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Spy culture takes toll on exiles' psyche (Castro's spys are everywere in the Cuban expat community)
Miami Herald ^ | Wed, Feb. 08, 2006 | LYDIA MARTIN

Posted on 02/08/2006 2:35:34 PM PST by presidio9

Growing up in Miami, young Cuban Americans rolled their eyes whenever the older generation warned there were spies everywhere. Agents of Fidel Castro who blended into el exilio and reported back to the island? It seemed too dime-store-novel to be true. But over the years, proof poured in. The latest: alleged Cuban agents at Florida International University. The old-timers have felt vindicated every time a spy is discovered -- just because they were paranoid didn't mean spies weren't out to get them. But just how damaging have those spies been? Whatever intelligence they may have swiped, their greatest toll could be on the Cuban-American psyche. The 47 years of Castro's rule may have established a well-documented culture of fear and duplicity on the island -- but many say they look over their shoulders in Miami, too. ''Whether it's one spy or hundreds, they contribute to the culture of doubt,'' said Alfredo Mesa, executive director of the Cuban American National Foundation, which has been infiltrated several times. ``From the early stages of the revolution, Castro has been separating families, creating divisions between friends. And it's happened in Miami, too. You don't always know who to trust.'' SENSE OF MISTRUST Because they have proof of cloak-and-dagger actions from the island, for Miami Cubans there is often a sense that things are not as they seem on the surface. That means they can mistrust the news and dream up new angles to Cuba-related incidents just when all the angles seem exhausted. A common whisper in Miami: Luis Posada Carriles, the exile suspected of anti-Castro bombings, is probably a Castro agent himself. Then again, it was a Cuban artist, the late Antonio Prohias, who created the classic Spy vs. Spy cartoon after he fled the island in 1960. In Cuba, he had drawn cartoons

(Excerpt) Read more at miami.com ...


TOPICS: Cuba; Culture/Society; Editorial; Miscellaneous; US: Florida
KEYWORDS: castro; cuba; cuban; cubano; danratherdanblather; espionage; intel; rather; spies; spy; thebiz; wtfk

1 posted on 02/08/2006 2:35:35 PM PST by presidio9
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To: presidio9

Is that Dan Blather snuggling and smiling with his favorite commie tyrant? I wonder why he didn't invite Oliver Stone, Sean Penn and other leftist loonies for a nice "group grope" with Fidel..... maybe UNESCO can give the next "Marti Award" to Dan Blather......


2 posted on 02/08/2006 2:56:17 PM PST by Enchante (Democrats: "We are ALL broken and worn out, our party & ideas, what else is new?")
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To: Enchante

Quál es la frecuencia Kenneth?


3 posted on 02/08/2006 3:00:02 PM PST by presidio9 (Islam is as Islam does)
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To: presidio9
"Castro's Spies Are Everywhere in the Cuban Expat Community"

Doing what?? I suspect that they are sending a lot of fake info back to justify staying on in the U.S.

4 posted on 02/08/2006 3:05:13 PM PST by redhead (Alaska: Step out of the bus and into the food chain...)
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To: rrrod

Cuban ping!


5 posted on 02/08/2006 3:05:48 PM PST by Tax-chick (My remark was stupid, and I'm a slave of the patriarchy. So?)
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To: Tax-chick

Is your tagline intended as flame insurance? :-)


6 posted on 02/08/2006 3:44:08 PM PST by Mind-numbed Robot (Not all that needs to be done, needs to be done by the government.)
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To: redhead

I have first hand knowledge of photos of a FReep here in the US being used in Cuba. The person in Cuba that used the photos was arrested, tortured and now is believed to be dead. I have a close association with a lot of the political refugees here in the US. They are extremely greatful to the US but on the other hand are very leary of saying so in public.


7 posted on 02/08/2006 3:53:47 PM PST by rrrod
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To: rrrod
I have first hand knowledge of photos of a FReep here in the US being used in Cuba. The person in Cuba that used the photos was arrested, tortured and now is believed to be dead.

I've got a friend who used to sneak in to Cuba on a foreign passport to do God knows what. Back in 2004 I got him and myself each one of those "Viva La Reagan Revolucion" t-shirts that mocked the Che t-shirts. That idiot was actually going to take it to Cuba with him and have someone photograph him in front of a huge Fidel statue that's down there somewhere. Thank God I talked him out of it or else he'd probably be dead as well.

8 posted on 02/08/2006 4:56:21 PM PST by Looking4Truth (http://www.gunstuff.com/america-attacked.html - NEVER FORGET!)
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To: rrrod

So sad.


9 posted on 02/08/2006 5:29:34 PM PST by nicollo (All economics are politics)
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To: Mind-numbed Robot

LOL! No, it's a local North Carolina joke ... but now that you mention it, also has the effect of letting folks know I'm not taking them seriously :-).


10 posted on 02/08/2006 6:37:24 PM PST by Tax-chick (My remark was stupid, and I'm a slave of the patriarchy. So?)
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To: presidio9
Growing up in Miami, young Cuban Americans rolled their eyes whenever the older
generation warned there were spies everywhere.


Same thing I did when one "crazy old" great-aunt would say the guvmint
and military had plenty of Soviet agents.

It took 40 years or so...but even PBS admitted it was true with their
show "Secret, Lies And Atomic Spies".

Old Aunt Etta was right after all.
11 posted on 02/08/2006 7:15:05 PM PST by VOA
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To: VOA

Please, I was always taught to never write anything down. To this day I do not like to: (1) have pictures taken of me; and (2) put anything down in writing, even phone numbers! It may come in handy.


12 posted on 02/08/2006 7:40:35 PM PST by The Cuban
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