There is one specific aspect of the recent thaw between the US and Cuba which nobody has mentioned and that bothers me a lot.
We have all heard about the Cuban 5, the last three of which were now freed and we heard about the Jewish American spy Alan Gross who has now returned to the USA. The media has also reveled the name of the top US mole in Cuba who had provided the USA with information about the Cuban 5 which lead to their arrest: Rolando Sarraff Trujillo who is now in the USA. So all is well, and everybody is back home, right?
Wrong.
Amongst the people whom Trujillo’s betrayal was Ana Belen Montes, who was the top DIA analyst for Cuba and who, after observing from the inside the hypocrisy and outright evil of the US policy towards Cuba decided to betray the USA and become a spy for Cuba.
You could say that Ana Montes was Rolando Trujillo’s counterpart in the USA.
Except that Trujillo is free, while Montes still rots in jail.
And, apparently, the Cuban government made no effort to get her freed.
I don’t personally care much about moles primarily because most of them end up breaking an oath to their country, and that bothers me a lot. Unlike an intelligence agent, whether under diplomatic immunity or clandestine, a mole takes a formal oath to the country he/she betrays, something which intelligence agents don’t do. But if there is one thing which even the prosecution admitted in the case of Ana Belen Montes is that she acted purely on political/ideological grounds, because she believed in her heart that what she was doing was right. She got no money from the Cubans, she was not entrapped in some sordid sex scandal and she was no acting out of petty revenge or resentful ego problems, as so many traitors typically do.
She knew the risks better than anybody else, but she took them because she believed that this was the right, honorable, thing to do.
And now the Cubans have apparently turned away from her (while the US did get Trujillo free).
I cannot see any excuse for the Cuban government’s willingness to release Trujillo for anybody else but Montes. The plight of the Cuban 5 was not nearly as dramatic has Montes’ and Trujillo was directly responsible for her arrest. And yet the Cubans seem to have forgotten her.
David Rovics wrote an absolutely beautiful song for Ana Belen Montes and I hope that she will get to hear it one day. You can listen to it here:
I can only imagine how Montes feels today knowing that Trujillo is free while she is forgotten. And I don’t blame the USA for jailing her. But it bothers me a great deal that the Cubans have apparently turned away from a lady who gave her life for Cuba.
The Saker
re: Montes….well, they undoubtedly have their reasons but my experience in left wing groups is that those with the most purity of heart make the ideologues and power brokers the most uneasy.
Sometimes how and where you are positioned in life when the moral test comes
does not make it easy or even compatible to your deepest nature.
Thanks Saker for your principled stand on this issue.
Russia Busts “Gold-Selling” Rumors, Reports It Bought Another 600,000 Ounces Taking Gold Holdings To New Record High
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 12/19/2014 – 09:40
Moments ago, as if to sway further speculation that Russia is indeed converting hard money earned from real resources for fiat paper, the Russian monetary authority made it quite clear, that at least in November, Russia not only did not sell any gold, but in fact bought another 600K ounces in the month of November.
Военный городок «Северный клевер» достроен в Арктике
19.12.2014, 16:57 | «Газета.Ru»
И.о. командира 99-й тактической группы Северного флота подполковник Константин Ямов сообщил, что военный городок «Северный клевер» в Арктике сдан в эксплуатацию. Как передает ТАСС, об этом Ямов доложил президенту Владимиру Путину на расширенном заседании коллегии Минобороны России.
«Строительство военного городка замкнутого цикла «Северный клевер» завершено. На мысе Шмидта и на Земле Александры сданы в эксплуатацию объекты инфраструктуры модульного типа, обеспечивающие жизнедеятельность гарнизона в условиях Арктики», — сказал Ямов.
Как стало известно ранее, «Северный клевер» на острове Котельный будет городком замкнутого цикла. С высоты птичьего полета он должен напоминать раскрашенный в цвета российского триколора трилистник.
Act on further sanctions against Russia, which was signed by US President Barack Obama, also envisages the dedication of funds for “the development of democracy, support the institutions of civil society and independent media and also to ensure free access to the internet on the territory of Russia.”
Information about brought Russia Today.
The document, which appeared on the website of the US Congress, it is assumed that these objectives will be over three years – from 2016 to 2018 – to pay every year $ 20 million.
Tyler Durden…….Oy vey !!!!
Sometimes posts like these attract less comments, but I really enjoy it when the Saker injects some of his personal morality and reflection amidst the bustle of the world.
Jonathan Pollard
sarz
http://www.intrepidreport.com/archives/14740
First, the latest bombing of Syrian targets near the Damascus international civilian airport on December 7 was the seventh major unprovoked air strike of its kind since 2011 and the fifth in the past 18 months on Syrian defenses. Syrian Scientific research centers, missile depots, air defense sites, radar and electronic monitoring stations and the Republican Guards were targeted by Israel.
Facilitating the Israeli mission and complementing it, the terrorist organizations operating in the country tried several times to hit the same targets. They succeeded in killing several military pilots and experts whom Israeli intelligence services would have paid dearly to hunt down.
Part 1
Most people in the US know very little about Cuba,and it’s history,before,during,and after the Revolution.As an example,women, played a part in the Revolution from the beginning.I can think quickly of 3 of the large participants of the Revolutionary struggle that were women.Celia Sanchez,Haydee Santamaria,Vilma Espin,all are well known in Cuba for their roles in the Revolution.The US demonization of Cuba and Castro has been ongoing for over a half century.If the MSM had been as powerful during those early years it would be on a par with that Putin is subjected to today.I will if I may share a bit of knowledge on the Cuban Revolution here on this article about a another Cuban heroine.
Cuba has been a whipping boy for the US since the Revolution.They feared the example of Cuba throughout Latin America,as the slave that escaped.I learned from Cuba’s fate to understand the US’s vindictiveness when crossed.Which is why I’ve said over and over that Russia can’t trust them and must be strong.They do not forgive or forget.Show weakness and they will destroy you for it.
The US made of Cuba almost a colony from the beginning of the 20th century.Most everything imported came from the US.And there were few factories producing manufactured goods in Cuba.The main exports of Cuba were almost all sent to the US and US interests controlled almost all of them.There was a saying that the second,and many times the most important man in the country was not the President,but was US ambassador.The military and intelligence services were all trained,and armed by the US.A similar relationship the US is trying to develope with Ukraine today.The Cuban upper and middle classes were very Americanized.Though paradoxically it was from those very elements that most leaders of the Revolution came from.In the 1920’s and early 30’s a particularly nasty pro-American ruler was President,Machado.He was a dictator renowned for throwing political opponents to sharks in Habana Bay.(as a sidenote Dezi Arnaz of “I love Lucy” fames father was a supporter of his.And fled Cuba at his overthrow).His rule polarized Cuba.And led to resistance to US domination.It also led to the rise of Batista the man Castro later fought during the Cuban Revolution.At Machado’s overthrow mobs sacked and burned mansions of Machado’s supporters.And hung from lampposts any of his supporters they could find.Especially members of the dreaded “Porra” secret police.A warning for today’s nazi junta in Ukraine to ponder on.(a sidenote:It was that mob violence that Castro wanted to prevent by telling the people that the murderers would be tried and executed after the victory.And not to take violent revenge themselves.The US demonized Castro for fulfilling that promise.)
Uncle Bob
Part 2
After polarized and very corrupt years of “democratic” government in Cuba 1952 came along.Castro was a young lawyer from a rich family.Married into another rich family that were supporters of Batista,former President,former military commander,and about to run for President again.( sidenote: Castro’s in-laws were the Diaz-Ballard family.Making Castro the uncle of the Florida anti-Castro Diaz-Ballards of Republican fame in Florida) But most thought he couldn’t win.The President was going to run again ad most thought, though corrupt (read Yanukovich) he would win.The man Castro supported had killed himself over a scandal and the opposition was in turmoil.Rather than risk losing,Batista staged a coup,overthrew the President and took power.Approved by the US of course Castro in a symbolic move filed a law suit against him with the Supreme Court for treason in overthrowing the government.As you can guess,it was dismissed.He like Putin, was concerned by legality.And wanted to show there was no legal way to undo the coup.
He and other young dissidents started organizing a revolt.They picked the second city in Cuba,Santiago for the revolt.Castro’s home province.And the province known for its rebellious nature,Oriente.Being young with no military training the revolt failed.But several soldiers were killed and others injured in the revolt.Castro and several others escaped.But others were captured,and Batista ordered many to be murdered in reprisal.That sent a cry of outrage across Cuba.And the Archbishop of Santiago threatened to order his clergy to denounce the government if the massacre continued.Among those captured was Haydee Santamaria,her brother,and fiance.After torture her brother and fiance were murdered.She was also tortured and the torturer showed her the eyes taken from her fiance during tortue to scare her into revealing where others were hiding.She told him if her fiance suffered that without talking she would not talk.
Castro surrendered under a safe conduct from the Archbishop and was with others charged with treason and tried in a closed trial.During the trial Vilma Espin, able to help with his defense smuggled out a record of the trial daily.From it came one of the most important speeches that Castro ever made.And a rallying cry for the Revolution.He acted as his own attorney in the trial and said to the court “Convict me as you will,for History will absolve me”.They were convicted but pardoned a year later and threatened with death were forced to leave Cuba for Mexico.There Che joined him and the rest is History.
Uncle Bob
Anonymous said…
Jonathan Pollard
While I don’t doubt Zionist feeling was a part of the reason he did what he did.He also was paid handsomely for it.In fact Israeli intelligence complained he always was asking them for more money.
Uncle Bob
I’m certainly disappointed that Montes wasn’t released. But you have NO IDEA what discussions went on between Cuba and the U.S., so your claim that they didn’t try to get her released is completely baseless. Maybe she WAS released with the promise that no one would say she was. Maybe it was promised she’ll be released next month. Or maybe the U.S. said you can have the Five and an easing of the blockade, and Cuba realized that was the best deal they could get. With Gerardo Hernández with a double-life sentence and facing death in prison, your apparent suggestion that they should have let him do so unless they could get Montes out is easy for you to say from where you sit, but nothing more.
Eli Stephens
Left I on the News
OK, did anyone give any thought to “why” the US is opening up dialogue with Cuba? Could it be that Putin has been in talks with Castro for some time and the US could see the writing on the wall with having Russian influence in this sphere? Just a thought Love your blog Mr. Saker
Thanks Saker, I didn’t even know about her. And I loved the song by David Rovics. I wish she could go free, and I think Rovics says it so well, about her being all alone. Reminds me of Joan of Arc. That’s also a story of a wonderful, wonderful woman.
I’m not familiar with Montes or the deal between Cuba and Israel’s plantation supervisors, so I’ve no comment about that, but these statements bothered me.
“I don’t personally care much about moles primarily because most of them end up breaking an oath to their country, and that bothers me a lot.”
With me it depends on the mole’s reasons for being a mole. If money, they are fair game for any criminal prosecution any other criminal is. But if it is because of realization that what they initially signed on with is corrupt, criminal as well as immoral to one’s personal value system, and that one was deceived initially, then it becomes a matter of value judgement of how one can do the most damage to that corrupt entity/establishment with one’s actions. When bamboozled into thinking that one is acting morally for some highly immoral org, doing what and all one can to bring that immoral org down, whether secretly or openly, is acting with a sense of natural justice and is to be greatly admired. The betrayal occurred when the corrupt outfit used the person’s sense of loyalty in order to rope them into being criminals. Not the other way around. The “mole” is betrayed by the corrupt org and is following a higher sense of loyalty, instead of the crude team loyalty mentality claiming the mole is the one doing the betrayal. That crude team loyalty is simply the brainwashing done to slaves by their masters.
“Unlike an intelligence agent, whether under diplomatic immunity or clandestine, a mole takes a formal oath to the country he/she betrays, something which intelligence agents don’t do.”
Yes they do. An intelligence agent will do anything they reasonably can to get their mission done. The best (at their job in the field) are probably those who successfully manage to “become” loyal citizens of the target country in every aspect. As such, they will do anything a loyal citizen would do, which would include taking loyalty oaths and much more. It’s the nature of the job.
OT – new “captcha” where it wants one to check a box labelled “I’m not a robot”. Hope this gets through that…. :D
вот так
I wouldn’t worry about an oath that someone swore to in loyalty to the U.S. government. It is a criminal organization. Oaths sworn to it unconscionable, and usually extracted through fraud and under duress. If the oath includes defending the Constitution against all enemies domestic and foreign, the main destroyers of the Constitution are those ruling fraudulently in its name, and the part of the oath that survives the moral and ethical test is to make efforts to bring them down, in order to restore the spirit of a democratic republic, and that may include making whatever alliances may be conducive, foreign or domestic. At any rate, thank you so much for reminding us all about what we had forgotten and may be prone to forget. And whaddaya mean you can’t blame them for locking her up? They did it in furtherance of their crimes and imperialism against Cuba and around the world!
Sorry, I should spell out the Pollard remark.
‘Obama Freed Three Hostile Cuban Spies, Why Not Pollard?’
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/188850#.VJPXqsCM
sarz
“Anonymous 19 December, 2014 23:18” may have a point. I am unable to vouch for THIS, but perhaps someone on the Saker team can.
I completely agree with the last two Anonymous commenters who posted at 2:36 and 2:53.
Montes did not “break her oath to her country”; she upheld her oath to her country, supporting and defending the constitution against a criminal elite and their hired thugs who have betrayed their obligations to the constitution and the UN Charter, among other crimes.
Edward Snowden is another such person.
Oscar Lopez Rivera is longest held political prisoner of the world. For what is he rotting in prison? For initiating referendum for Puertorican indenpendence. Puertoricans have colonial status within USA. They do not have representation in federal structures, not vote for US president, but must pay federal taxes.
http://afgj.org/politicalprisonersusa
Political prisoner and democracy? This ain’t soundz good. Let make them terrorist, soundz better. This exactly from whom Ukraine get wisdom.
Montes and… Marta Rita Velazquez
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/woman-indicted-in-cuba-spy-case-is-in-sweden-and-out-of-us-reach/2013/04/25/de27da3c-ade7-11e2-8bf6-e70cb6ae066e_story.html
This (“Voices from the Other Side” and terrorism against Cuba): https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLB5B2E19AA72E27EA
is must see (and book to read and spread).
David Rovics used to be my favorite musician. After all he wrote among other things The Reischtag Fire clearly showing that he suspected at least that 911 was an inside job/false flag http://www.lyricsmania.com/reichstag_fire_lyrics_david_rovics.html
Then recently I found out that in 2008 he basically denounced the 911 truth movement, said his song was merely about how they used an event that was not an inside job http://www.commondreams.org/views/2008/04/07/truth-about-911-truth-movement
I used to support him and tried to write to him to tell him to look again at all the clear evidence of an inside job. He brushed me off as another crazy truther.
His songs still feel true to me including the Reichstag Fire, but I fear someone has gotten to him and he is no longer willing to step out on that limb.
Expanding on Uncle Bob’s comment about the secret police hanging from lampposts after the overthrow of Machado — it was worse than that.
A husband-and-wife team reporting for the NY Times, who later wrote a book about the overthrow of Machado, were on their hotel balcony watching the mobs storm through the streets looking for the secret police. They later photographed some of the bodies. They were covered with BITE marks. Unarmed, the mobs clawed and bit them to death.
When Batista flew away, Castro was at the far end of the island and the rebel army took two days travelling to the capital. Radio Rebelde constantly broadcast Castro’s message: “People of Cuba, wait for us. Wait for us. We will give you justice.”
They did and they did.
A western reporter was with Haydee Santamaria listening to the U.S. radio when the CIA-trained BRAC operatives (google it) were being publicly executed, including the man who had interrogated her. Words like “barbarism” and “Roman forum” were ricocheting around the room. He watched Haydee silently; there were no words.
She had been arrested with her brother and her lover, and held in a jail wired throughout for sound so everyone could hear the screaming. An interrogator brought he a tray on which lay her brother’s left eye and her lover’s left testicle. He told her if she cooperated they would stop there.
She said “Obviously they are not talking. Nor am I.”
Haydee was released unharmed. They didn’t need to silence her. In fact she was probably released for the same reason the jails were wired for sound. The men, of course, did not survive.
(As with any iconic story, Haydee’s has a few versions. She did not herself talk about it so published versions are fifth hand at best.)
I’ve spoken about Ana Belen to Cuban friends over the years when we were talking about the Five, and noticed they were cool. “Don’t worry, we have not forgotten Ana,” they’d say, but sort of as though they were placating me.
There are two significant differences between Ana Belen and the Five. One, Ana was guilty of espionage and the Five were, arguably, guilty of the misdemeanor of failing to register as agents of a foreign government.
Spying is not illegal. Private detectives don’t need to go out of business. Espionage is spying on the government. This the Five did not do. In fact, the Wasp network was set up when the FBI shrugged off Cuban complaints of the freedom of anti-Cuban terrorists to launch from U.S. soil, which is theoretically against American law. Wasp gave the FBI information it developed, so while it may not have registered, it certainly made itself and its purpose known to the U.S. government.
Second, Ana cooperated completely with the prosecutors. At first blush, it looks as though she couldn’t have given them anything but information about herself, but perhaps she dropped the dime on one or more of her handlers who was undercover in the U.S.
The trial of the Five was and remains notorious around the world. One of them was found guilty of murder for the shootdown of the BTR plane that was buzzing Havana, something with which he had absolutely no connection and which was not a murder. Midway through the trial the prosecutors presented a motion to withdraw that charge, explaining to the judge that they were unable to support it, but she refused to let them withdraw it.
Cassandra said…
“Expanding on Uncle Bob’s comment about the secret police hanging from lampposts after the overthrow of Machado — it was worse than that.”
Thank for you adding more information to my post.For anyone interested in the Machado period,it had a great influence on later Cuban politics.Fidel considered that the revolt against Machado was only half successful.For it led to another dictator Batista soon after.And he was adamant to overturn the system of US control in his revolution ,not just change leaders.There was a good fictional American movie on that period that I saw in Cuba and is once and a while show in the US called “We were strangers”,from 1949.It was made at the beginning of the “Red Scare” period and was pulled quickly from theaters.It talked too much of social justice and fighting dictators for the US government’s liking.
Uncle Bob
If I understand your position correctly, the US properly jailed her as a traitor, but the Cubans, who she trusted, failed her. Aren’t you simply saying that she chose the wrong side?
The last time I looked, extreme stupidity was not classified as a virtue.
And Cuban government simply wanted no part of it.
IMHO, this woman fully deserved what she got.
Marta Rita Velazquez recruited Montes. Velazquez is happily married to a younger guy in Sweden, lives in an upper class neighborhood (like the one she grew up in Guaynabo, PR, and has a nice job. In the meantime, Montes is rotting in jail, pretending that her life mission meant something. Life is a bitch, ridiculous.