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By Frank Davies and Juan O. Tamayo. [email protected].
Posted on Wed, Sep. 18, 2002 in
The Miami Herald.
WASHINGTON - The Cuban government is ''impeding our efforts to defeat
terrorism'' by feeding U.S. officials misleading information ''fabricated by
Castro's intelligence apparatus,'' a Bush istration official charged
Tuesday.
''This is not harmless game-playing -- it is a dangerous and unjustifiable
action that damages our ability to assess real threats,'' said Dan Fisk, deputy
assistant secretary of state for the Western Hemisphere. "It could one day
cost innocent people their lives.''
In speeches to two groups on opposite sides of the debate over U.S.-Cuba
issues, Fisk said that beginning on the day of the attacks, Sept. 11, Cuban
agents gave U.S. officials "false leads seeking to misdirect the
investigation.''
''This was only the beginning of a steady stream of what has turned out to
be wild goose chases intentionally initiated by the Castro regime,'' Fisk said
in his speeches.
In an interview later, Fisk told The Herald: "We've seen instances on
three continents. . . . The responsible agencies found a discernible pattern of
information that leads us to conclude that this is part of a continuing pattern
of false leads.''
He declined to provide details about the persons and information involved,
saying only that the ''responsible agencies'' had determined the people were
''Cuban agents.'' Fisk said his words were ''chosen carefully'' and were cleared
by intelligence and law enforcement agencies.
At least once a month Cuban representatives have tried to ''set up our
intelligence and law enforcement'' with false tips that took time to check out,
Fisk said.
The Cuban Interests Section in Washington did not respond to phone calls
about Fisk's allegations.
Over the years, any s between U.S. and Cuban officials have been
fraught with intrigue and distrust.
A top Bush istration official told The Herald soon after the Sept. 11
attacks that Cuba had provided ''no significant or new information'' about
possible terrorist activity. U.S. intelligence officials who have dealt with the
Cubans on several cases involving Miami-based Cuban exile terrorism plans have
complained that when they asked for evidence on alleged plots, the Cubans turned
over reams of papers that amounted to little more than newspaper clippings, and
unsourced ''reports'' full of rhetoric but thin on hard facts.
But a senior U.S. intelligence official said last month that in fact the
Bush istration had been reluctant to accept counterterrorism information
from Cuba right after the Sept. 11 attacks because it did not want to be seen as
cooperating too closely with the communist-ruled island.
RAISING THE BAR
Bush istration officials ''raised the bar'' on what would constitute
''real cooperation'' from Cuba to make sure that the Castro government would not
meet those requirements, the official added on condition of anonymity.
Miami's two Cuban-American House said Tuesday they were told that
some of the alleged disinformation, described as tips about pending attacks,
came from Cuban officials and agents overseas.
''This is much worse than a lack of cooperation,'' said Rep. Lincoln Díaz-Balart,
a Miami Republican. ''The Castro regime is purposefully directing a campaign of
disinformation to hamper the U.S. war on terrorism.'' Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen,
also a Republican, said "the Cuban intelligence apparatus knows what's a
real lead and what's not -- they know good information from a red herring.''
After the Sept. 11 attacks, U.S. officials appealed globally for help in
tracking and capturing al Qaeda terrorists.
Traditionally unfriendly governments, including Syria and Sudan, provided
helpful information, U.S. officials said.
Fisk, a former aide to Sen. Jesse Helms, R-N.C., said Cuba promised to help,
but instead "actively and intentionally worked through human and electronic
means to distract attention and resources from our ongoing counter-terror
efforts.''
The Senate Intelligence Committee received a preview of Fisk's comments, a
spokesman said. Chairman Bob Graham, a Florida Democrat, was briefed on Iraq and
was preparing for today's initial public hearing on the Sept. 11 probe and was
not briefed on Cuba.
TWO GATHERINGS
Fisk spoke to two gatherings that brought hundreds of advocates, for and
against the U.S. embargo, to the National Press Club in Washington. He gave a
broad defense of the istration's hard-line approach to Cuba.
He received a warm reception from Americans for a Free Cuba, which s
Bush policy, when he said ending the embargo "would benefit the Castro
regime at the expense of the Cuban people.''
Anti-embargo advocates, holding a ''National Summit on Cuba,'' sharply
questioned Fisk about U.S. dealings with China, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan
despite human rights abuses there, while Cuba was singled out for isolation.
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