While the national media has jumped on the story of the husband-and-wife team who allegedly spent three decades spying for the Cuban government, little has been mentioned of the convicted Cuban spies who will go before the U.S. Supreme Court this month.
The Cuban Five, as they are called, consist of five Cubans who have been imprisoned since 1998.
They were convicted in 2001 for conspiring to commit murder stemming from the 1996 incident in which the Cuban government shot down two planes flown by the anti-Castro group Brothers to the Rescue.
However, they were tried in the politically charged atmosphere of Miami, leaving their attorneys to claim they did not get a fair trial.
On June 15th, the Supreme Court will decide whether to grant them a new trial.
Miami New Times Editor Chuck Strouse is one of the few people in Miami who is not afraid to publicly say they deserve a new trial.
“However you look at it, the decision should have been made to move the trial from Miami. And most of these guys should have been cleared. Their crime was to fool the exiles. This is not spycraft. And by now, they've paid for their petty misdeeds.”
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In the past, a statement like that would have led to a pipe bomb being placed under his car, so it is obvious that the Cold War is dying out in Miami.
But it's not completely dead considering Father Alberto Cutie believed he was being followed by Cuban spies instead of the paparazzi when he was caught on a beach with his hands down his girlfriend's bikini bottom.
So it’s curious as to why this hearing is getting absolutely no attention from the rest of the media or even most of the Miami blogs that focus on Cuban issues.
Not even the ultra right-wing Babalu Blog acknowledged Strouse’s column. Nor the more moderate blog Mambi Watch.
The only blog to address the Cuban Five has been Generation Miami.
And The Miami Herald has neglected to mention the upcoming hearing in the recent stories it published about retired State Department intelligent analyst Kendall Myers and his wife, Gwendolyn.
In fact, as Strouse points out, the media even refused to acknowledge that President Barack Obama urged the Supreme Court not to hear the case.
It's not like it's top secret.
Or is it?
