And - an American who spied for Cuba for 30 years has died; he was one of several such turncoats who betrayed me and colleagues who served in that communist nation.
I was surprised they reported Kendall Myers’s death almost two months after it happened. He and his wife Gwen betrayed us by sending our classified information to Cuba, who learned the tricks of the espionage trade from the experts, the Soviets. What did they see in Fidel as a leader, and why did they feel he was great? I hold no support for our support of Fulgencio Batista and his consent to Americans’ exploitation of Cuba’s institutions and public utilities, building casinos with the mob, and his undemocratic government. Fidel and Raúl Castro were no better, and in many respects were a lot worse. The Myerses probably didn’t see the rationing & food coupons, the poorer sections of the country, blatant racial discrimination in hiring at the tourist resorts (they don’t hire people who look like they have African features) and the wholesale repression under the Castros. I haven’t found an obituary, but apparently Gwen had a heart attack in 2014, and she died in 2015. She had been released from her 7 year sentence before she died. Judge Reggie Walton, who accepted their plea agreements and sentenced them, later reviewed the case, releasing Gwen’s sentence as she had died. Myers remained imprisoned. Like you, I have no use for what they did.
Trump is playing a stupid game if he thinks he can force regime change in Cuba from abroad, it isn’t going to work any more successfully than his Iran debacle has done.
Ana Belen Montes lives in Puerto Rico now after her sentence of espionage for Cuba has ended. She was treated for breast cancer in prison and has been in remission. She lives with her sister Lucy, a retired FBI Spanish linguist. She was interviewed by a newspaper in Puerto Rico after she was freed, and there was much adverse commentary following the article. Montes still believes herself to have done the right thing by supporting Cuba, and she still believes in Díaz Canel’s decrepit government. One of the commenters that I remember the best said something to the effect of, “well, if she thinks Cuba is so great, why doesn’t she go live there instead of Puerto Rico?” I also hold no brief for what she did. Spying for a foreign adversary power is not the best thing to do if you have issues with our foreign policy.
I appreciate your serving the country’s interests as a diplomat. It’s a pity people voted for someone who is trying to take over this country lock,stock and barrel and treat it as though it were his personal domain. I hate to see the alienation of allies and trying to make nice with nations who have traditionally been our adversaries. It is also angering to see our worst president and secretary of defense ever decide to start a war with Iran, even though their government is rotten. It’s a stupid and illegal war started as a distraction from the Epstein Files, which apparently the mere unwashed has no right to see. No planning or strategy went into place for the war, and now that said president is bored with the war and wants to end it, he’s finding out it’s much more difficult to end a war than to start one. Once more, his gut has led him into making another lousy decision.
That really says it all. What I’m frustrated about is a lot of people will do without while Trump takes on these harebrained schemes to overthrow governments he doesn’t like. Cubans in Cuba would hardly relish the idea of white Cubans claiming back property they once owned. AfroCubans don’t really have as much clout as the current government and the Castro brothers would like you to think. They still are largely impoverished, the Cuban nomenklatura take the best food for themselves and for tourist enterprises, the nomenklatura largely consists of white officials with perhaps a few token AfroCubans, and tourist enterprises only hire white appearing Cubans, they won’t hire anyone who looks or is AfroCuban, and the populace subsists on food made available with ration coupons. In a perverse sort of way, Díaz Canel treats the Cuban people rather like Donald Trump treats ordinary Americans. He and the plutocrats want to steal everything that is ours for themselves, and the Cubans under the Castro governments and Díaz Canel treat the Cuban people the same way.
"two grifting real estate cronies with no deep experience in diplomacy", what a great phrase. Reminds me of Nicolas Maduro who replaced trained engineers with his military and political cronies in Venezuela's oil & gas corportion, the PDVSA. It resulted in the systematic collapse of Venezuela's oil production. The only criteria is military, political loyalists, and financial contributors, leading to ghastly results.
This story, about May 1, breaks my heart. My husband's uncle went every year to DC for this event. He died in 2011 after retiring from the State Department.
Also your outrage at these spies for Cuba is so understandable. I can feel your pain.
My husband worked for 37 years in the DOJ. He is suffering as he watches this administration destroy so much!
Thank you. I feel for your husband as he witnesses this reign of terror taking place at DOJ. A quarter of lawyers gone. DOJ always attracted the best and the brightest. It’ll take many years to restore that agency to its former glory. As it will to restore State to its former status.
Good piece, James! And as always, thanks for calling out the Ben Franklin Fellowship. Hope you read the NY Times article on them this week. And hope you noticed that the BFF just made notorious racist Jeremy Carl a Fellow, done quietly at some point in the past two weeks.
Contnuued thanks to you - and to any diplomats reading - for your service!
Thanks. I did read the NYT piece. BFF will follow in the footsteps of those who served Petain's l'Etat Francais: After the war, the French government stripped nearly 50,000 collaborators of their political, civil and professional rights in a process called, dégradation nationale, a stain that forever is attached to their names. It's up to you, me and fellow travelers to ensure BFF's legacy will always be one of cowardice and shame.
I'm sorry that you got Covid, and glad that you are recovering.
When I was in Boy Scouts in Kensington, MD, 1963, a Foreign Service Officer, Wilbur P. Chase, sent me an enouraging letter regarding my Operation Patrick Henry speech. Had the Vietnam War not occurred, I might well have pursued a career in diplomacy. Thank you for your sacrifices serving our country.
I was surprised they reported Kendall Myers’s death almost two months after it happened. He and his wife Gwen betrayed us by sending our classified information to Cuba, who learned the tricks of the espionage trade from the experts, the Soviets. What did they see in Fidel as a leader, and why did they feel he was great? I hold no support for our support of Fulgencio Batista and his consent to Americans’ exploitation of Cuba’s institutions and public utilities, building casinos with the mob, and his undemocratic government. Fidel and Raúl Castro were no better, and in many respects were a lot worse. The Myerses probably didn’t see the rationing & food coupons, the poorer sections of the country, blatant racial discrimination in hiring at the tourist resorts (they don’t hire people who look like they have African features) and the wholesale repression under the Castros. I haven’t found an obituary, but apparently Gwen had a heart attack in 2014, and she died in 2015. She had been released from her 7 year sentence before she died. Judge Reggie Walton, who accepted their plea agreements and sentenced them, later reviewed the case, releasing Gwen’s sentence as she had died. Myers remained imprisoned. Like you, I have no use for what they did.
Trump is playing a stupid game if he thinks he can force regime change in Cuba from abroad, it isn’t going to work any more successfully than his Iran debacle has done.
Ana Belen Montes lives in Puerto Rico now after her sentence of espionage for Cuba has ended. She was treated for breast cancer in prison and has been in remission. She lives with her sister Lucy, a retired FBI Spanish linguist. She was interviewed by a newspaper in Puerto Rico after she was freed, and there was much adverse commentary following the article. Montes still believes herself to have done the right thing by supporting Cuba, and she still believes in Díaz Canel’s decrepit government. One of the commenters that I remember the best said something to the effect of, “well, if she thinks Cuba is so great, why doesn’t she go live there instead of Puerto Rico?” I also hold no brief for what she did. Spying for a foreign adversary power is not the best thing to do if you have issues with our foreign policy.
I appreciate your serving the country’s interests as a diplomat. It’s a pity people voted for someone who is trying to take over this country lock,stock and barrel and treat it as though it were his personal domain. I hate to see the alienation of allies and trying to make nice with nations who have traditionally been our adversaries. It is also angering to see our worst president and secretary of defense ever decide to start a war with Iran, even though their government is rotten. It’s a stupid and illegal war started as a distraction from the Epstein Files, which apparently the mere unwashed has no right to see. No planning or strategy went into place for the war, and now that said president is bored with the war and wants to end it, he’s finding out it’s much more difficult to end a war than to start one. Once more, his gut has led him into making another lousy decision.
Thanks for your insights and commentary. Why do so many people spy for decrepit regimes like Cuba’s? You might find this previous essay of mine informative - https://jameslbruno.substack.com/p/traitors-like-us-why-do-smart-people-13-04-30?utm_source=publication-search
That really says it all. What I’m frustrated about is a lot of people will do without while Trump takes on these harebrained schemes to overthrow governments he doesn’t like. Cubans in Cuba would hardly relish the idea of white Cubans claiming back property they once owned. AfroCubans don’t really have as much clout as the current government and the Castro brothers would like you to think. They still are largely impoverished, the Cuban nomenklatura take the best food for themselves and for tourist enterprises, the nomenklatura largely consists of white officials with perhaps a few token AfroCubans, and tourist enterprises only hire white appearing Cubans, they won’t hire anyone who looks or is AfroCuban, and the populace subsists on food made available with ration coupons. In a perverse sort of way, Díaz Canel treats the Cuban people rather like Donald Trump treats ordinary Americans. He and the plutocrats want to steal everything that is ours for themselves, and the Cubans under the Castro governments and Díaz Canel treat the Cuban people the same way.
You nailed it. Their hypocrisy is unceasing and stunning.
Thank you for your service, friend.
"two grifting real estate cronies with no deep experience in diplomacy", what a great phrase. Reminds me of Nicolas Maduro who replaced trained engineers with his military and political cronies in Venezuela's oil & gas corportion, the PDVSA. It resulted in the systematic collapse of Venezuela's oil production. The only criteria is military, political loyalists, and financial contributors, leading to ghastly results.
Yep. We are officially in Banana Republic territory.
This story, about May 1, breaks my heart. My husband's uncle went every year to DC for this event. He died in 2011 after retiring from the State Department.
Also your outrage at these spies for Cuba is so understandable. I can feel your pain.
My husband worked for 37 years in the DOJ. He is suffering as he watches this administration destroy so much!
Thank you for this essay.
Thank you. I feel for your husband as he witnesses this reign of terror taking place at DOJ. A quarter of lawyers gone. DOJ always attracted the best and the brightest. It’ll take many years to restore that agency to its former glory. As it will to restore State to its former status.
Good piece, James! And as always, thanks for calling out the Ben Franklin Fellowship. Hope you read the NY Times article on them this week. And hope you noticed that the BFF just made notorious racist Jeremy Carl a Fellow, done quietly at some point in the past two weeks.
Contnuued thanks to you - and to any diplomats reading - for your service!
Thanks. I did read the NYT piece. BFF will follow in the footsteps of those who served Petain's l'Etat Francais: After the war, the French government stripped nearly 50,000 collaborators of their political, civil and professional rights in a process called, dégradation nationale, a stain that forever is attached to their names. It's up to you, me and fellow travelers to ensure BFF's legacy will always be one of cowardice and shame.
I'm sorry that you got Covid, and glad that you are recovering.
When I was in Boy Scouts in Kensington, MD, 1963, a Foreign Service Officer, Wilbur P. Chase, sent me an enouraging letter regarding my Operation Patrick Henry speech. Had the Vietnam War not occurred, I might well have pursued a career in diplomacy. Thank you for your sacrifices serving our country.
Thank you. Vietnam disrupted way too many lives. In those years, virtually all new FSO’s were required to do a tour in Vietnam.