A Classic Cuban Spy Operation

Yesterday, I received an e-mail from Hank Tester, a reporter for South Florida TV station WTVJ-NBC 6. He was nice enough to send this humble hack of a blogger a copy of his on-line column which deals with the arrest of suspected spies Carlos and Elsa Alvarez. I was honored that Mr. Tester would send me some of his work, since I have always respected his reporting. His reporting of Cuban and Cuban-American issues is done with fairness and with a sensibility to the local Cuban-American community, something you don't see much of in the mainstream media.

Tester's column is extremely revealing and offers lucid insights as to why the capture of the Alvarez couple, as well as the activities of others like them, should be taken seriously.

Below is the column, with a direct link to Tester's News Plus columns here.

Thanks Mr. Tester.
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January 19, 2006

What Do The Spies Want?

"It is a classic Cuban spy operation," a former CIA agent told me. Elsa and Carlos Alvarez, according to FBI agents, spent 30 years spying for Cuba.

They were practicing their spy tradecraft on the campus of Florida International University. On the campus they rubbed shoulders with the university elite, including Mitch Maidique, the FIU President, and facility members attached to a number of programs geared to FIU’s aggressive pursuit of the Cuba issue. The Alvarez couple also worked their way into the Cuban exile intensive congregation of St. Thomas the Apostle Catholic Church. That is where Elsa Alvarez was active in producing retreats for married couples.

The feds were quick to say that the two alleged spies did not deal in the world of top-secret material. What they were after was dirt, gossip, inside information about prominent members of Cuban exile community. The method of operation is all too familiar to those of us who have followed the Cuban espionage story in South Florida.

"Active measures" is what the Cuban Intelligence call the activity, which is geared to create discord, divisions and intimidation in the Exile community. In other words, Castro's agents attempting to make exiles look bad to each other and the general public.

The five Cuban spies convicted in 2001 were tasked to do just that. They targeted Brothers to the Rescue, The Democracy Movement, The Miami Herald, The Cuban American National Foundation and individuals involved with those organizations, not to mention the offices of high level Cuban-American politicians.

And why is the gossip, dirt and inside information of high interest to Cuban Spies? It is useful to the Cuban intelligence operations in their attempts to spread rumors, generate letters to editors, produce damaging flyers, and anonymous phone calls to radio stations and individuals in order to create hostility, distrust, jealousy.

During the late 90s, spies were successful in generating feuds between exile organizations. As far as information on individuals, their vulnerabilities, where better to mine a treasure trove of information than a church-sponsored marriage retreat? Heaven knows what Fidel Castro knows about. We are likely to find out if the Alvarez spy case goes to trial.