Cosby's program. Saturday, February 21, 2004
COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSBY: An explosive divide between the U.S. and Cuba takes center
stage in about two weeks, as five Cubans will appeal the maximum
sentences that have made them famous back in Cuba. But were they a
threat to America or trying to protect their homeland?
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
COSBY (voice-over): The same month, Florida became the political
firestorm of the year 2000 presidential elections. And only a few
months after the case of Elian Gonzales gripped two nations, five
Cubans were on trial in Miami and soon afterwards sentenced for
operating as spies for Fidel Castro's government in the U.S. Three
were convicted of conspiracy to commit espionage for trying to
penetrate U.S. military bases. They received life sentences.
HECTOR PASQUALE, FBI SPECIAL AGENT: This verdict sends a clear
message to those who would attempt to threaten the national security
of the United States.
COSBY: But their defense attorneys said the Cuban agents' primary
mission was not the U.S. at all, but to thwart plans by Cuban-
American exiles to attack Cuba.
The five Cubans are now focused on March 10, when their attorneys go
before three appeals court judges and will raise several facts: That
all the men were given maximum sentences, kept in solitary
confinement for more than a year, barred from seeing certain family
members and what they believe was the most prejudicial, they were not
granted a change of venue out of Miami.
LEONARD WEINGLASS, ATTORNEY FOR CUBAN PRISONER: They couldn't get a
fair trial in Miami, because there are 650,000 Cuban exiles and
families of exiles living in Miami.
COSBY: In Cuba getting a new trial or even freedom for the five has
become a national mission with these posters on virtually every
restaurant and hotel wall.
Family members are pleading to have contact with their loved ones.
OLGA SALANUEVA, WIFE OF CUBAN PRISONER (through translator): I think
it's only human that I should be able to travel. I should have the
right to visit him, and he has the right as a prisoner to be visited
by his wife and his youngest daughter.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSBY: So, what rights should the Cuban five be given by the United
States, and did they get a fair trial after all? Joining us now from
Miami criminal defense attorney Paul McKenna, who represents the lead
defendant in the case, Gerardo Hernandez. And in Washington, Camila
Ruiz. She's the Washington, D.C., director of the Cuban American
Foundation.
Paul, I want to start with you. Are the five in your opinion victims
of politics and why?
PAUL MCKENNA, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Yes, absolutely, Rita. They
are.
Historically, people like these five that were snooping for a foreign
government, and that's really what they were doing. They were over
here snooping. They were, during the Cold War period, just either
swapped or sent home. These men didn't do anything that harmed our
national security, unlike the Pollards or the Walkers that people may
know about. There were no breaches of national security, nor was
there ever an intent to do any harm to the United States.
They came here basically on a mission to infiltrate various exile
groups that were posing a threat to Cuba during a period where there
was a wave of bombings of hotels and tourist attractions in Cuba by
exile groups.
COSBY: Let me bring in Camila, because Camila they did get a trial
in Miami. They asked for a change of venue in Fort Lauderdale, only
30 miles away. They didn't get it. Do you think they could have
gotten a fair trial in Miami? I mean, a huge population of Cuban-
Americans.
CAMILA RUIZ, CUBAN AMERICAN FOUNDATION: Right. I think they could
have gotten a fair trial. Miami-Dade County is a very diverse
county. There's immigrants from all over Latin America, coming in
more and more. And there was not one Cuban American on the jury, that
made it to the jury. So I definitely think they got a fair trial.
COSBY: Well, let's talk about what they were doing at the U.S.
bases. As you pointed out, and even I've been reading through a lot
of the stuff, there were a lot of senior U.S. military officials, lot
of retired officials. General Charles Wilhelm (ph), also Edwin
Atkinson. They were asked in court and testified, actually, for the
defense, saying no secrets were passed. What were they doing at the
bases then?
MCKENNA: Well, one of the bases that was actually one of the
defendants that had a job working as a janitor or a handyman at a
naval training station down in Key West, which isn't even a top-
secret base that conducts any type of, you know, war activity for the
United States. It's a training base.
And essentially what he was there to do was to see if there was ever
any kind of massing of airplanes that might be some indication of an
attack against Cuba. And this is something that anybody could see
just by standing out on the street. It wasn't anything that anybody
in the public domain couldn't have done. That's what we tried --
that's what we tried to show the jury in this case.
COSBY: And -- and Camilla, it was sort of public information. One of
the places was a training base, as he points out. No secrets were
taken. These guys did get the sentences of Inigo Chain (sic) and some
of the others. Do you think it was appropriate? Should they remain
behind bars?
RUIZ: Well, I think what we're failing to mention here is that one
of these gentlemen was convicted for conspiracy to commit murder.
And I think what we fail to mention when we talk about this issue is
that there were three American citizens and one American resident
that were killed over international waters. And that plan was
formulated through this spy network. They passed information about
the flight plans back to Havana. Havana told the individuals that
were infiltrated in the Brothers to the Rescue organization not to
fly on those specific dates. And that was why, because they were
planning to blow the planes out of the sky.
COSBY: Paul, you get the last word. What do you think should
happen? And are you optimistic on -- for March 10?
MCKENNA: Let me just talk about those -- that last comment about the
shoot down of the Brothers to the Rescue aircraft. First of all, the
flight plans were sent by United States government down there. And
the decision to shoot down the aircraft was an act of state by the
Cuban government after years of rooftop level buzzings by...
RUIZ: They were flying over international waters.
COSBY: You can debate that. I want to stay focused on the case.
Paul, what about what should happen March 10? And are you
optimistic?
MCKENNA: Well, the biggest issue we think that we have to present to
the appellate court is, you know, why were we not permitted to try
this case outside of Miami?
Despite what my colleague here says, there were protests during our
trial. There were people that were demonstrating outside of the
courthouse. There was a saturation of media publicity in the Miami
area, where there wasn't just 30 miles north of where we tried this
case.
COSBY: OK.
MCKENNA: And even though there may not have been Cuban-Americans on
the jury, there were relatives. There were husbands. There were
employers. So you just can't escape the issue that way.
COSBY: All right. That's going to have to be the last word. Both
of you, thank you. And we'll be monitoring this case very closely
and hope to bring you a lot more information in the near future.
RIGHTS RESERVED. Transcription Copyright 2004 FDCH e-Media, Inc.