Anti-American
By
Alejandro Armengol Read Spanish Version
From
El Nuevo Herald
Every
so often, a fellow who is mostly engaged in attacking outstanding
community activists and prestigious figures in academia makes the
rounds of radio and TV stations. Lt. Col. (ret.) Chris Simmons, a
former military intelligence officer, has devoted himself to what in
Miami has been for years a notorious — and sometimes lucrative —
task: to expose "Cuban spies."
There
are several aspects that, from the start, draw one’s attention to
Simmons. He describes himself as an expert in Cuban affairs, yet he
speaks no Spanish. Is that language so difficult to learn?
On
the other hand, Simmons and those who welcome him to their programs
in this city refer to his outstanding work in counterespionage. But
such a valuable officer retired with a relatively low military rank
for someone with such an apparently remarkable résumé.
The lowest rank required in such cases is that of full colonel.
It
also appears that this specialist has not found work at a high-level
academic center, whether as a professor or a lecturer. What
important, less-important and unimportant universities have in common
is their lack of interest in Simmons. The analyst is director of the
Virginia-based Cuban Intelligence Research Center, and after that
pompous name one expects to see a panoramic photo of a learning
institution.
What
one finds, however, is 18 articles and 126 videos placed there by
Simmons himself. Any neighborhood kid has a lot more to show in his
blog.
As
if these paradoxes weren’t enough, a man who boasts of having such
voluminous and remarkable information about Cuban espionage has never
published a book that supports that knowledge. All we know about his
literary and investigative projects is that he’s working on a kind of
sentimental testimony and narration with Ana Margarita Martínez,
the former wife of Wasp Network spy Juan Pablo Roque. She is well
known in this community as the beneficiary in some court cases in
which she sought compensation for her suffering, after she was jilted
by Roque.
Simmons
is particularly attractive to a certain sector of Cuban exiledom, no
doubt about that. Apparently, he performed an outstanding role in the
capture of Ana Belén Montes, the island’s covert agent, who
infiltrated the U.S. armed forces for 16 years.
To
that sector of the community Belén Montes is more than just a
case of espionage. It is the perfect justification. For years, the
most recalcitrant sector of exiledom had watched, with resignation
and anger, how high-ranking military officers and highly placed
government functionaries declared that Cuba no longer represented a
military danger to the United States. Then, Belén Montes is
arrested and everything is clearly explained: the spy, acting at
Cuba’s behest, had managed to deceive several U.S. administrations
and a large number of military experts and chiefs. Revolution Square
continued to be as dangerous as ever to the United States.
Never
mind that nothing changed at the Pentagon, in Washington and the
White House after Belén Montes’ arrest and sentencing. It made
no difference that members of the Bush administration as renowned as
former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld declared publicly that the
island is no longer a military threat to this country. Cover your
ears and look away. Simmons is the great vindicator and when he
talks, he’s the man to hear.
It
is worrisome that Miami radio and television provide air time for
Simmons to make his statements without the briefest challenge. In the
best of cases, the interviewers ask him if he has any proof, accept
his word as gospel and go on with the program.
Even
more alarming is the fact that some of the people "outed"
by this character are university professors, outstanding figures in
the community and exiles who for years have performed an important
task in this country, a task that has been recognized nationally and
internationally. So someone comes along and flings mud at these
people without showing any proof of what he says, and the radio and
TV hosts, the programming directors and the networks themselves are
unfazed. Such a demonstration of irresponsibility is conceivable only
in Miami.
To
call a person an agent in the service of an enemy country is a very
serious thing. But to issue an accusation in Miami to the effect that
someone is a Cuban agent implies a risk for that person.
What’s
more, it is not easy here to distinguish between an agent and a spy.
As
an example, look at these two headlines in El Nuevo Herald: "A
former U.S. counterintelligence officer exposes three purported Cuban
spies" (Thursday, Oct. 9) and "Accusations of Castro
espionage are restated" (Friday, Oct. 10). In both cases, it is
logical for the reader to think that the people involved are being
watched — to say the least — for possibly being involved in
offering classified information to the Havana regime.
In
that case, it is reasonable that those people — well known, because
they have frequently appeared on television and participated in
various events — will feel intimidated because of the possibility
that anyone on the street, a cafeteria or a restaurant, will attack
or insult them.
Maybe
one of the most lamentable aspects of this affair is that Simmons
displays, with total impunity, a behavior that is foreign to the
principles of this nation. In this country, everyone is innocent
until proven otherwise. More than just making accusations, this
former counterintelligence officer issues verdicts and bases them on
the premise that the defendants have to prove their innocence.
He
might not know this, but that was one of the techniques used by the
Tribunal of the Holy Inquisition. Foretold culpability is a typical
aspect of political trials in totalitarian countries. It’s a
profoundly anti-American attitude that Simmons displays in this city,
with impunity and the complacence of some.
http://www.elnuevoherald.com/opinion/story/301638.html
