Lawsuit by Cuban defector accuses exiles of threats, intimidation

The Associated Press
Monday, January 7, 2008

MIAMI: When former Cuban Gen. Rafael del Pino defected to the U.S. in 1987 by flying a twin-engine Cessna to Key West, it was hailed by President Ronald Reagan's administration as one of the greatest intelligence coups in the long Cold War against Fidel Castro.

At the time, del Pino was the highest-ranking Cuban military officer to defect to the U.S. — following a career as a fighter pilot he had been deputy chief of staff of Cuba's armed forces.

Twenty years later and living in Miami, del Pino wrote a pair of articles last summer in Spanish-language newspapers calling for a thaw in U.S.-Cuba relations. That prompted a hostile backlash from prominent members of Miami's Cuban exile community, known for its virulent hatred of President Castro.

Now, del Pino has responded with a federal lawsuit seeking thousands of dollars in damages for what he claims is a campaign by Little Havana notables to silence him by using popular Spanish-language television and radio stations to unjustly criticize him. Del Pino even claims he was threatened with a mob lynching on one radio program.

The intent of this campaign, del Pino said in the lawsuit, was to "harass, intimidate, and ultimately execute" him and his family.

The targets of the lawsuit, including leaders of the Bay of Pigs Veterans Association and Spanish-language network Univision Communications Inc., say the claims of threats are overstated and that they have a free-speech right to criticize del Pino's views.

"Having been brought up in a repressive communist regime, he's not used to being criticized," said Miguel De Grandy, attorney for Radio Mambi talk show host Martha Flores. "It's a matter of being able to forcefully express a different point of view."

Passionate debate between moderate and hardline Cubans over relations with the island nation is common in Miami, particularly on Spanish-language radio and TV. Many Americans undoubtedly remember seeing on television the large protests during the saga of Elian Gonzalez, the Cuban boy rescued at sea who was returned to family in Cuba in 2000 by the Clinton administration.

Although increasing numbers of Cuban-Americans support a more moderate approach to the island, those who favor lifting the U.S. trade embargo or liberalizing travel rules often face a barrage of criticism from Cubans with traditional hardline views, said Benjamin Bishin, a political science professor specializing in Hispanic issues at the University of California at Riverside.

"The problem seems to have been reduced in the last few years, but I have heard stories about prominent pollsters reporting moderation in the community being threatened with death by hard-liners as recently as a couple of years ago," Bishin said. "It's not widely appreciated that political bombings and attempted assassinations were not uncommon in Miami in the 1970s and early '80s."

What's also unusual about this case is the high profile of the participants and del Pino's decision to fight critics through a federal lawsuit.

The defendants include former CIA operative and Bay of Pigs veteran Felix I. Rodriguez, a city commissioner in the neighboring community of Hialeah and the host and producer of a popular television show.

Yet even when he defected in 1987 there were many Cubans in Miami who said they could never forgive Del Pino's role in the CIA's failed 1961 Bay of Pigs invasion that attempted to overthrow the fledgling Castro government.

"This guy fought against us at the Bay of Pigs. He killed some of our people," said Pedro P. Rojas, a one-time spokesman for Bay of Pigs veterans.

Del Pino had lived quietly for years in Miami until last summer, which he published articles calling for negotiations with interim Cuban leader Raul Castro, who assumed power in 2006 following his brother Fidel's bout with a serious abdominal illness.

A few weeks after those articles appeared, a mock trial of del Pino was held on a local Spanish-language television station with the host, Oscar Haza, acting as a prosecutor and three Bay of Pigs veterans including Rodriguez as the judges. Ultimately, del Pino was labeled on the show as a "traitor of the Cuban Revolution" and a "Cuban double agent spy," according to his lawsuit.

"The participants appeared hostile, outraged and threatening toward del Pino during the program," the lawsuit added.

Before that, a caller to a Radio Mambi program about del Pino suggested that he should be snatched by a mob and lynched on Miami's famed 8th Street, or Calle Ocho, which runs through the heart of Little Havana. And del Pino's home address was given out on the television program.

Del Pino is apparently not living at that address now, and attempts to reach him for comment were unsuccessful. A lawyer representing him did not respond to messages left for him.

The lawsuit, filed Nov. 2 in federal court, seeks at least $75,000 (€50,000) in damages but also asks that U.S. District Judge Ursula Ungaro find that all of the defendants were involved in a conspiracy intended to silence him and order them to stop spreading what he calls "hate speech" about him.

Ungaro has already dismissed the case against one defendant, agreeing with Radio Mambi host Flores that del Pino did not have sufficient legal grounds to proceed against her. Ungaro noted that on a radio program, "extreme opinions and inflammatory commentary are more acceptable than they might be in some other setting."

The remaining defendants have also filed motions to dismiss for a variety of legal reasons, some of them seeking to reverse del Pino's argument of harassment by claiming that it is he who is trying to quell free speech. Ungaro has not ruled on those motions.

Univision, which owns Miami radio stations on which some of the comments against del Pino were made, denied in court papers that there was any conspiracy against him or that threat of physical violence were made.

"Del Pino has no grounds whatsoever to obtain legal cover for his desire to have opinions and actions go unchallenged by Bay of Pigs veterans who are exercising their First Amendment right of free speech," Hialeah Commissioner Esteban Bovo, a Bay of Pigs veteran, said in court papers.

MIAMI -- A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit filed by a Cuban defector who claimed he was harassed and threatened publicly by other Cuban exiles, including broadcasters and Bay of Pigs veterans, for speaking out in favor of improving ties with the communist nation.

U.S. District Judge Ursula Ungaro ruled in a series of motions this week that Rafael Del Pino, a former Cuban general who defected in 1987, had a weak case and that strong criticism against him on TV and radio programs was permissible under the law.

"The court cannot now find that such comments were sufficiently outrageous to support a claim for relief," Ungaro wrote.

Del Pino wanted the judge to stop his critics from continuing what he claimed as a campaign to silence him after he published newspaper pieces last year calling for improvement in U.S.-Cuba relations. He also sought damages of at least $75,000 for "emotional distress" caused by the alleged threats.

Among the incidents cited by the lawsuit was a "mock trial" of Del Pino on one Spanish-language TV program that concluded he was a Cuban spy, and comments made by a caller to a Radio Mambi program that Del Pino should be lynched on the main thoroughfare through Miami's Little Havana neighborhood.

Defendants in the case included the Bay of Pigs Veterans Association, its president Felix I. Rodriguez and other leaders, Spanish-language broadcaster Univision Communications Inc. and hosts of popular Spanish-language TV and radio programs. They contended they have First Amendment rights to criticize Del Pino.

Some of the defendants are now seeking payment of attorneys' fees by Del Pino. His lawyer, Richard Burton, did not immediately return a telephone call Thursday seeking comment.

Del Pino, now 69, was the highest-ranking Cuban military figure ever to defect to the U.S. when he flew a small plane to Key West in 1987. His court papers say he has spent most of his time in this country providing unspecified assistance to the U.S. government.