Cuban intelligence expert identifIES MORE cuban spies
(October 2008 / Miami, FL) – Christopher S. Simmons, one of America’s foremost authorities on Cuban Intelligence, a Lieutenant Colonel in the U.S. Army and a career counterintelligence officer identified more Cuban spies and their operations in the U.S.
During recent television and radio interviews Simmons spoke about the troublesome impact on the DI becoming the DGI (Directorate General of Intelligence) once again – a term used until the Ochoa trial in the late 1980’s. Simmons also added additional names to the list of Cuban spies operating in the U.S.:
} Jean-Guy Allart: According to Juan Manuel Reyes Alonso, a former officer with Cuba’s DI, Canadian journalist Jean-Guy Allard is quite likely a DI or Directorate of Counterintelligence (DCI) agent. Reyes-Alonso made this determination based on his years of service in the DI and the selection process Havana uses in hiring foreign reporters to work for Granma. Reyes-Alonso also noted that Jean-Guy Allard visits the U.S. periodically for conferences and other business and his subsequent publications are classic propaganda pieces.
} Lisandro Pérez: Sociology professor at FIU. He founded the Cuban Research Institute (CRI) in 1991 and developed it into the premier academic center in the U.S. for the study of Cuba and Cuban Americans. He served as its director until 2003. Pérez was on The Miami Herald's Board of Contributors from 1985 to at least 1990. It is the position that Marifeli Perez-Stable later assumed and it indicates that the DGI/DI have had an agent of influence in the The Miami Herald for more than 20 years
} Silvia Wilhelm: Executive Director - Cuban Committee for Democracy. Identified as a possible CuIS agent by Carlos Alvarez. Her name was not redacted from the Alvarez confession (as required for innocent parties), although full details are not yet available.
} Julia E. Sweig: Nelson and David Rockefeller Senior Fellow for Latin America Studies and Director for Latin American Studies with the prestigious Council on Foreign Relations. She may be one of two very unique categories of agents – an Agent of Influence or a "Persona de Confianza," – another DI intelligence category. She has directed numerous Council-sponsored Task Forces on Latin America, currently serves on the Board of Directors for Foreign Affairs en Español; consultant on Latin American affairs, Congressional Program, The Aspen Institute (1999-present); Project Director, Center for Preventive Action Commission, Andes 2020: A New Strategy for the Challenges of Colombia and the Region (2004); Director, Independent Task Force, U.S.-Cuban Relations in the 21st Century, A Follow-On Chairman’s Report (2001). Wrote OPED pieces re Elian scenario and “Cuban terrorists” in the U.S. In 2002, Sweig published her book, Inside the Cuban Revolution: Fidel Castro and the Urban Underground. Among those she thanks in her acknowledgements are six Cuban Intelligence Officers; Jose Antonmio Arbesu, Ramon Sanchez Parodi, Fernando Garcia Bielsa, Hugo Yedra, Jose Gomez Abad and Josefina Vidal. Not surprisingly, Sweig does not acknowledge that the six are career Intelligence Officers. The six Cuban spies she thanks are:
§ Ramon Sanchez Parodi Montoto became the first Chief of the Cuban Interest Section in Washington, D.C. on September 1, 1977 when the U.S. and Cuba re-established diplomatic missions. This career spy served in Washington until 1989 -- 12 consecutive years. Experts remain undecided as to whether he is DGI or from the infamous America Department (DA). In testimony before the U.S. Senate, Dr. Daniel James charged Sanchez-Parodi with targeting the Congressional Black Caucus to foment opposition to existing U.S. policies toward Cuba. According to the New York Times, Sanchez-Parodi was extremely well connected to the U.S. academic, civic, cultural, and business communities. He was promoted to Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs immediately following his U.S. tour. In the U.S., his position would have been called “Deputy Foreign Minister”. The May 14, 2007 issue of The Nation featured an article on Cuba titled “The Changing of the Guard.” Among the six co-authors were Ramon Sanchez-Parodi and Cuban agent Dr. Alberto Coll. In this article, Sanchez-Parodi used the opportunity to favorably portray Raul Castro’s institutional support and his efforts to enhance the performance of these institutions.
§ Jose Antonio Arbesu Fraga: Director of the America Area (formerly the DA) of the International Department of the Cuban Communist Party (PCC/ID). Following the 1992 resignation of legendary Cuban Intelligence officer Manuel Pineiro, Jose Antonio Arbesu Fraga, one of the DA’s Vice Directors, was selected as his replacement. In May 2004, Mexican forbid future visits by Cuban officials Arbesú and Pedro Miguel Lobaina-Jimenez de Castro. Mexico stated that its actions responded to acts by Arbesu and others were “unacceptable activities (in Mexico...) outside of the institutional context and procedures established in existing agreements and treaties between the two countries.”
§ Fernando Miguel Garcia Bielsa: As a 1st Secretary at the Cuban Interests Section, he was one 14 spy-diplomats expelled in May 2003. Earlier this year, Garcia Bielsa served as the Political Counselor in Santiago. Normally, Garcia’s extensive DA service, long-term ties to US terrorist groups (i.e., Puerto Rican extremists), and past service in the US would make his Santiago posting an anomaly. However, Santiago is likely a relatively benign operational area for a “burned” spy to continue to work with leftists groups and American agents.
§ Josefina de la C. Vidal Ferreiro: First Secretary at the Cuban Interests Section. One of 14 expelled in May 2003.
§ Hugo Ernesto Yedra Diaz: DI officer Hugo Ernesto Yedra Diaz was the featured speaker at a party commemorating the 42nd anniversary of the “start” of the Cuban Revolution on July 26, 1995. Sponsored by the district’s “Hands Off Cuba Coalition,” the event was held at Washington Peace Center. Yedra discussed the attack on the Moncada Barracks before transitioning to a call for Americans to oppose Helms-Burton. At the time, Yedra was assigned to the Cuban Interests Section in Washington D.C. Yedra attracted considerable attention on November 22, 1977 when his briefcase exploded in the lobby of an Upper East Side apartment building. Yedra had set the case down to call for an elevator and apparently failed to activate the safety device on the case’s self-destruct device. Yedra lived in the building, but gathered his documents and fled the scene before police could arrive to investigate.
§ Jose Gomez Abad: A central figure in an attempted terrorist effort known as the “Black Friday Attack” on November 17, 1962, just weeks after the Cuban Missile Crisis. The FBI detained three Cuban Diplomats from its UN Mission and seized a cache of explosive and incendiary devices. Washington detained the Cubans on espionage-related charges and stockpiling munitions for use against US installations. Cuba’s targets included the Statue of Liberty; retail giants Macy’s, Gimbels, and Bloomingdale’s; the main bus terminal on 42nd Street; Manhattan’s busiest subway stations – including Grand Central Station, and several oil refineries along the New Jersey riverbank. Twelve detonators, several incendiary devices, grenades, and 500 kilos of TNT were to be used on Black Friday – the busiest shopping day in the US.
Cuban spies identified by Simmons in July 2008:
} Dr. Alberto Coll: Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense (Special Operations/Low Intensity Conflict) from 1990-1993. Subsequently served as Chairman of the Strategic Research Department at the Naval War College. In 2005, he admitted lying about a trip to Cuba and accepted a plea agreement wherein the rest of his confession was sealed.
} Dr. Gillian Gunn Clissold: Until her recent retirement, she was the Associate Director, Caribbean Programs, at Trinity College. One of 16 Cuba experts in FIU’s “Cuba in Transition” project. Directed Georgetown University’s “Cuba Project,” a notorious magnet for Cuban intelligence officers and agents. She briefed Cuban issues to Congress, the CIA, DIA, State Department, and the Army & Air Force War Colleges (among others).
} Marifeli Perez-Stable: Vice President for democratic governance at the Inter-American Dialogue in Washington, D.C.; member of the editorial board of contributors of The Miami Herald; professor in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at Florida International University; and a newly elected Board member of the Association for the Study of the Cuban Economy.
} Gilberto Abascal: FBI informant against Osvaldo Mitat, Santiago Alvarez, and Luis Posada Carriles.
For additional information, please visit www.CubanIntelligence.com.
Christopher S. Simmons, an active-duty Lieutenant Colonel in the U.S. Army and career counterintelligence officer since 1987, is one of America’s foremost authorities on Cuban Intelligence. From 1996-2004, Simmons was deeply involved with the majority of U.S. Counterintelligence successes against Cuba. He was a central figure in the identification, investigation, and debriefing of convicted Cuban spy, Ana Belen Montes – the highest-ranking Cuban spy ever sent to prison in the United States. Simmons was the lead military official in the May 2003 expulsion of 14 Cuban spies serving under diplomatic cover; the third largest diplomatic expulsion in U.S. history and the only one not targeted against Russia/USSR. He has lectured on Cuban Intelligence throughout the U.S. Intelligence Community, to Congress, and in several academic or private sector forums.
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