For some reason Mexican lawmakers feel they have authority over this matter even though it doesn’t even involve any of their nationals. The Cuban spies had an army of topnotch attorneys and were convicted by a jury in a U.S. federal court. The conviction was upheld by an appellate court so they definitely got due process and the verdicts must be respected.
The Obama administration has given Mexico enough input and authority over U.S. matters that its lawmakers felt emboldened enough to order the release of four communist spies serving lengthy sentences in federal prison.
The Mexican Cámara de Diputados, which is similar to the U.S. House of Representatives, actually passed a measure this week commanding American officials to free the foreign intelligence officers, agents of Cuba’s communist government convicted in 2001 for espionage, conspiracy to commit murder and acting as an agent of a foreign government. One of the spies is already out on probation after serving a 13-year sentence but four remain in federal jails.
The men ran a network (La Red Avispa) that surveilled vulnerable entry ports to import arms and explosives into the U.S., penetrated anti-communist groups in Florida and infiltrated the U.S. Southern Command, the Defense Department’s operation responsible for military activities in central and South America. A Cuban military intelligence agent named Gerardo Hernandez was the ringleader and he’s serving a life sentence in a California federal prison.
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