TIME: Almanac 1993/TIME Almanac 1993.iso/time/071089/07108900.033

Text File | 1992-09-23 | 9.0 KB | 173 lines

                                                                                WORLD, Page 30

CUBA

Reading the Coca Leaves


A drug case ensnares top officials and raises questions about
what Castro is up to

By Jill Smolowe


    Through two days of testimony, Major General Arnaldo Ochoa
Sanchez sat with his head bowed, absently fingering his
uniform, his downcast eyes glazed with an expression that
suggested dejection or resignation. He neither smiled when the
tribunal of 47 generals and admirals praised his past acts of
military valor in places as far-flung as Angola and Ethiopia nor
frowned when it branded him a traitor and called for his
execution. When Ochoa finally rose to speak, he denied none of
the charges: consorting with international drug dealers,
illicitly trafficking in everything from cocaine and diamonds
to ivory and sugar, shaming the Cuban revolution with acts of
high treason. "I betrayed our country, and one pays for treason
with one's life," Ochoa said. "If the death sentence comes,
which of course could mean the firing squad, I promise you that
my last thoughts will be of Fidel and this great revolution."

    Thus ended the most sensational corruption scandal to hit
Cuba since Fidel Castro seized power three decades ago. But the
titillating proceeding raised more questions than it answered.
On the one hand, the hearing seemed to signal Castro's
determination to crack down on official corruption and take a
leading role in stanching the tide of drugs that courses through
Latin America and washes up on North American shores. On the
other hand, the charges aired in the hearing made a mockery of
Castro's repeated insistence that Cuba has an "unimpeachable
record" when it comes to drugs. Despite solid evidence that
drug-laden planes and boats have traversed Cuban waterways and
airspace for years, the Drug Enforcement Administration and
other U.S. agencies have no hard proof that the Cuban government
ever sanctioned the illicit traffic. By nabbing such high-level
comrades in the narcotics net, Castro could not help prompting
such questions as whether -- and for how long -- he had turned
a blind eye to the trafficking.

    The corruption case unfolded with suspicious speed. Ochoa
and six other military and Interior Ministry officials were
arrested in early June. Ten days later, the Communist Party
daily Granma gave a stunningly detailed account, accusing the
seven men of pocketing $3.4 million for helping Colombia's
infamous Medellin cartel transport six tons of cocaine to
Florida. By the time Ochoa's hearing was convened two weeks
later with all the haste and splash of the ongoing scapegoat
trials in China, it was a foregone conclusion that this popular
and much decorated military officer would be found guilty.
Ochoa's court-martial began last Friday, and all that remains
now is the firing squad or an eleventh-hour display of leniency
on Castro's part.

    According to Granma, Ochoa initially tried his hand at
money laundering for drug dealers based in Panama, but early
last year found a more profitable line of work. Ochoa and an
aide forged an alliance with Colonel Antonio de La Guardia, in
charge of Cuba's program to circumvent the U.S.'s 29-year
economic embargo. Because La Guardia, who was also arrested, was
responsible for organizing blockade runners to transport
computers and other goods out of the U.S., he had contacts with
foreign businessmen and smugglers and had the authority to carry
out secret operations. In May 1988 Ochoa's aide traveled to
Medellin to meet with Pablo Escobar Gaviria, one of Colombia's
most notorious drug barons. Escobar offered Ochoa & Co. $1,200
for every kilo the Cubans helped transport to the U.S. Over the
next year, La Guardia arranged 15 successful operations,
allowing the drugs to be dropped off either on Cuban land or in
Cuban waters and then transferred to speedboats destined for
Florida.

    But why did Castro approve such a public spectacle? Was his
target audience his Latin neighbors, the gringos to the north,
or officers within Cuba's military ranks? There seem to be as
many theories as there are analysts. Some speculated that the
drug purge was designed to improve Castro's tarnished image with
his Latin American neighbors, who have little patience for
Cuba's Communist bent in an age of fledgling democracies. The
move also distanced Cuba from the drug-tainted administration
of Manuel Antonio Noriega in Panama, with which Cuba has been
known to have dealings.

    Professor Enrique Baloyra of the University of Miami
offered what he calls the "Havana-gate theory," that Castro
turned the tables on his drug-trafficking cohorts in an attempt
to mask his own involvement. By this account, Ochoa fell on his
own sword to save the Jefe. Certainly Ochoa went out of his way
during his half-hour confession to absolve Castro of any
complicity. Those analysts who suspected that high-level Cuban
officials were less innocent of the drug scheme than they let
on pointed to one small irony: the tribunal included Admiral
Aldo Santamaria Cuadrado, who in 1982 was one of four Cuban
officials indicted in Miami for conspiring with a notorious
Colombian drug smuggler. Because there is no extradition treaty
between the U.S. and Cuba, the four men never stood trial.

    Some State Department officials suggested that Castro
seized the drug issue as a way to begin a rapprochement with
Washington. Their projection was based on recent conciliatory
remarks from Cuba hinting at a desire for better ties, and past
overtures by Castro to cooperate on hijackings and immigration.
Others at State were inclined to accept the explanation offered
by Granma, that the Cuban government opened an investigation
last April after rumors from friends and complaints from the
U.S. suggested that the authorized operation to break the
American embargo was being used to transport drugs. Many
analysts think that Castro was genuinely outraged to learn of
the drug running; the Cuban leader is known to be a moralist who
hates drugs and corruption.

    Those who believe that Ochoa's public humiliation was part
of a politically inspired housecleaning were handed some potent
ammunition last week: the firing of Cuba's Interior Minister,
General Jose Abrantes, for the "great deficiency" of failing to
uncover Ochoa's drug operation. It is possible that there are
more firings to come. But an editorial signed by Castro stated
that Abrantes was taking an inevitable rap for the corruption
that transpired on his watch. In recent months the Interior
Ministry has fallen into disfavor for not halting a sharp rise
in crime and official corruption.

    Few U.S. experts on Cuba embraced the possibility that
Castro was foiling a coup attempt. But many did point to a
restlessness in the military ranks: some officers feel they have
not been properly compensated for their war duty in Angola and
are believed to favor a glasnost-style easing of Cuba's
repressive political atmosphere.

    If Castro moved on Ochoa to send a message to the military,
he could not have picked a better target. Enormously popular
among the troops, Ochoa is a veteran of Castro's revolution who
has commanded troops in Ethiopia, Angola and Nicaragua. In 1984
he received the Hero of the Cuban Republic medal, the
military's highest honor. Last week Ochoa was removed as a full
member of the Communist Party Central Committee and an elected
delegate to the National Assembly. The move against Ochoa may
have been personal as well as symbolic. His popularity may have
threatened Defense Minister Raul Castro, who is expected to
succeed his brother as the country's chief power broker.

    Several U.S. cases have already implicated high-level
Cubans in trafficking. In February 1988, for instance, 17 people
were indicted in Miami on charges of smuggling drugs from South
America, some of it through Cuba, into South Florida. Last
March, when Reinaldo Ruiz, a Cuban-born U.S. citizen, and his
son Ruben pleaded guilty, Dexter Lehtinen, the U.S. Attorney in
Miami, released a videotape on which Ruben stated that the Ruiz
operation had secured cooperation from Cuban officers to use
military runways as transit points. Of Cuba's compensation,
Ruben said, "The money went into Fidel's drawer" -- a charge
that has not been substantiated. Lehtinen says that the names
of some of those arrested in the Ochoa scandal turned up during
the Ruiz investigation.

    Castro's true motives for Ochoa's unceremonious ouster may
eventually become clear. In the meantime, Cubans are watching
Granma for the next twist, and the Bush Administration is
proceeding with caution. Last week the President told the Miami
Herald that Cuba would have to do "much more" to improve ties
with the U.S. Meanwhile, there were reports that planes continue
to smuggle drugs over Cuba, making a mockery of a recent pledge
by Cuban officials to shoot down unauthorized planes violating
its airspace on the grounds that they were probably carrying
drugs.


-- James Carney/Miami and Ricardo Chavira/Washington