"THE CIA'S WAR AGAINST CUBA"
By Jorge L García Vázquez
"The CIA's War Against Cuba" is a series produced by Cuban Television and the Ministry of the Interior (MININT), from 1987.
On September 1, 1988, the Stasi received copies, which, according to Cuban State Security, presented evidence of "psychological warfare, ideological diversionism and attempted attacks against Comrade Fidel Castro."
In a report dated September 3, 1987, the East German Intelligence Directorate (HVA) reported on a meeting between General Manolo (Manuel Fernández Crespo ), Chief of Counterespionage, and his replacement, Brigadier General Sánchez , with State Security liaison officers from socialist countries stationed in Havana.
According to the report, Cuban counterintelligence had received orders from Fidel Castro, since 1985, to compile film footage and evidence of CIA activities against Cuba, which were not intended to be made public. The report states that the political and operational situation of recent months made its release necessary for the following reasons:
- The CIA's aggressive stance against Cuba, despite Fidel Castro's warnings to the head of the U.S. Interests Section in Havana
Ultimately, it was the defection of Major Florentino Aspillaga that led Fidel Castro and the MININT to make this decision, pressured by the tense operational situation unleashed by the Cuban agent, very similar to the damage caused by Stasi spy agent Werner Stiller a few years earlier.
According to the report by Cuban counterintelligence officers, the film footage and the statements of agents and collaborators, the series would have fulfilled its objective.
"General Manolo believes that the political-operational measure dealt a significant blow to Western intelligence services, and especially to the CIA."
The Cuban side stated that "a preliminary analysis of the reaction to the series confirms a strong sense of insecurity among diplomats accredited in Cuba, mutual suspicions, and a avoidance of contact with U.S. diplomats."
Cuban counterintelligence reported that the "success of this operation is due to an operational tactic of State Security, since 1980, against espionage services, which underestimated the technical-operational capacity of Cuban counterintelligence."
General Manolo noted that on Sundays no operational checks were carried out by counterintelligence officers, but this was compensated for by the employment of 2,000 collaborators trained for observation.
"State Security acted in this way for years, which led the CIA to believe that on Sundays or holidays, counterintelligence did not implement strong control measures and there were favorable conditions for operational activities."
Another method employed was the secret search of the homes of "CIA agents." Using collaborators trained for this purpose (the operation lasted 3 to 5 minutes), more than 2,000 important photographs were obtained. The operational technique and the application of nearly 100 observation points were effectively used, which helped to identify the agents, the time, and the location of their activities.
The MININT also reported on the increase in female personnel by the Central Intelligence Agency in recent years, especially the operational participation of the wives of agents stationed in Cuba.
From the Mariel boatlift in 1980, the US invasion of Grenada in 1983, the participation of Cuban troops in the Angolan war, and the defections of officers from State Security and the Armed Forces, Fidel Castro's power began to show cracks.
A short time later came, with Perestroika and Glasnost, the predicted end of socialism in Eastern Europe, the fall of the Berlin Wall and of course the final blow that ended the legend of the invulnerability of the Communist Party of Cuba: the trials and executions of General Ochoa and Colonel Antonio de la Guardia, accused of drug trafficking and corruption.
The arrests and trials ( Noriega in Panama, after the American invasion, and of the Cuban Minister of the Interior, José Abrantes) closed the red circle of the "Cuban revolution." The Castro myth was exposed.
Source: Stasi Archive, Berlin.
Monograph and Research by the author: "Havana-Berlin Connection. State Secrets and Notes on the Collaboration between the Stasi and the MININT."
(The article was published in the Misceláneas de Cuba Magazine, Sweden.2008)
Traducción automática de Google
