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Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9781504973984 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | AuthorHouse |
| Publication date: | 01/21/2016 |
| Sold by: | Barnes & Noble |
| Format: | eBook |
| Pages: | 134 |
| File size: | 206 KB |
Read an Excerpt
CIA Case File: Cuba Exposed
By Jack Otero
AuthorHouse
Copyright © 2016 Jack OteroAll rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-5049-7399-1
CHAPTER 1
Richard Bratton's Mission to Cuba
The phone rang and Richard, a muscular, good-looking, black haired middle-age man answered the phone. "Hello" he said. The voice on the phone said "Are you ready?" Richard replied, "Yes, as ready as I'll ever be." The voice responded: "23:00 hours at the designated point of departure." And the phone went dead.
Richard went to his closet and took an old all leather bag and filled it with underwear, field glasses, swimming suits, toiletries, family photos, two Stuart Woods's books and magazines. He added his Canadian passport and the EPI ID tags. He also filled a folding Samsonite travel bag with two light weight suits, some dress shirts, polo shirts, two Hawaiian shirts, some jeans, one pair of dress shoes, one pair of Nikes and some sandals. He then placed his 38 Smith and Wesson revolver, along with a box of bullets he had kept in the office safe located in the den of his Bethesda, MD home, into the leather bag.
He also checked his briefcase where he had stored several files, university documents and student tests to be graded. He also included a small AM-FM radio with short-wave capabilities, an IBM laptop with coding and decoding message capabilities, and a late model IPhone. He also included a copy of his contract with EPI – Canada's Edmonton Polytechnic Institute – a one year contract to conduct research on Cuban methodology of raising coffee and sugar cane plants, as well as schemes for crossbreeding systems related to plants' care and growth, harvesting and collection of beans, and sugar cane stems.
The contract also called for study of the refining of sugar, marketing and export volume of these products. The contract showed that Richard was a graduate of Edmonton EPI in 1953 with a Master Degree in Agricultural Business (Economics, Finance, Marketing, public policy and science topics). He also had a degree in Computer Sciences from Ottawa's University. Richard was listed as an EPI Adjunct Professor, specializing in research. This was the CIA cover he'd use in Cuba. The agency had constructed a background file on Richard they felt it would stand the most intense scrutiny and vetting by Cuban authorities.
In his real life, Richard was a career CIA operative born in Dearborn, MI of immigrant parents of Canadian citizenship. Richard was an expert in recruiting spies and running clandestine rogue operations from sabotage, to misinformation, to other means of debilitating enemy governments. After years of training and intelligence undercover work in different countries, he had returned to Canada to live with a close relative. Later he enrolled at the University of Edmonton to prepare for the mission he was now assigned to implement in the surroundings of the city of Cienfuegos, Cuba.
He examined his Canadian passport issued in Ottawa, Canada on July 13, 1993 to Prof. Richard Julien Bratton, born in Halifax, N.S., April 14, 1951. A Cuban entry visa was affixed to the passport issued August 22, 1993, designation: cultural/university researcher visa issued by the Cuban Embassy in Ottawa, signed by Jose Miguel Martinez Machado, Consular Officer.
Ricardo sat at the end of his bed and reviewed in his mind the briefing received from his Control, Bob Massey, a CIA Special Operations Officer. Massey wasted no time. "Your mission is of the most importance and, it will be a very dangerous assignment. Your job will be to identify the location of what we believe are concrete silos concealed under coffee and sugar plantations throughout the Cienfuegos area. We have satellite evidence that these missile silos may be hidden underground somewhere in that area. We also suspect that often, those missiles are moved from one location to another, always concealed underground in coffee and sugar plantations. We believe these silos contain Russian-made, short and long range missiles aimed at the USA. So, your mission is of the highest importance to the security of our nation."
"You will fly from Toronto to Havana on an Air Canada flight. At the Havana airport, you will be met by Prof. Rolando Martínez of the Cienfuegos Technical and Agricultural University (Escuela de Ciencias Agragrias) who will be your University Counselor while in Cuba. For security, he will use the phrase: 'Cuba warmly welcomes you, Prof. Bratton.' Martinez is one of our operatives who has been working underground there for years. However, he's not trained to do the task entrusted to you. He will be your protective blanket. Trust him to deliver in a pinch. So, protecting your own cover and his is of the utmost importance. Rolando will drive you from Boyeros Airport to the Meliá Hotel & Resort in Varadero Beach, where you will stay for three days sunning yourself, drinking "mojitos" and enjoying the scenery."
"So, enjoy the vacation; the tab is on us! On the last day of your stay, Rolando will host a business lunch in your honor. He will invite other university scholars and lower echelon officials of the Ministério de Agricultura. All other lunch invitees have no current connection with us at this time. The idea of these preliminary contacts is to give credence to your cover assignment. So, make friends with everyone present. You may meet some of them again later on. Initial good vibes are important to the success of your mission."
"Keep in mind that for Cuba today coffee production is one of their major agricultural exports. Tobacco and sugar take second and third place. Coffee is a big revenue factor for the Cuban economy, although their production has been hampered by the lack of new and more advanced techniques and machinery. Brazil is their major competitor. The Brazilians have industrialized heavily their growing techniques, production and exports. In Cuba, coffee production is mostly labor intensive. They are hungry to learn more about Canadian coffee growing techniques."
"After you establish a practical base of operations at the Cienfuegos University, make yourself known using a more familiar Cuban name: Ricardo. Act the role of a person who's never been to Cuba before. For a while, engage in local tourism and sightseeing around Cienfuegos and the Santa Clara province. Don't try to do too much too soon!"
After a couple of weeks of getting settled, broaden your contacts to others in Cuban society. Act as a friendly Canadian university researcher interested in helping Cuba to improve its coffee and sugar cane production methodology and mass production techniques. Cubans in general like to talk about their coffee and sugar. They are proud of the quality of these products. Just make friends but do not recruit anyone until after the arrival of your girlfriend Crystal Marie Hawthorne. She will conduct the briefing for the second phase of your assignment."
CHAPTER 2Richard meets Cuban Officials
As planned, a welcome lunch was held at the Meliá Hotel on the third day of Richard's arrival in Cuba. The guests included:
Rosa Maria Gonzalez Ubieta, Lead Professor of Agriculture Sciences
Edmundo Vallejo Cifuentes, University Director of Research
Dr. Jose Manuel Descalzo Urrutia, Dean of Cienfuegos University, School of Agriculture (Escuela de Ciencias Agrarias). Rolando's boss.
Manuel Sánchez Aragón, Director, National Institute of Coffee
The University of Cienfuegos was officially the event host and the lunch was first class – unlike the lunch ordinary Cubans eat every day. Richard was asked many questions about Canada, putting to a tough test his knowledge of his country, culture and geography. Some questions involved the Toronto Blue Jays baseball team and, believe it or not, he got questions about Canadian hockey. Other questions revolved around the issue of coffee, sugar and agriculture, exports to Canada from Cuba and the flocks of Canadian tourists visiting Cuba every day. In fact, many other tables at the same restaurant were filled with Canadian tourists happily drinking and eating.
Richard and Rolando agreed to meet Señor Sánchez Aragón at the School of Agriculture in Cienfuegos. Protocol dictated he meet this Cuban executive before anyone else. Richard would meet some of the others at a time and place convenient to them. The lunch ended on a high note when Richard was formally invited by Mr. Aragón to a guided tour of the División de Mercadeo y Exportación del Ministerio de Agricultura in the capital of La Habana. He accepted the invitation with the caveat that he would do so at the earliest practicable date. He needed to get settled first. It was an activity that would require time due to the time needed to travel from Cienfuegos to Havana.
This invitation was an unexpected development, which led Richard and Rolando to suspect that such a visit to Havana so soon had been crafted by officials of the G-2 intelligence apparatus. It made sense that G-2 would like to look him over more closely to prove Richard was kosher. Richard was convinced that some of the questions posed at the lunch were only the beginning of more pointed questions aimed at digging deeper into his cover. But, he sensed no animosity or deep suspicion from anyone at the table.
Operating from Cienfuegos
After three days in Varadero Beach, Richard and Rolando traveled to the city of Cienfuegos, located on the southern coast of the province of Santa Clara, also called Las Vilas, approximately 160 miles from Havana. Cienfuegos means literally one hundred fires. It was first settled by the French in 1819. The settlement became a Spanish town in 1829 and it became a city later in 1880 when it was named Cienfuegos in honor of the Captain General of the island at the time. The University of Cienfuegos is known as the "Carlos Rafael Rodriguez" University.
Rolando drove Richard to the facilities of the University's Escuela de Ciencias Agrarias. Richard would be housed at one of the upscale dorms reserved for visiting professors and VIP's. Rolando had counseled Richard about the lack of suitable hotel or private apartment facilities. So, it was decided, he would live on campus for the time being. They felt operating from the University was a lot safer and would reduce scrutiny. It was a long drive and after perfunctory introductions to University officials, Richard retired to his quarters on campus.
He showered and laid in bed going over the last three days since arriving from Canada. He was pleased that planning had gone well thus far. But, he was cognizant that he had to be on his toes. He was sure more than one undercover G-2 agent may have been among the luncheon guests. Cuban intelligence operatives would be hard at work trying to ascertain whether Richard Julien Bratton was everything he said he was. Finally, he fell asleep and was awakened the next morning by Rolando's knock on his door. After a brief shower, he dressed and joined Rolando and others for a "cafecito" along with a Cuban breakfast at the Escuela's cafeteria. It was a Spartan, but welcome breakfast consisting of rice, platanitos fritos, frijoles y café con leche y pan Cubano.
Later that morning an official ceremony was held in the Escuela's auditorium when Richard was formally introduced to members of the faculty, students, representatives of the Ministério de Agricultura and other University staff. Several meetings were set up for the following week with faculty members who would assist him in his research. He said he needed a few days off to acclimate to the city and learn about its history, people and traditions.
The following Monday at 9:30 AM, he walked into a small room with a round table. There were five other people at the table:
- Rolando, his official University Sponsor
- Prof. Ma. Elena Maduro, Deputy Dean, Escuela de Ciencias Agrarias
- Edmundo Vallejo Cifuentes, Director of Agricultural Research.
The meeting lasted until 11:45 AM. The discussion centered primarily on routine technical agricultural questions involving both Cuba and Canada. The student representative wondered how Canada could produce so much grain and other agricultural products when its climate was usually cold and snowy. Richard explained that Canada was a very big country, nearly 10 million square kms in all, extending from the Atlantic to the Pacific and then to the Arctic Ocean. "Canada", he explained, "is a country with several different climates throughout the year, all of which make Canada one of the leading countries exporting agricultural products all over the world, most particularly grains such as soybean, corn and wheat"|.
Richard had answers prepared in advance to establish his bona fides as an agricultural expert interested in researching the Cuban system. After the meeting, Richard told Rolando to go home to his family since he wanted to explore other parts of the city and mingle with ordinary people. He dressed in jeans, a polo shirt, a pair of Nikes, sunglasses and the 35 mm camera he had brought with him.
He walked the streets, stopped at a refreshment stand, had a "cafecito" and was often besieged by children begging for money. The omnipresent Military Milicia shooed the children away. Their job was to protecting their important tourist visitors from delinquents and panhandlers. During a stroll near the port of Cienfuegos he was propositioned more than once by young good-looking Cuban women known as "jineteras." (Cuba had the reputation of being the world's # 2 capital sex tourism.)
Eventually, he hailed a cab and returned to his quarters at the University campus. He ate dinner at the cafeteria and, for a while, watched a baseball game being played on the campus grounds. He returned to his quarters and womndered whether he was already being spied upon. Eventually he felt asleep.
The following morning Rolando informed him that the visit to La Habana had already been scheduled for Tuesday of the following week. They discussed trip logistics and the scenarios to be expected in Havana. Rolando warned him to be on guard for possible drastic changes to the agenda and location of the Havana meeting. He warned him that for sure his meetings in Havana would be organized and controlled by the G-2. The Cuban has a highly efficient, ruthless intelligence and counter-intelligence apparatus that had been organized and trained by the Russian KGB and Poland's Stasi. The Cubans were paranoiac about CIA penetration and were ever vigilant.
The next few days Richard attended meeting after meeting and made field trips to research facilities, plantations near the University and attended two other "official" dinners hosted by the Dean and his Principal assistant. These dinners were held in the homes of the hosts. Here, Richard was struck by the fact that these homes were well furnished. They had HD TV, telephones and maid service ("criadas") who cooked the meals, served the food and cleaned up thereafter. It appeared that these two women had higher incomes than some of the other University staff. No other guests attended these two dinners, except for the husbands and children of the hostesses. Obviously, these women were part of the Communist elite that reign over Cuba.
These two evenings also gave Richard a deeper insight into the Cuban society under Communism. The table discussion offered other insights about Cuba. The hostesses bragged about the Cuba's education and health systems being better than most countries. Richard talked about Canada's national soccer team and said hockey was the number one sport in Canada, followed by soccer and baseball. The men were eager to talk "béisbol" and asked Richard whether he had seen José Abreu and Yasiel Puig play in the Major Leagues. Abreu and Puig were stars of the Cuban national team, both natives of Cienfuegos, who had defected to the U.S. They now played for the White Sox and Dodgers in the U.S. Major Leagues, with salaries in the tens of millions of dollars. Richard answered he had attended a couple of Blue Jay games in the past year, but did not recollect those players' names.
The women were somewhat uncomfortable with this line of discussion and soon they suggested they move to the living room for a "cafecito" and some Cuban rum. After some more light banter, they bid Richard goodnight and he was driven back to the campus in the Dean's official car – a Lada Russian-made sedan.
(Continues...)
Excerpted from CIA Case File: Cuba Exposed by Jack Otero. Copyright © 2016 Jack Otero. Excerpted by permission of AuthorHouse.
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