Letter from Cuba contained data on military sites

[Say_What]

A followup on the woman with the letter in her bra who was detained in Cuba, original article from June 26, 2003 for reference follows.

<clips>

A Miami-Dade County woman accused of espionage in Cuba because of a letter a relative gave her to take to the United States finally has revealed its contents.

María Cardoso, who was detained in Cuba for nearly six months on suspicion of spying, said Tuesday that the letter contained information on the Cuban military.

Cardoso said that her brother, Omelio Angulo, wrote the letter to another brother, Enrique Angulo, who lives in southwest Miami-Dade. It contained information about Cuban military installations and included photos, according to Cardoso and Enrique Angulo.

Omelio Angulo's trial on espionage charges is set for today in Camaguey, Cuba, his relatives said. The charges against him stem from the letter, which Cuban state security officers found on Cardoso after they detained her at the Camaguey airport on April 8.

<http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/miami/sfl-dcouple15oct15,0,2430820.story?coll=sfla-news-miami>

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Cuba holds Dade couple; family pleads for release

A family torn apart by Cuba's cryptic accusations of espionage is appealing to the media and the American government for help in freeing their imprisoned relatives on the island.

Three months ago, Maria Cardoso and her husband Arcel took their two daughters, Lizandra Fernandez, 15, and Ashley Cardoso, 7, on a two-week trip to Camagüey to visit relatives. By the end of their vacation, Maria and Arcel were in Cuban custody and their daughters were under house arrest in Camagüey.

The two girls were eventually sent back to Miami, where they are living with an uncle in Southwest Miami-Dade.

Cuba has accused their parents and an uncle of espionage, a charge linked to an anti-Castro letter that security agents found in Maria's bra as she tried to board her flight back to Miami in April.

http://www.cubanet.org/CNews/y03/jun03/26e2.htm

[DarkPhenyx]

1. Hey, what do you know?

They were spying. Imagine that.

[IndianaGreen]

2. If they had done this to the US

they would be inside a dog cage in Guantanamo instead of getting a fair trial in the Cuban courts.

[cprise]

4. With a container over their heads

...and a strange plastic thing in their mouths, probably.

[Say_What]

6. In Gitmo with NO RIGHTS whatsoever...

[Jorje Bzsch]

13. Just to Suck up the Latinos

Election is around the corner. so he just doing a lips service for Cuban Americans. once you fool Shame on you . twice you fool me shame on me.

[DarkPhenyx]

5. Your point being?

What the US might or might not do is fairly irrelevant to what Cuba is doing in this instance.

[pinerow]

7. It is very important...there are four Cuban Nationals serving

very long sentences in U.S jails for tracking Exile terrorists groups in the Miami and New Jersey area...so my friend, I suggest that you not let the facts get in the way of your opinions.

[DarkPhenyx]

12. Provide a source please.

And American jails are hardly "dog cages in Gitmo". So as you pointed out, don't let the facts get in your way.

Also, please explain what that has to do with this individual in Cuba.

[Say_What]

15. LOL are you serious??

'muriKan jails not like Gitmo??

They may not be 'dog cages' but the conditions are equally as appalling. The land of the free is the world's leading jailer. Take your pick on any number of topics.

Doing something about prison rape

Letter Urging the State of Alabama (U.S.) to Address Preventable Deaths of Prisoners

Incarcerated America

http://www.hrw.org/us/usdom.php?theme=Prison%20Conditions

and don't miss these:

Executing the Mentally Ill

U.S.: Halt Execution of Mississippi Juvenile Offender

http://www.hrw.org/us/usdom.php?theme=Death%20Penalty

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As for the Cuban 5, information on them has been completely ignored by the US corporate press.

<clips>

...FBI agents went to Havana in 1998 to allegedly help the government in their fight against the Miami-based terrorist organizations. Cuba shared with the agents much of the information they had about the terrorist networks.

Well, less than two months later, the FBI made their arrests. But instead of rounding up members from the right-wing terrorist groups, they arrested five Cubans who were working to defend their country against terrorist attacks.

The men Rene Gonzalez, Ramon Labanino, Fernando Gonzalez, Antonio Guerrero, and Gerardo Hernandez maintain they were strictly involved in monitoring the actions and criminal activities of the Miami-based right-wing groups.

The US claimed they were a threat to "national security" and charged them with espionage.

Now known as the Cuban 5, the men were tried in a Miami federal court and received sentences from 15 years to life.

http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=03/04/07/0313200

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Cuban 5 Have Been Placed in Solitary Confinement

7 March 2003

URGENT ALERT: The Cuban 5 have been placed in solitary confinement and they need your help!

The five Cuban political prisoners in the U.S. were suddenly and without justification thrown into solitary confinement on March 3, 2003 in their separate prisons. It is not clear how long the punishment will last.

Prison authorities have not given the official reason for their illegal confinement in "the hole", but apparently it is a decision from the Federal Bureau of Prisons in Washington, and has the markings of directed political repression against the Five.

As Leonard Weinglass, appeals attorney for Antonio Guerrero, one of the Cuban Five in Florence Colorado prison, said, "None of them belongs in solitary confinement. It is completely unjustified and unnecessary as all of them are model prisoners."

http://humanrightsonline.net/cubap.html

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On edit: Letter from Amnesty International to A$$croft

<clips>

Dear Attorney General

I am writing regarding a complaint we have received alleging that five Cuban nationals convicted in June 2001 of conspiracy to commit offences against the USA by gathering information about US military installations and other charges (United States v Hernandez et al) have been denied family visits.

The prisoners are currently serving prison terms ranging from 15 years to life in various federal maximum security penitentiaries. It is alleged that none of the prisoners has thus far been allowed to receive visits from their families in Cuba, including wives and children. Olga Salanueva, the wife of Rene Gonzalez, reportedly applied for and was granted a visa in order to visit her husband with their four-year-old daughter, but this was later revoked. The last time she saw her husband was on the eve of his trial in November 2000. It has been reported that Ms. Perez O'Connor, the wife of Gerardo Hernandez Nordelo, also obtained a visa for the purpose of visiting her husband but was detained upon her arrival at the international airport at Houston, Texas, on 25 July 2002. She was reportedly isolated, photographed, fingerprinted and interrogated by the FBI before being expelled from the country 11 hours later. She was allegedly denied permission to contact the Cuban Consul during her detention, despite the efforts of a diplomatic officer of the Cuban Interests Section in Washington who had accompanied her to the USA. Such a denial would be contrary to Article 36 of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations which the US has ratified and other international standards. Relatives of the other prisoners reportedly requested visas to visit them several months ago, but have not received a response.

Amnesty International is not aware of the grounds on which visas have been denied in the above cases. However, we wish to draw your attention to international standards which emphasize the importance of the family and the right of all prisoners to maintain contact with their families and to receive visits.

The Body of Principles for the Protection of all Persons under Any Form of Detention or Imprisonment provides that:

http://www.canadiannetworkoncuba.ca/Documents/C5-Amnesty-jan03.shtml

[DarkPhenyx]

18. Wow! You are right! It's absolutely horrible in American jails.

I mean, they have cable TV. They get better medical care than I do. Educational support. Damn, it's rough in there. They have guarenteed access to their lawyers, and will ahve one appointed if they can't afford it. So that would be free legal counsel. 3 hot squares, which many Americans on the outside of the penal system cannot afford.

C'mon...be serious.

Could be these 5 are indeed being held with bogus charges. Coulde easily be.

Now, I'll ask for a third time. What does this have to do with the people being held in Cuba, by Cuba....and what does it have to do with the conditions at Gitmo?

[morebunk]

16. At least Castro didn't bulldoze their family home.

And this person was not an "alleged spy" or a "suspect." Seems to me they had the evidence in hand.

[DarkPhenyx]

17. Yup! I agree.

My opinion is that they were spying.

[Judi Lynn]

3. Omigod! Thanks for posting this.

The family nearly chewed up the Miami scenery, with photos in the Miami Herald of the members sitting around looking as if they'd all seen into the pit of hell.

They could NOT have made more noise about this. You would have thought the Cuban authorities had sat on the wife's face when they detained her at the airport.

For them to ADMIT she was carrying information about the Cuban military out of the country is just AMAZING.

No wonder her husband divorced her when they got back to Miami. I'd like to divorce her, and I never met her. How STOOOOPID can gusanos get?

It doesn't take a rocket scientist to imagine the noise this story would have generated had the Homeland authorities discovered someone taking information about our military to Cuba!

Here's a story from the Miami Herald waaay back when they were martyrs:

(snip) Posted on Thu, Jun. 26, 2003

Cuba holds Dade couple; family pleads for release
BY OSCAR CORRAL, ELAINE DE VALLE AND ALFONSO CHARDY
[e-mail]

A family torn apart by Cuba's cryptic accusations of espionage is appealing to the media and the American government for help in freeing their imprisoned relatives on the island.

Three months ago, Maria Cardoso and her husband Arcel took their two daughters, Lizandra Fernandez, 15, and Ashley Cardoso, 7, on a two-week trip to Camagüey to visit relatives. By the end of their vacation, Maria and Arcel were in Cuban custody and their daughters were under house arrest in Camagüey.

The two girls were eventually sent back to Miami, where they are living with an uncle in Southwest Miami-Dade.

Cuba has accused their parents and an uncle of espionage, a charge linked to an anti-Castro letter that security agents found in Maria's bra as she tried to board her flight back to Miami in April.

''We just want them home,'' Lizandra told The Herald on Wednesday. ``Ashley is having a very hard time. She is very emotional.''

Miami relatives say the accusations are a complete fabrication. They say Cuba's government has refused to let them send a lawyer or get any information on the charges. (snip/...)

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/world/cuba/6171648.htm

[Judi Lynn]

8. This story is getting even more preposterous

The family is STILL not finished with chewing the scenery. True buffoons!

Posted on Wed, Oct. 15, 2003

MIAMI
Family: Cuban passed on secrets
The family of a Cuban man accused of spying says that if he is mistreated they will make public the information he gave them. They say he is ill and should not stand trial.
BY CHARLES RABIN
[e-mail]




RECEIVED PAPERS: Enrique Angulo holds a photo of his brother, Omelio, who is accused of spying in Cuba. With Angulo are Omelio's sister Maria Cardoso and her son Ruben. ROBERTO KOLTUN/EL NUEVO HERALD


A day before Omelio Angulo is to stand trial in Cuba for espionage, relatives in Miami admitted he was trying to pass along information about the military, but they say they don't know why.

Family members at a news conference Tuesday at their Southwest Miami-Dade home also tried to portray Angulo as being medically unfit to stand trial, claiming he has attempted suicide at least three times -- once while trying to get through military school in 1979, another time while he was in jail. (snip)

(snip) She said Omelio went to therapy for years after the initial suicide attempt. ``He couldn't control himself in military school. He couldn't make it. He was too hyper.''(snip)

(snip) ''He isn't a spy,'' said Maria's son Ruben Manzo, 23. ``He was trying to let my uncle know what is going on in Cuba. He knows a lot of people from there, and he was just trying to pass along information to my uncle.'' (snip/...)

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/world/cuba/7015706.htm

[Say_What]

10. Never a dull moment in Gusanoville...

If the anti-Cuba pol, known to the Cubans on the island as the "Shewolf", won't touch it one can only guess about the entire case. From the article:

...U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, who originally said she would press the U.S. government on the Cardosos' behalf, said last month she had reservations about the family's ordeal because they had not been forthcoming on what was in the letter.

Ros-Lehtinen could not be reached Tuesday....

[Judi Lynn]

14. If there was any reason whatsoever

to take up their cause, and make points for Miami, she couldn't be pried away from them.

She visited Elián repeatedly. There's a great photo somewhere showing him looking at her as if she actually had fangs.


http://www.yourcongress.com/profile.asp?member_id=417

[J B]

9. Looks like she'd do time in Cuba either way.

Whether Gitmo or Havana...

[Say_What]

11. Had you READ the article

you would have seen that the Cuban authorities RELEASED her.

...Cardoso and her former husband, Arcel Cardoso, had been on the island on a family trip with their two daughters in April. Cuban officials allowed their daughters to return to the United States, but the Cardosos and Omelio Angulo were arrested.

The couple was released in early September.