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<a href="http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-agents10jan10,0,4866114.story?coll=la-home-nation">
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-agents10jan10,0,4866114.story?coll=la-home-nation<br>
</a><i>From the Los Angeles Times<br><br>
</i></font><h4><b>THE NATION<br><br>
<br>
</b></h4><h1><b>Florida Couple Indicted as Cuban Agents<br><br>
<br>
</b></h1><h2><b>A professor and his wife could face up to 10 years in
prison for failing to register. They are not charged with espionage, a
more serious crime.</b></h2><font size=3>By John-Thor Dahlburg<br>
Times Staff Writer<br><br>
January 10, 2006<br><br>
MIAMI U.S. officials on Monday accused a Florida university professor
and his wife of acting as Cuban spies for more than two decades sending
Fidel Castro's intelligence agency encrypted reports about American
officials, FBI agents and anti-Castro groups and attempting to recruit
young Cuban Americans as fellow agents.<br><br>
In an indictment unsealed in federal court, Carlos Alvarez, 61, and Elsa
Alvarez, 55, were charged with acting as agents of a foreign power
without registering with the U.S. government, as required by law. If
convicted, each could be sentenced to up to 10 years in prison and fined
$250,000. <br><br>
U.S. Magistrate Judge Andrea M. Simonton ordered the couple, who both
work at Florida International University, held without bond. Prosecutors
warned that they might try to flee to Cuba, their birthplace, if
released. Neither defendant entered a plea. They were due back in court
Jan. 19.<br><br>
The Alvarezes were not charged with the more serious offense of
espionage. FBI agents said there was no evidence that the couple had
provided classified or defense-related information to Cuba.<br><br>
But "whenever information is transmitted by spies to the government
of Cuba, that clearly endangers the United States," U.S. Atty. R.
Alexander Acosta said.<br><br>
Acosta accused Carlos Alvarez of further betraying his adopted country by
leading exchange programs to Cuba, where there would be an opportunity
"to further manipulate and indoctrinate students." <br><br>
"Sometimes individuals who are trusted by a community are not
deserving of that trust," Acosta said. <br><br>
According to federal prosecutors, the Alvarezes who were arrested
Friday at their South Miami home used the codenames "David"
and "Deborah" to communicate with Cuba's Directorate of
Intelligence, the communist island nation's espionage agency. <br><br>
Prosecutors said the couple sent information via shortwave radio, using
an encryption system furnished by their spymasters. They also allegedly
carried messages to and from Cuba in secret briefcase
compartments.<br><br>
In statements that prosecutors said were tantamount to a confession,
Alvarez reportedly acknowledged working for the Cubans since 1977, and
his wife since 1982. They began their alleged spying activities
separately, before they married in 1980, Assistant U.S. Atty. Brian K.
Frazier said.<br><br>
Alvarez holds a PhD in clinical psychology. He is identified on the
university's website as a specialist in conflict resolution and the
construction of ethnic identities.<br><br>
His wife, a clinical social worker, is a part-time coordinator of Florida
International University's social work training program, specializing in
psychological treatment, crisis intervention and group psychotherapy.
<br><br>
Many of the Alvarezes' colleagues said Monday that word of the charges
left them stunned.<br><br>
"I'm totally baffled," said Uva de Aragon, associate director
of FIU's Cuban Research Institute, who called Alvarez a close colleague
and friend. "He is the last person I could think of doing anything
like this. We talked about politics, of course, but he was not active
politically in any kind of group or petition." <br><br>
De Aragon, who has known Alvarez for 19 years, said Alvarez has been
worried recently about his wife, who has been on medical leave for the
last year. "Really, I'm just so in disbelief of everything," De
Aragon said. "If it's true, I feel like I've been taken for a fool
by a great friend."<br><br>
University President Modesto A. Maidique considers himself and Alvarez to
be "longtime friends," university spokesman Mark Riordan said.
Maidique attended Monday's bail hearing to contend that his friend of 25
years, as well as his wife, Elsa, were not flight risks, Riordan
said.<br><br>
"Obviously the Alvarezes are respected, long-term members of the FIU
community, and we'll be watching this and monitoring this along with the
rest of the community," Riordan said, adding that there had been no
decision about whether to suspend the couple or place them on
administrative leave. <br><br>
In August, a three-judge panel of the U.S. 11th Circuit Court of Appeals
threw out the convictions of five other alleged Cuban spies, saying they
should be retried in part because of the widespread prejudice against
Castro and his government among the many Cuban exiles living in
Miami.<br><br>
The five were allegedly members of Cuba's Wasp Network of undercover
agents who infiltrated the exile community and tried to pass U.S.
military secrets to Havana. <br><br>
In November, a full panel of the 11th Circuit court reinstated their
convictions and sentences but agreed to hear arguments on why they might
not have received a fair trial. <br><br>
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