State Dept., not FBI, expelled Cuban diplomats

["Fred Feldman" <ffeldman@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

The facts are supporting the Cuban charges. Fred Feldman

The New York Times

May 15, 2003
State Dept., Not the F.B.I., Expelled Cuban Diplomats
By CHRISTOPHER MARQUIS


WASHINGTON, May 14 - White House and State Department
officials - not law enforcement officials - were behind the
expulsion of 14 Cuban diplomats from the United States for
"inappropriate activities," including spying, F.B.I.
officials said today.

Bureau officials said there was no specific espionage event
that touched off the action, adding credence to Cuba's
charge that the expulsions were part of a new political
strategy.

"It was not our recommendation to take this action at this
time," said a senior F.B.I. official. The decision to expel
Cubans was made "at the highest levels" in the State
Department and the White House, and the policy makers then
turned to the bureau for names of intelligence operatives,
said the official, who asked not to be named.

The administration's move to expel seven diplomats from
Cuba's Washington mission and seven from its United Nations
delegation comes amid growing tensions and increasingly
heated rhetoric between the countries. American officials
are studying a series of measures to signal displeasure with
Cuba's recent crackdown on government critics, and to
toughen America's overall Cuba policy.

Administration officials insisted today that the expulsions
were legitimate counterespionage actions and were the fruit
of continuing investigations.

But Dagoberto Rodríguez, Cuba's top diplomat in the United
States, charged that hard-liners in the Bush administration
were attempting to precipitate a crisis as a pretext for an
American invasion.

In a news conference at the Cuban Interests Section, which
serves as Cuba's embassy in the absence of formal diplomatic
ties, Mr. Rodríguez denied that the diplomats were engaged
in spying. He said the administration was trying to curtail
the limited diplomatic cooperation between the countries,
which in turn would disrupt immigration agreements and raise
the prospect of a refugee exodus.

Calling the spying allegations "an outrageous slander," Mr.
Rodríguez said the suspension of migration agreements "could
provoke a disordered migration from Cuba to the U.S." and
"justify an aggression against Cuba."

He added: "This is the dream of the right-wing extremist
groups and terrorists in Miami, as well as other anti-Cuban
members of the U.S. government."

Cuba and the United States signed immigration agreements in
1994 and 1995 that allowed for the resettlement of a minimum
of 20,000 Cubans a year in the United States. The accords,
which ended a disastrous rafters' exodus, are a rare
instance of routine cooperation between the countries. They
depend on consular officials working within the missions.

Cuba has already complained in recent days that the United
States is dragging its feet on the issuing of visas in an
effort to create social unrest on the island. American
officials deny that, saying that antiterrorism checks have
slowed the process considerably.

State Department officials, who announced the expulsions on
Tuesday, insisted that their action was prompted by improper
intelligence activities by the Cuban envoys and was not part
of a harsher American political strategy.

"It would be best to say it's related strictly to the
activities the individuals engaged in," said Robert
Zimmerman, a department spokesman.

The department's deputy spokesman, Philip Reeker, said today
that the ousters were the product of active F.B.I.
investigations. "This is based on the merits of the
situation," Mr. Reeker said.

But bureau officials said that senior policy makers were
behind the decision to expel some Cubans. They then turned
to a list of suspected intelligence operatives that had been
provided by the bureau several months, and possibly as long
as a year ago, the officials said.

Although the bureau officials say they are convinced that
the expelled envoys were engaged in intelligence gathering
outside their formal duties, there was no specific espionage
event that brought about the action, they said. The envoys
are protected against prosecution here by diplomatic
immunity.

The action is expected to result in a reciprocal ouster of
American officials from Havana, possibly including the chief
of mission, James Cason, who has infuriated Cuban officials
by meeting regularly with dissidents. In the absence of
diplomatic relations, the countries attempt to maintain
strict parity in the numbers of envoys and restrictions on
their movement.

The expulsions highlight a growing tug-of-war in Washington
over the direction of Cuba policy.

In Congress, lawmakers have expressed support for greater
contacts with the government of Cuba's president, Fidel
Castro, and ordinary Cubans as a means to hasten democratic
change. A bipartisan group introduced legislation today to
lift the restrictions on Americans traveling to Cuba.

"Right now, Castro has complete control over what Cubans
hear and who they meet," said Representative Jeff Flake, an
Arizona Republican, who says the current policy to isolate
Cuba is misguided. "By flooding the island with Americans
bearing American ideals, Castro's stranglehold on the
country will be greatly lessened."

But the prospects for the bill are dim. At the same time
that Congress has moved toward greater engagement with
Havana, President Bush's Latin America team includes
hard-liners with long records of fighting any reaching out
to the Castro regime. Aides say Mr. Bush, who is expected to
approve new sanctions by May 20, Cuba's day of independence,
would veto legislation that would ease existing sanctions.



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