By Jose Dante Parra Herrera. Sun-Sentinel. Web-posted: 11:57 p.m. Feb. 22, 2000
HAVANA -- The Cuban government on Tuesday confirmed the identity of a Cuban diplomat who was asked by the State Department to leave the United States over the weekend after he was linked to an alleged spy working at the Immigration and Naturalization Service.
José Imperatori was identified by a member of the Cuban Interest Section in Washington and by an editorial in Granma, Cuba's official newspaper, as the man the U.S. State Department accuses of meeting with Mariano Faget, the INS employee accused of working for the Cuban government.
Imperatori also is the Cuban official who was seen arriving at Kendall-Tamiami Airport when Elián Gonzalez's grandmothers flew in from Washington last month, and who supposedly ordered their plane to leave Miami as Elián's Miami relatives raced to the airport.
The revelation raised questions in Miami's Cuban community about whether Elián's INS process was tainted by Faget. INS spokespeople have gone to great lengths to point out that Faget had no part in the handling of Elián's case.
But there is concern that Faget might have tainted other cases because he had security clearance and control over five supervisors and 63 INS employees. Maria Cardona, spokeswoman for the INS in Washington, declined to comment on Tuesday on any damage Faget might have caused. Cardona said
that assessment was part of the investigation.
Faget was arrested on Thursday, after he allegedly called a in New York 12 minutes after superiors told him they were entrusting him with confidential information and needed him to help in the defection of a Cuban spy. Faget allegedly informed the of the plans. FBI agents also
allegedly saw Faget meeting with Imperatori.
The Cuban government said the accusations against Imperatori were timed to coincide with a Tuesday hearing in the Elián case. The Granma editorial stated Imperatori will not leave the United States voluntarily and made counter accusations that the U.S. Interests Section in Havana is
full of spies and surveillance devices, hinting at possible retaliation.
"If we were to ask the U.S. Interests Section in Cuba to withdraw the officials who participate actively in illegal and hardly diplomatic activities, there would be few or none left in the office," said a statement from Cuba's ruling Communist Party.
Information from Sun-Sentinel wire services was used in this report.
Jose Dante Parra Herrera can be reached at [email protected] or 305-810-5005.
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