Date: Fri, 14 May 2004 22:56:33 -0500 [05/14/2004 10:56:33 PM
EDT]
From: delacova@indiana.edu
To: jweaver@herald.com
Subject: Article "Fifth person accuses ex-priest of abuse"
Mr. Weaver:
Your article "Fifth person accuses ex-priest of abuse" omitted
mentioning that defrocked priest Ernesto Garcia Rubio was a member of the
Committee of 75
that met with Fidel Castro in Havana on November 20-21, 1978 and December
8, 1978, to participate in the so-called "dialogue."
In February 1980, dialogue turncoat Rev. Manuel Espinosa publicly
denounced Garcia Rubio as a Castro agent.
This is an angle that you should look into.
Antonio de la Cova
Assistant Professor of Latino Studies
Indiana University, Bloomington
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Date: Thu, 31 Mar 2005 13:41:15 -0500 [03/31/2005 01:41:15 PM
EDT]
From: delacova@indiana.edu
To: palfonso@herald.com
Subject: Artículo sobre Carmelo Mesa Lago
Estimado Sr. Alfonso:
He leído en El Nuevo Herald del 29 de marzo su artículo
“Mesa Lago analiza economía cubana” donde señala que el “reconocido
economista” haría una
presentación en el Instituto de Estudios Cubanos y Cubanoamericanos
de la Universidad de Miami que dirige el profesor Jaime Suchlicki.
Su artículo no mencionó que desde hace más de 30
años Carmelo Mesa Lago ha sido un activista a favor de restablecer
relaciones entre Estados Unidos y
Cuba y el levantamiento unilateral del embargo comercial estadounidense
al dictador Fidel Castro. Vea el escrito de Mesa Lago en la revista pro-
castrista “Areito” de sept. 1975 titulado “Restablecimiento de Relaciones
entre Cuba y los EE.UU.”
Mesa Lago también fue participante del grupo de “dialogueros”
que se reunieron con el tirano Castro el 8 de diciembre de 1978. Aprovechó
dicho viaje para
visitar oficinas gubernamentales y reunirse con funcionarios del gobierno
castrista.
En 1982, Mesa Lago era miembro del consejo de Dirección del Instituto
de Estudios Cubanos (IEC), dirigido por la dialoguera castrista María
Cristina
Herrera. El IEC ha auspiciado las metas de estrechar relaciones con
Cuba y terminar el embargo. El desertor de la DGI, Capt. Jesus Perez Mendez,
dijo a
las autoridades norteamericanas en julio de 1983 que una meta del espionaje
castrista era penetrar y controlar el IEC.
Estos datos son de conocimiento público, por lo cual me sorprende
que un periodista objetivo como Ud. no presente los antecedentes del profesor
Mesa
Lago cuando escribe sobre él.
Atentamente,
Antonio de la Cova
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Date: Sun, 10 Apr 2005 09:06:01 -0500 [04/10/2005 09:06:01 AM
EDT]
From: delacova@indiana.edu
To: ocorral@herald.com
Subject: Mariel exiles firmly middle class
Mr. Corral:
Your article "Mariel exiles firmly middle class" cites a poll
done by Sergio Bendixen.
However, your piece omitted mention that Bendixen, a Democratic
Party activist, was totally discredited as a pollster during the last presidential
election day. Before the polls closed, he publicly predicted
that Kerry had won Florida and shortly thereafter he stated that Kerry
would win Ohio and the
presidency.
Prof. Antonio de la Cova
Latino Studies
Indiana University, Bloomington
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Date: Sun, 3 Jul 2005 09:24:36 -0500 [07/03/2005 09:24:36 AM EDT]
From: delacova@indiana.edu
To: ocorral@herald.com
Subject: article 3 lawmakers sought freedom for Posada and then
fell silent
Mr. Corral:
After reading your article "3 lawmakers sought freedom for Posada
and then fell silent," I am left wondering why you did not mention that
there were
dozens of other letters sent to Panamanian President Mireya Moscoso
on behalf of Luis Posada and his three companions.
For example, there were a number of letters sent by Florida
state legislators and by Miami Mayor Manny Diaz. You might remember that
Mayor Diaz
later fetted President Moscoso at City Hall and gave her the key to
the city.
This leaves me wondering if you are using selective reporting
(like Jim Defede) or this was just a case of careless journalism.
Sincerely,
Dr. Antonio de la Cova
Latino Studies
Indiana University, Bloomington
Quoting "Corral, Oscar" <OCorral@herald.com>:
Thanks for your feedback. It's always welcome. If Manny Diaz and
other state legislators sent letters to Moscoso, they were not on file
at the ministry of
the exterior. The only other known local politicians whose letters
were on file there were Tomas Regalado and Jose Pepe Diaz, both of
whom we mentioned.
If you by any chance have copies of letters that other politicians
sent, then please forward them to us. Otherwise, it sounds like you
are merely telling
me about heresay and rumors, which I don't have the luxury to
publish.
Thanks,
Oscar Corral
Reporter
The Miami Herald
305-376-3455
Date: Tue, 5 Jul 2005 11:29:42 -0500 [07/05/2005 11:29:42 AM EDT]
From: delacova@indiana.edu
To: "Corral, Oscar" <OCorral@herald.com>
Subject: RE: article 3 lawmakers sought freedom for Posada and
then fell silent
It is not "heresay and rumors" that President Moscoso was fetted
at City Hall this year and given the key to the city by Mayor Manny Diaz.
That was
covered by the Hispanic newsmedia, including El Nuevo Herald.
The dozens of letters on behalf of Posada and his compatriots
were collected by Miriam Novo and forwarded thru an attorney to President
Moscoso. These
included letters from leaders of civic, religious, fraternal, and business
organizations in Florida. I am sure the mayor's office can give you a copy
of
the letter he sent to President Moscoso. I believe that Bishop Agustin
Roman can also provide, or confirm, that he also sent a similar supportive
letter to
President Moscoso. Hispanic Florida state legislators can do likewise.
I am only giving you leads to follow, not doing your research work, which
relate to
the full scope of your story.
In yesterday's Herald, you wrote another piece regarding the
Posada case, in which you cite documents with statements made by Venezuelan
Hernan Ricardo in
1976.
I do not recall any recent Herald articles about the Posada
case mentioning that Ricardo and Freddy Lugo were found guilty of the Cubana
airline bombing
and sentenced to twenty years by a Venezuelan court. They were released
years ago.
Why has the Herald not tracked down the whereabouts of Ricardo
or Lugo to obtain recent declarations instead of relying on documents that
are almost
three decades old? The Cuban official media is also silent regarding
the whereabouts of Ricardo and Lugo or their conviction and release.
Sincerely,
Dr. Antonio de la Cova
Latino Studies
Indiana University, Bloomington
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Date: Sun, 3 Jul 2005 10:01:20 -0500 [07/03/2005 10:01:20 AM EDT]
From: delacova@indiana.edu
To: jdefede@herald.com
Subject: Congress blocks vet's attempts to see children
Mr. Defede:
Your article "Congress blocks vet's attempts to see children"
in today's Miami Herald is yet another example of your selective reporting
that omits
criticism of the Cuban government. While you put all the blame of the
U.S.-Cuba travel restrictions on the U.S. government, you fail to mention
the
draconian migration policies enforced by the Castro regime.
If Elian Gonzalez's parents and grandmothers were allowed to
visit Elian in the U.S., why does the Cuban government not allow Carlos
Lazo's family to
visit him here? This is a question that you should have addressed to
Cuba's Foreign Minister Ricardo Alarcon when you interviewed him last month.
That interview was an example of "soft-ball" journalism. I found
it interesting that while questioning Mr. Alarcon on Cuba's support for
international terrorists, you omitted mentioning William Guillermo
Morales. He is the Puerto Rican FALN member who blew off his hands and
an eye while making
a bomb in New York City in 1978. Morales, who escaped from prison after
receiving an 89 year sentence, received asylum in Cuba in 1988 and has
openly
lived there since.
http://www.latinamericanstudies.org/us-cuba/protector.htm
You also forgot to ask Mr. Alarcon about Victor Manuel Gerena,
a member of the Puerto Rican Macheteros terrorist group, who fled to Cuba
in 1983 with
$2.4 million from a $7 million Wells Fargo robbery. He is on the FBI's
Ten Most Wanted list and has lived in Cuba for more than two decades.
http://www.latinamericanstudies.org/puertorico/gerena.pdf
While you advocate Luis Posada's extradition from the U.S.,
you fall short of requesting the same from the Cuban government regarding
these two terrorist
fugitives.
In the 1960s and 1970s, the Miami Herald had a looney columnist
named Jack Kofoed, who repeatedly offended Cuban exiles with boorish comments.
He once
complained in his column that Cuban exiles apparently responded by
mailing his articles to him covered with excrement. Kofoed's articles ceased
after he met
a tragic death. It appears to me that your columns make you the Herald's
inheritor of Kofoed's biased style.
Dr. Antonio de la Cova
Latino Studies
Indiana University, Bloomington
Quoting "DeFede, Jim" <JDeFede@herald.com>:
Thanks for sharing your thoughts.
Date: Tue, 5 Jul 2005 10:47:08 -0500 [07/05/2005 10:47:08 AM EDT]
From: delacova@indiana.edu
To: "DeFede, Jim" <JDeFede@herald.com>
Subject: RE: Congress blocks vet's attempts to see children
Mr. DeFede:
It is interesting that as a journalist, you did not respond
to the issues I raised regarding your selective reporting, "sof-ball" journalism,
and biased
style. Your silence speaks volumes.
Dr. Antonio de la Cova
Latino Studies
Indiana University, Bloomington
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Date: Wed, 13 Jul 2005 20:15:53 -0500 [07/13/2005 08:15:53 PM
EDT]
From: delacova@indiana.edu
To: jdefede@herald.com
Subject: Congratulations Jim DeFede
Mr. DeFede:
Congratulations! Your Miami Herald article “Terror is terror, whether
its in London or Cuba,” was reprinted in Granma International, the official
organ of
the Communist Party of Cuba.
http://granmai.cubaweb.com/ingles/2005/julio/lun11/miami-i.html
You must be very proud that the Cuban Communists appreciate your journalistic
skills. Your biased and slanted perspective could make you a candidate
for one
of their official awards. It will certainly merit you another trip
to Cuba.
You once again used selective and erroneous information by saying that
Guillermo Novo "a member of the violent anti-Castro group Omega 7, was
convicted in the 1976 bombing murder of Chilean diplomat Orlando Letelier.
The verdict was overturned on appeal." You apparently plagiarized that
quote from
a Herald article by Jim McGee on December 20, 1983, page 8. That would
certainly merit you an F grade in my class. Had you done further research
into
the subsequent trial of Omega 7 leader Eduardo Arocena,
http://www.latinamericanstudies.org/arocena.htm
you would have discovered that Novo never belonged to that group. You
also omitted the fact that Novo was retried in the Letelier case and declared
not
guilty by a jury in Washington, D.C.
While your article accuses Congresswoman Ros-Lehtinen of hypocrisy,
it is your writings that are stamped with this trait. You must be aware
that Fidel
Castro’s 26th of July Movement seized power after a six-year terrorist
campaign of indiscriminate bombings in public places that killed and wounded
innocent people,
http://www.latinamericanstudies.org/cuba-terrorism.htm
kidnaped scores of U.S. military personnel, did assassinations,
http://www.latinamericanstudies.org/cuban-rebels/NYT-7-2-58-a.htm
and airline highjackings.
http://www.latinamericanstudies.org/cuban-rebels/11-17-58.htm
Members of Castro’s organization carried out the first international
airline hijacking during a flight between Miami and Cuba in November 1958.
The plane
crash-landed in Nipe Bay, killing most of those aboard, including women
and children. The Herald interviewed a female survivor who actually resides
in
Miami. All of these events were widely reported in the news media,
yet you have never mentioned it in any of your articles nor have shown
any interest in
interviewing any of the victims of Castro’s long terrorist campaign.
http://www.latinamericanstudies.org/cuba-rev-58.htm
Jack Kofoed would have been proud of you. He disparaged Cuban exiles
in his Herald column for more than a decade, yet the Cuban press never
reprinted any
of his ravings.
Dr. Antonio de la Cova
Latino Studies
Indiana University, Bloomington
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Date: Thu, 28 Jul 2005 22:06:59 -0500 [07/28/2005 10:06:59 PM
EDT]
From: delacova@indiana.edu
To: JDeFede@herald.com
Subject: Goodbye Jim DeFede
Mr. DeFede:
Today’s Herald reported that you were fired as a reporter for breaking
the law by secretly tape recording a telephone conversation with your friend
Arthur
Teele, who shortly thereafter committed suicide in the Herald lobby.
It reveals a lack of ethics and scruples on your part and leaves me wondering
how
many times you have done this before, especially against your political
enemies. Your previous favorable articles on behalf of the convicted and
corrupt Mr. Teele and favoring the Cuban government now have me convinced
that you were probably on their payroll. You apparently thought that your
journalistic license gave you carte blanche to be above the law.
Do you recall when reporters like yourself denounced Linda Tripp when
she secretly tape recorded Monica Lewinsky’s confessions about her affair
with
President Clinton? You have been hypocritically preaching morality
in your underwear.
Although you probably will never again be hired by a major newspaper
firm in the United States, your talents may be appreciated by the sensationalist
tabloid journals found on supermarket checkout counters. You could
continue defending O.J. Simpson there. If not, I am sure that the Cuban
government will
hire you as a reporter. Granma newspaper has previously reprinted your
articles and they highly value your style of slanted and biased journalism.
The Cuban Communists will certainly miss your Herald column.
Dr. Antonio de la Cova
Latino Studies
Indiana University, Bloomington
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Date: Fri, 29 Jul 2005 10:18:26 -0500 [07/29/2005 10:18:26 AM
EDT]
From: delacova@indiana.edu
To: choag@herald.com
Subject: Goodbye Jim DeFede
Ms. Hoag,
Your article in today's Herald, regarding the firing of Mr.
DeFede, omitted the reaction of the Cuban American community, which has
been very emotional on
Miami talk show radio.
Here is my own opinion, which I sent to Mr. DeFede, but his
e-mail at the Herald has been cancelled. Mr. DeFede failed to respond to
my previous e-mails
commenting on his articles.
Dr. Antonio de la Cova
Latino Studies
Indiana University, Bloomington
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Date: Fri, 29 Jul 2005 10:36:09 -0500 [07/29/2005 10:36:09 AM
EDT]
From: delacova@indiana.edu
To: jweaver@herald.com
Subject: Teele suicide
Mr. Weaver:
There is an interesting theory regarding the Arthur Teele suicide
that is circulating in the Cuban American community. Those who propagate
it believe
that Teele went armed to the Herald to possibly shoot Jim DeFede, but
his plan backfired when the police showed up. Cuban Americans gathered
at Versailles
Restaurant are saying that if it had ocurred, they would have carried
Teele on their shoulders down Eighth Street in a festive mood.
Dr. Antonio de la Cova
Latino Studies
Indiana University, Bloomington
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
From: delacova@indiana.edu
To: tfiedler@herald.com
Subject: Fwd: Congratulations
Dear Mr. Fiedler:
Congratulations for firing Jim DeFede, whom I always regarded
as dishonest and caught him plagiarizing one of his articles.
Here is a forward of the message I sent DeFede on July 13. He never
responded.
I have noticed that all of the articles regarding DeFede's firing
have omitted the opinions of Cuban American community leaders. Is this
a slip or is
it because the reporters writing the articles know that they will be
generally negative expressions?
Sincerely,
Dr. Antonio de la Cova
Latino Studies
Indiana University, Bloomington
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Date: Wed, 3 Aug 2005 17:46:10 -0500 [08/03/2005 05:46:10 PM
EDT]
From: delacova@indiana.edu
To: To: Ana Menendez, amenendez@herald.com
Subject: Opinion article
You omitted mentioning in your Opinion article today that you
signed the petition letter requesting that DeFede be rehired at the Herald.
DeFede was also known for selective journalism.
Dr. Antonio de la Cova
Latino Studies
Indiana University, Bloomington
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Date: Sun, 6 Aug 2006 10:05:42 -0400 [08/06/2006 10:05:42 AM
EDT]
From: "de la Cova, Antonio Rafael" <delacova@indiana.edu>
To: lclark@MiamiHerald.com
Subject: Cuba without Castro holds risks for GOP
Your article in today's Herald, "Cuba without Castro holds risks for GOP," citing Democrat activists Sergio Bendixen and Joe Garcia, omitted mentioning how their political predictions are biased and worthless.
Both men became the laughing stock of Miami during the last presidential election, when that evening they stated on live TV that Kerry had won Florida and came back thirty minutes later to announce that Kerry had also won the state of Ohio. The Herald never reported that incident and continues to ignore it.
Dr. Antonio de la Cova
Latino Studies
Indiana University, Bloomington
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Date: Wed, 13 Sep 2006 08:29:12 -0400 [09/13/2006 08:29:12 AM
EDT]
From: "de la Cova, Antonio Rafael" <delacova@indiana.edu>
To: "Fiedler, Tom" <TFiedler@miamiherald.com>
Cc: dukha@bellsouth.net, cuba-siempre@yahoogroups.com, "Morales,
Laura" <LLMorales@miamiherald.com>, "Garcia, Manny" <MaGarcia@miamiherald.com>,
agonzalez@herald.com, jdiaz@herald.com, ptira@mcclatchy.com
Dear Mr. Rueda,
Thank you for your message, which has obviously raised hackles with
Mr. Tom Fiedler, the
executive editor of the Miami Herald. I want to first clarify that
I have never met or
spoken with you or Mr. Fiedler.
Mr. Fiedler claims in his e-mail to you that the Herald "has consistently
been barred by
the Castro government from sending its reporters to Cuba for any purpose."
He is being
either deceptive or ignorant of what occurs in his newspaper. A month
ago, the following
Herald article
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/15267842.htm
stated on its last paragraph: "This report came from Miami Herald staff
writers in
Havana."
It should also be noted that Mr. Fiedler does not deny the fact that
the Herald has
developed a pattern of not reporting the negative background of pro-Castro
activists like
Max Lesnik, Andrés Gómez, Bernardo Benes, Marifeli Pérez-Stable,
or their cronies who are
frequently cited or collaborate in the Herald.
For example, the Herald has never investigated repeated public allegations
against
Florida International University (FIU) Professor Marifeli Pérez-Stable,
a Herald
editorial contributor, of her links to Cuba's Directorate General of
Intelligence (DGI)
espionage agency. In July 1983, DGI defector Capt. Jesús Pérez
Méndez, stated in a
debriefing that Pérez-Stable was "a DGI agent who responded
to Cuban intelligence
officials Isidro Gómez and Jesús Arboleya Cervera. Pérez-Stable,
who had organized
another DGI front group called the Cuban Culture Circle, was receiving
$100 for every
person that traveled to Cuba through that organization. According to
Pérez-Mendez,
Pérez-Stable replaced DGI agent Lourdes Casal after her death
in Havana, and the DGI and
ICAP prepared the yearly plans for Pérez-Stable." This information
was made public in
1993 in the following document:
http://www.latinamericanstudies.org/espionage/FIU-espionage-1993.pdf
It was translated into Spanish and published in the "Diario las Americas."
In spite of
threats from FIU to take legal action for slander, they never pursued
judicial recourse.
Earlier this year, during the Herald's investigation of FIU Professor
Carlos Alvarez, a
confessed Cuban spy, reporter Oscar Corral refused to cite this information
about
Professor Pérez-Stable that I provided for him after he contacted
me. It is obvious that
the Herald does not want to investigate one of their own columnists
with links to Cuban
espionage. Mr. Fiedler was made aware of this situation by my e-mail
to Mr. Corral that
was copied to him.
Mr. Fiedler claims that you have a "political agenda" to "demonize"
the Herald. It is the
Herald who has been demonizing and disparaging the Cuban exile community
for more than
four decades. To prove this point, here are just two quotes from Jack
Kofoed, a Herald
columnist for 44 years before his death in 1979.
The first quote is from Kofoed’s column in the Herald on October 5,
1965, page 11-B,
titled "Miami Already Has Too Many Refugees": "We are up to our armpits
with Cuban
refugees...As a whole, they imposed burdens, financial and otherwise...How
can they be
absorbed? They will add to the unemployment and welfare problems. And,
how the
importation of thousands of unhappy, unsettled people, most of whom
can't speak the
language, will be a blow against Communism in Cuba I am at complete
loss to understand."
The following month, Kofoed wrote "Cubans' Manners Irk Their U.S. Hosts,"
on November 10,
1965, page 5-E: "The average Miamian is not really concerned with the
amount of tax money
spent on refugees. He is about actions which seem quite normal to Cubans.
These include
playing TVs and radios at the highest possible pitch at all hours of
the night, the
tendency to gather in groups in the middle of sidewalks, talking loudly
and refusing to
move for passerby...bad driving and disregard of traffic signs and
signals...crowding of
three and four families in a one-family house, which in the long run
is certain to turn
any neighborhood into a slum. These aggravations are repeated over
and over again."
This type of disdain by the Herald against the Cuban American community
is what in 1992
prompted Jorge Mas Canosa, leader of the Cuban-American National Foundation,
to
orchestrate a campaign that included paid advertisements on city buses
that proclaimed,
"I don't believe The Miami Herald" and organized a boycott of the newspaper
that lasted
several months.
Mr. Fiedler's response to you, and the Herald's renewed feud with the
Cuban American
community, has prompted many people, myself included, to affirm Mas
Canosa's slogan, "I
don’t believe The Miami Herald."
Sincerely,
Dr. Antonio de la Cova
Latino Studies
Indiana University, Bloomington
Quoting "Fiedler, Tom" <TFiedler@miamiherald.com>:
Dear Mr. Rueda,
Thank you for copying me on this exchange with Dr. de la Cova. Of
course you are entitled to hold whatever opinion you'd like about The
Miami Herald, however twisted it may be. But you cannot manufacture
falsehoods.
I will tell you unequivocally that no one from this newspaper nor its
corporate parent, the McClatchy Co., has been recently engaged in
negotiations, discussions or contacts of any kind with the Cuban
government about establishing a news bureau in Havana. In fact,
this
newspaper has consistently been barred by the Castro government from
sending its reporters to Cuba for any purpose because Castro sees
this newspaper as hostile to his purposes.
You should know that The Miami Herald applied more than 10 years ago
for the right to open a news bureau on the condition that none of the
reports from that bureau be subject to Cuban government review.
That
request was denied, although similar requests from other news
organizations and newspapers were approved.
Nothing has changed in the interim. The rumors that you cite are
patently false. The suggestion that The Miami Herald would purge
its
staff to suit the Castro government is equally false and slanderous.
I'm certain that you know that to be the case, but it better suits
your political agenda to demonize this newspaper.
Respectfully,
Tom Fiedler
Executive Editor
-----Original Message-----
From: dukha@bellsouth.net [mailto:dukha@bellsouth.net]
Sent: Tuesday, September 12, 2006 7:01 AM
To: delacova@indiana.edu; cuba-siempre@yahoogroups.com; Morales, Laura
Cc: Garcia, Manny; Fiedler, Tom
Subject: Herald newspapers realignment
Dear Dr. de la Cova,
It has come to the attention of the Cuban-American community in the
Miami area that the new owners of The Miami Herald and El Nuevo
Herald are negotiating with the Cuban Authorities to establish a news
bureau in Havana, a long-term project of the management of both
newspapers. One of the bargaining chips of this negotiation is
for
these papers to collaborate with the Cuban government by managing the
news in its favor and eliminating all personnel not sympathetic to
the Cuban regime. Recent events and your own experience
are
evidence that this is taking place. We should expect the Herald
newspapers to fall more and more in line with information policies
dictated from Havana and a progressive distancing from the
Cuban-American community and any semblace of journalistic objectivity.
Best regards,
Enrique Rueda
From: "de la Cova, Antonio Rafael" <delacova@indiana.edu>
Date: 2006/09/11 Mon PM 10:43:15 EDT
To: llmorales@MiamiHerald.com
CC: MaGarcia@MiamiHerald.com, tfiedler@herald.com
Subject: [cuba-siempre] Article "Forum urges justice for five
convicted spies"
Your article in yesterday's Herald, "Forum urges justice for five
convicted spies," about a meeting orchestrated in Miami by pro-Castro
activists Max Lesnik and Andrés Gómez, omits their background
information.
Lesnik, whom you tersely describe as "director of Radio Miami," was
arrested in Cuba for subversive activities in the 1950s and his mugshot
and rap sheet is reproduced in the book by Esteban Berubides, "Cuba:
Archivos Confidenciales," Vol. 1.
In August 1959, Lesnik was one of the Castro government snitches in
the
Trinidad case, responsible for sending scores of anti-Communists to
prison with lengthy sentences. It is also public knowledge that in
1960
Lesnik coined the anti-American slogan "Cuba sí, Yankee no,"
which
became the rallying cry at pro-Castro mass gatherings in Cuba for
decades.
After settling in Miami in 1961, Lesnik has had various scrapes with
the law. On May 24, 1973, Luis Tornés, who is now also a pro-Castro
activist, accused Lesnik in Dade county court (Case No. 73-9371) of
threatening him with "personal violence" and asked the court to "find
sureties to keep the peace." Sixteen months later, Lesnik was charged
by the Dade State Attorney's Office with improper display of a firearm
when during a political squabble he brandished a pistol at Pedro
Martínez ("Gun charge filed against Max Lesnik," Miami News,
Sept. 12,
1974, 4A). Lesnik has also been involved in irregular business deals.
In June 1974 he was charged in Dade county court with illegally doing
contractor's business without a license (Case No. C-138-669).
In February 1980, the Rev. Manuel Espinosa, a pro-Castro activist
turncoat, publicly denounced that he had met twice at Lesnik's
residence with Cuban DGI intelligence agents, Lt. Col. Jorge Gallardo,
Capt. Justo Betancourt, and Lt. Rafael Estrada, who delivered messages
from Cuba to Lesnik. Espinosa also stated that Lesnik had been sending
information to DGI official René Rodríguez Cruz, who
in 1983 was
charged in Miami Federal Court with drug trafficking to the United
States, Case No. 82-643 Cr-JE. ("Espinosa Calls Bank a Cuban 'Center
of
Economic Spying,'" Miami Herald, Feb. 13, 1980, 4-B, and Miami Radio
Monitoring Service, Feb. 12, 1980).
In spite of Lesnik's controversial and unsavory character, the Herald
has honored him over the years by reprinting his editorials. See: Miami
Herald, Dec. 15, 1975, 7A, and Feb. 28, 1982, 3E; and El Miami Herald,
Feb. 28, 1982, 10. More recently, Granma newspaper, the official organ
of Cuba's Communist Party, has been publishing Lesnik's articles.
Your article indicates that Andrés Gómez is affiliated
with the Antonio
Maceo Brigade, but omits mention that the group was denounced as a
front for Cuba's Directorate General of Intelligence (DGI) by Florida
Department of Law Enforcement agents Daniel Benítez and Sergio
Piñón on
March 4, 1982, in testimony before the U.S. Senate Subcommittee on
Security and Terrorism. In July 1983, Capt. Jesús Pérez
Méndez, a DGI
defector, denounced Gómez as being "controlled by the DGI."
You slanted reporting on behalf of pro-Castro activists is
demonstrating a pattern. This is yet another example of the Herald's
tradition of omitting the negative background of pro-Castro supporters.
I have no doubt that if you continue with this biased style of
reporting, Granma will soon be reproducing or citing your work like
they have done for Oscar Corral and Jim DeFede.
Dr. Antonio de la Cova
Latino Studies
Indiana University, Bloomington