way to ease tension.
BY ALFONSO CHARDY
achardy@MiamiHerald.com
AND OSCAR CORRAL
Fallout from the Florida International University spy scandal is spreading throughout segments of Miami's Cuban-American community, sparking concerns that the affair is fostering a climate of fear among exiles who favor dialogue with communist Cuba.
Already, several of those people have refused to comment publicly about their concerns, and others have expressed alarm that last week's arrest of FIU employees Carlos Alvarez and his wife, Elsa Prieto Alvarez, could prompt pro-dialogue exiles to be less willing to voice views.
The latest spasm in Cuban exile politics comes against a backdrop of increasing tension with Cuba in the aftermath of tougher Bush administration policies restricting travel and money remittances to the island and ongoing efforts to further toughen the U.S. posture toward Cuba. To some, the FIU affair can define today's climate of retrenchment both in Miami and in Cuba -- one echoing a dangerous past when being pro-dialogue was seen by some as tantamount to treason.
''This opens the door to a witch hunt,'' said Bernardo Benes, who helped bring about an era of rapprochement in the late 1970s when the Fidel Castro regime allowed exiles to return for family visits. ''I'm sad that evil people take advantage of moments like this to promote their evil ideas and impose on people more control of the community,'' Benes said.
While many exiles who favor reconciliation or compromise expressed qualms, some Cuban Americans on the opposite side of the political spectrum believe that fears are exaggerated or unfounded.
''Only those who are doing something illegal should be worried about the U.S. government's actions,'' said Jaime Suchlicki, director of the Institute for Cuban and Cuban-American Studies at the University of Miami, which gets federal grants and has no contact with Cuban government institutions.
''People who are law-abiding and are not collaborating with any foreign governments that are enemies of the United States have nothing to worry about,'' he said.
Ninoska Pérez-Castellón, president of the Cuban Liberty Council and a popular Spanish-language personality on conservative Radio Mambí, said there was no witch hunt, just a deep concern among the anti-Castro right that others in Miami might also be spying for Cuba.
''The last five years, there have been 21 Cuban spies convicted,'' she said. She added that among them was Ana Belén Montes, of Puerto Rican descent, who worked at the Pentagon and was convicted of spying for Cuba.
''These two were at a well-known public university, [allegedly] serving as agents for Castro,'' Pérez Castellón said, referring to the Alvarezes. ``Where is the witch hunt?''
Last week's arrests are different from the arrests in 1998 of five Cubans who later were convicted of spying for Havana. Those five were little known, while the Alvarezes are prominent not only in academic and intellectual circles but among those who favor dialogue.
COUPLE'S BACKGROUND
Carlos Alvarez has been an education professor at FIU since 1974, while Elsa Prieto Alvarez has worked there as a psychological services counselor since 1999. Both have also been linked to liberal or leftist sectors of the exile community since the 1970s, and Carlos Alvarez traveled to Cuba several times for research and as a facilitator in dialogue exchanges between exiles and Cubans on the island.
Federal prosecutors charged the couple with not registering as foreign agents after investigators say they found evidence of links to Cuban intelligence. The two were accused of using shortwave radios, numerical code and computer-encrypted files to transmit information about Miami's exile community to Cuban intelligence officers.
Although officials have suggested that no other arrests are contemplated, some exile leaders who oppose compromise or dialogue with Cuban President Castro have urged the FBI to widen its investigation.
FIU Professor Lisandro Pérez, who knows Alvarez well, said the arrests could revive the charged atmosphere of the 1970s and '80s, which saw the rise of the Cuban exile left, as well as bombings in Miami linked to anti-Castro militants.
''It sort of revives the argument that the talking, the dialogue, the academic exchanges with Cuba, which the so-called left has promoted, should not be supported,'' Pérez said. ``I disagree with that, but obviously it gives greater ammunition to that argument.''
Benes, meanwhile, accused Indiana University Assistant Professor Antonio de la Cova, a Cuban exile, of helping to instigate the climate of fear by urging reporters in Miami to investigate other exiles he views as suspect. Benes said de la Cova should not be given credibility because of his background.
De la Cova was once convicted of possession of explosives. He was arrested in 1976 after FBI agents were told that Cuban exiles planned to bomb Libros Para Adultos, an adult bookstore.
In a pre-sentencing statement, De la Cova said the bookstore was picked as a target by an informant, who had convinced him that the owner was a Castro agent. He served six years of a 65-year sentence. De la Cova's files, posted on the Web at wwwlatinamericanstudies.org, include information on the Alvarezes.
''I'm an academic, a published author, a historian,'' he said. ``You're trying to read too much into this. Last April, Benes sent an e-mail to my boss complaining about my website, which shows his lack of respect for academic freedom -- just like the Castro regime.''
SOURCE OF FEAR
Calls for a wider search for spies are one source of fear.
''It's not the first time this has happened here in the United States,'' said Max Lesnik, who often criticizes the Bush administration and the U.S. embargo on Cuba on his Spanish-language radio show broadcast on Ocean Radio. ``This type of hysteria is taking shape in some Spanish-language Miami media, not in the wider U.S. society.''
Perhaps those most concerned about being smeared as agents for Cuba are members and former members of the Antonio Maceo Brigade, founded in the 1970s by young Cuban exiles who often split with their parents and supported the Cuban revolution.
Congressional testimony by Florida Department of Law Enforcement agents in 1982 attempted to link Alvarez's wife, Elsa Prieto Alvarez, to the group. The agents said Prieto had been identified as a member of the brigade by the Rev. Manuel Espinosa, a Hialeah preacher and self-proclaimed double agent, who died in 1987.
But Andrés Gómez, longtime brigade leader, told The Miami Herald on Friday that Alvarez's wife was not a brigade member -- although he did not rule out that she may have attended a brigade meeting, or taken a trip to Cuba with the brigade from some other U.S. city.
Marifeli Pérez-Stable, a brigade founder and former member, said in an e-mail to The Miami Herald on Friday that the brigade was ``a radical expression of the currents of opinion then arising regarding the normalization of relations between the United States and Cuba. The debate was as legitimate and necessary then as it is [now.]''
A regular contributor to the editorial pages of The Miami Herald, Pérez-Stable is also vice president for democratic governance at the Inter-American Dialogue, a research group in Washington. After criticizing the Castro regime in the early 1990s, she no longer travels to Cuba -- banned, she said, by the Cuban government and labeled ``persona non grata.''
''The cause of democracy must be advanced by tolerance, reason and respectful debate,'' she said. ``Otherwise, we unwittingly become like our opponents who justify any means to advance their ends.''
EXILE POLITICS
Cuban Americans foresee rise of a `climate of fear'
The arrest of two spy suspects has spread fear among Cuban exiles who support contact with the Castro government as a way to ease tension.
BY ALFONSO CHARDY
achardy@MiamiHerald.com
AND OSCAR CORRAL
Fallout from the Florida International University spy scandal is spreading throughout segments of Miami's Cuban-American community, sparking concerns that the affair is fostering a climate of fear among exiles who favor dialogue with communist Cuba.
Already, several of those people have refused to comment publicly about their concerns, and others have expressed alarm that last week's arrest of FIU employees Carlos Alvarez and his wife, Elsa Prieto Alvarez, could prompt pro-dialogue exiles to be less willing to voice views.
The latest spasm in Cuban exile politics comes against a backdrop of increasing tension with Cuba in the aftermath of tougher Bush administration policies restricting travel and money remittances to the island and ongoing efforts to further toughen the U.S. posture toward Cuba. To some, the FIU affair can define today's climate of retrenchment both in Miami and in Cuba -- one echoing a dangerous past when being pro-dialogue was seen by some as tantamount to treason.
''This opens the door to a witch hunt,'' said Bernardo Benes, who helped bring about an era of rapprochement in the late 1970s when the Fidel Castro regime allowed exiles to return for family visits. ''I'm sad that evil people take advantage of moments like this to promote their evil ideas and impose on people more control of the community,'' Benes said.
While many exiles who favor reconciliation or compromise expressed qualms, some Cuban Americans on the opposite side of the political spectrum believe that fears are exaggerated or unfounded.
''Only those who are doing something illegal should be worried about the U.S. government's actions,'' said Jaime Suchlicki, director of the Institute for Cuban and Cuban-American Studies at the University of Miami, which gets federal grants and has no contact with Cuban government institutions.
''People who are law-abiding and are not collaborating with any foreign governments that are enemies of the United States have nothing to worry about,'' he said.
Ninoska Pérez-Castellón, president of the Cuban Liberty Council and a popular Spanish-language personality on conservative Radio Mambí, said there was no witch hunt, just a deep concern among the anti-Castro right that others in Miami might also be spying for Cuba.
''The last five years, there have been 21 Cuban spies convicted,'' she said. She added that among them was Ana Belén Montes, of Puerto Rican descent, who worked at the Pentagon and was convicted of spying for Cuba.
''These two were at a well-known public university, [allegedly] serving as agents for Castro,'' Pérez Castellón said, referring to the Alvarezes. ``Where is the witch hunt?''
Last week's arrests are different from the arrests in 1998 of five Cubans who later were convicted of spying for Havana. Those five were little known, while the Alvarezes are prominent not only in academic and intellectual circles but among those who favor dialogue.
COUPLE'S BACKGROUND
Carlos Alvarez has been an education professor at FIU since 1974, while Elsa Prieto Alvarez has worked there as a psychological services counselor since 1999. Both have also been linked to liberal or leftist sectors of the exile community since the 1970s, and Carlos Alvarez traveled to Cuba several times for research and as a facilitator in dialogue exchanges between exiles and Cubans on the island.
Federal prosecutors charged the couple with not registering as foreign agents after investigators say they found evidence of links to Cuban intelligence. The two were accused of using shortwave radios, numerical code and computer-encrypted files to transmit information about Miami's exile community to Cuban intelligence officers.
Although officials have suggested that no other arrests are contemplated, some exile leaders who oppose compromise or dialogue with Cuban President Castro have urged the FBI to widen its investigation.
FIU Professor Lisandro Pérez, who knows Alvarez well, said the arrests could revive the charged atmosphere of the 1970s and '80s, which saw the rise of the Cuban exile left, as well as bombings in Miami linked to anti-Castro militants.
''It sort of revives the argument that the talking, the dialogue, the academic exchanges with Cuba, which the so-called left has promoted, should not be supported,'' Pérez said. ``I disagree with that, but obviously it gives greater ammunition to that argument.''
Benes, meanwhile, accused Indiana University Assistant Professor Antonio de la Cova, a Cuban exile, of helping to instigate the climate of fear by urging reporters in Miami to investigate other exiles he views as suspect. Benes said de la Cova should not be given credibility because of his background.
De la Cova was once convicted of possession of explosives. He was arrested in 1976 after FBI agents were told that Cuban exiles planned to bomb Libros Para Adultos, an adult bookstore.
In a pre-sentencing statement, De la Cova said the bookstore was picked as a target by an informant, who had convinced him that the owner was a Castro agent. He served six years of a 65-year sentence. De la Cova's files, posted on the Web at wwwlatinamericanstudies.org, include information on the Alvarezes.
''I'm an academic, a published author, a historian,'' he said. ``You're trying to read too much into this. Last April, Benes sent an e-mail to my boss complaining about my website, which shows his lack of respect for academic freedom -- just like the Castro regime.''
SOURCE OF FEAR
Calls for a wider search for spies are one source of fear.
''It's not the first time this has happened here in the United States,'' said Max Lesnik, who often criticizes the Bush administration and the U.S. embargo on Cuba on his Spanish-language radio show broadcast on Ocean Radio. ``This type of hysteria is taking shape in some Spanish-language Miami media, not in the wider U.S. society.''
Perhaps those most concerned about being smeared as agents for Cuba are members and former members of the Antonio Maceo Brigade, founded in the 1970s by young Cuban exiles who often split with their parents and supported the Cuban revolution.
Congressional testimony by Florida Department of Law Enforcement agents in 1982 attempted to link Alvarez's wife, Elsa Prieto Alvarez, to the group. The agents said Prieto had been identified as a member of the brigade by the Rev. Manuel Espinosa, a Hialeah preacher and self-proclaimed double agent, who died in 1987.
But Andrés Gómez, longtime brigade leader, told The Miami Herald on Friday that Alvarez's wife was not a brigade member -- although he did not rule out that she may have attended a brigade meeting, or taken a trip to Cuba with the brigade from some other U.S. city.
Marifeli Pérez-Stable, a brigade founder and former member, said in an e-mail to The Miami Herald on Friday that the brigade was ``a radical expression of the currents of opinion then arising regarding the normalization of relations between the United States and Cuba. The debate was as legitimate and necessary then as it is [now.]''
A regular contributor to the editorial pages of The Miami Herald, Pérez-Stable is also vice president for democratic governance at the Inter-American Dialogue, a research group in Washington. After criticizing the Castro regime in the early 1990s, she no longer travels to Cuba -- banned, she said, by the Cuban government and labeled ``persona non grata.''
''The cause of democracy must be advanced by tolerance, reason and respectful debate,'' she said. ``Otherwise, we unwittingly become like our opponents who justify any means to advance their ends.''
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