Monday, March 3, 2008

A Perennial Amnesia and Future Concerns Regarding Cuba

By Jerry Brewer

It is apparent that while many ponder Cuba's past and present there are others with memory recall deficiencies. Although it is not uncommon to wipe traumatic events from the thought process, the problem manifests when the reprocessing of information vests its interests in lies and falsehoods.

Regardless of the rationale, rhetoric or politics of Castro’s Cuba, the fundamental issue that would bring world support to Cuba's doorstep is action and not mere words. Action that would allow the Cuban people to attain the freedoms they deserve and bring them into the group of democratic nations where the rule of law can prevail.

Unfortunately, ex-President Fidel Castro is seen through many irresponsible eyes in a form of romanticism. The fact is that Fidel Castro's venomous hatred for the United States began before he even came to power.

When we look at the not so distant history of Latin America we find that guerrilla warfare and terrorism have been common place. In fact, CIA studies documented a total of 3,043 international terrorist incidents between 1968 and 1978. In those, over 25 percent occurred in Latin America. These totals were second only to Western Europe.

The facts are that terrorism continues to threaten Latin America and U.S. citizens and property. Many of the current active terrorists have been linked to the terrorist groups of the recent past. How is this significant and how does this relate to Cuba?

Through Fidel Castro's rule Cuba has trained thousands of communist guerrillas and terrorists. Those ties to terror groups and rogue states such as Iran and North Korea continue today. Too, Cuba has sponsored terrorism and subversion in most democratic nations of the southwestern hemisphere, and certainly in Africa and the Middle East. Recent visits, just prior to his illness, included trips to Iran, Libya, and Syria. Castro's comments included that "America was weak and would soon be brought to its knees."

Is Fidel Castro's past relevant to the future?

Under the new leader of Cuba, Fidel’s brother Raul Castro – who has pledged to consult Fidel on issues paramount to the homeland, Cuba is expanding its intelligence operations in the Middle East and South Asia. This according to former U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency official Chris Simmons. Cuba has placed intelligence operatives in key embassy positions in Iran, Turkey, and Pakistan.

Lest we forget Ana Belen Montes, the Defense Intelligence Agency's senior Cuba analyst arrested shortly after September 11, 2001, and Castro's intelligence apparatus known as one of the most formidable in the world, with military spy rings uncovered in Miami. Castro's spies are known to have successfully monitored activities at U.S. domestic air and naval bases, allowing them to monitor military movements and deployments. Those events were significant during the 1983 invasion of Grenada, and the beginning of Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003.

These spy operations pose a clear and present danger to U.S. military personnel, and the elements of "Force Protection" strategies that now must play a significant training role in military education and counterespionage.

Cuba's military intervention in the 1970s in Africa and the Middle East were significant examples of Fidel Castro's doctrine of revolution. President Raul Castro continues to lead with a military mentality.

A high level Cuban defector, Colonel Roberto Ortega, warned of a top secret underground facility southwest of Havana that is a "biowarfare front." He claims that Cuba can produce many types of toxins that can be deployed as simply as utilizing a suicide bomber. These toxins can include bubonic plague, botulism, and yellow fever.

The Cuban Direccion de Inteligencia (the DI spy apparatus, formerly known as the DGI) has its roots with the former Soviet Union's KGB. Their history included, in 1971, that 70% of the Cuban diplomats in London were actually espionage agents. This was considered invaluable to Moscow as Britain had expelled many Soviet intelligence officers.

President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela clearly recognizes Cuba's long history of subversion, espionage, and terrorism. In fact he modeled and staffed his security service, known as the DISIP, using many Cuban intelligence counterparts and advisors.

The U.S. State Department estimates that a minimum of 20,000 individuals from around the world have been trained as guerrillas or terrorists in Cuban facilities since Fidel Castro's rule began in 1959.

Good faith, from the new Cuban regime and by politicians on U.S. soil pledging dialogue with Cuba, could be the simple act of Raul Castro unequivocally renouncing terrorism and revolutionary violence, while opening all of Cuba’s biotechnology laboratories to international eyes of inspection.

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Jerry Brewer, the Vice President of Criminal Justice International Associates, a global risk mitigation firm headquartered in Miami, Florida, is a guest columnist with MexiData.info.  He can be reached via e-mail at Cjiaincusa@aol.com.