Aiding and abetting Cuban intelligence
OUR OPINION: CONVICTED COUPLE BETRAYED COMMUNITY'S TRUST
With the guilty pleas of Carlos and Elsa Alvarez last week, there can be
no doubt that the couple aided the Cuban government, an avowed enemy of
the United States and the Cuban-exile community. Carlos Alvarez
acknowledged that he conspired to secretly pass information to Cuban
intelligence agents -- and his wife admitted that she concealed his
duplicity.
Real suffering
It isn't knowable how much damage Carlos Alvarez did by keeping Cuban
spymasters informed for years about political developments and
influential people, among them Florida International University
President Modesto ''Mitch'' Maidique. Whatever Alvarez's motivation, he
aided and abetted a totalitarian regime that has caused real suffering
among Cubans inside and outside the island. His wife knowingly protected
him and his covert efforts. Thus, the couple betrayed the trust of
friends and the entire community, including the many exiles here who
know the regime's tyranny first-hand.
Lawyer Steven Chaykin says that Carlos Alvarez was only trying to help
lift the embargo and that he was a victim of his ''idealism.'' Yet
Alvarez's voluntary statements to the FBI and his actions suggest otherwise.
In a proffer to the court, prosecutors outlined what they believed
happened -- and it seemed straight from a spy novel: A mild-mannered FIU
academic by day, Alvarez became an undercover code-named ''David'' by
night. He exchanged communications with Cuban intelligence via shortwave
radio, encrypting and decrypting messages with Cuban-provided software.
He mailed reports to Post Office boxes, then burned the evidence in his
backyard and tried to erase any trace in his computer. Sometimes he
carried the encryption software in a hidden compartment in a briefcase.
After Cuban spies of the ''Wasp Network'' were arrested in 1998, Alvarez
communicated with his Cuban handlers in face-to-face meetings in Cuba
and elsewhere. His wife, Elsa, provided cover by at times accompanying
him on the trips.
Terribly wrong
How could the Alvarezes not know that what they were doing was terribly
wrong? If the goals were so ideal, why all the duplicity? Why all the
trouble to keep the activity secret? Why not just openly advocate for
better U.S. relations with Cuba or lobby Congress to lift the embargo?
The Alvarezes' plea deals averted what could have been spy charges that
carry tougher penalties. Alvarez pleaded guilty to ''conspiracy to act
as an agent of a foreign government.'' Elsa Alvarez pleaded to knowing
about his spy contacts, concealing his illegal activity and not telling
authorities. He faces up to five years in prison; her maximum would be
three years. Whatever the sentence, they have only themselves to blame.
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/opinion/16317815.htm
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