“some Republicans, a self-serving former Cuban spy named Bill Gaede,
and the Castro regime have joined forces to diminish the importance of
Roly’s service to America”
Certainly, I have nothing to do with either of those groups. I'm neither a Republican nor do I have
anything more to do with the Cuban Government since September of 1994. I haven't joined forces
or reached an agreement with anyone.
He also writes...
“I – as well as anonymous intelligence sources in Washington – identified
Roly as a Directorate of Intelligence officer assigned to an element known
as Department M-XV (Agent Communications).”
So far so good. This is correct. Roly studied journalism and was assigned to write reports on his
colleagues: a Cuban Government snitch. That was what he did.
Simmons continues...
“With this placement and access, he would have been able to identify strengths
and weaknesses in the High Frequency broadcasts (i.e., shortwave or “ham”
radio) that Cuba has transmitted to its spies every day for decades… Thus, it’s
no coincidence that in 1996, the FBI was able to start reading parts of the HF
broadcasts from Havana to its largest spy ring in America… Known as the
Wasp Network… The Bureau’s code-breaking, while slow and imperfect,
proved good enough to arrest 10 Wasp members in September 1998.”
There are at least two fatal problems with this argument and they reflect on the level of understanding of
Chris Simmons. He is either not familiar with the facts or he is definitely a U.S. Government disinformant…
1. It is a fact that the FBI was already monitoring the Wasp Network (later its key members were
to be known as the Cuban Five) since June 1993. One of the members of the spy network went to
the FBI as soon as he arrived in the US and told them all about Castro’s plan. His name is Ed Levy
and you can listen to his testimony here starting at 10:40.
Therefore, Roly had nothing at all to do with the detection and capture of the Wasp Network.
2. According to 'intelligence' gossip writer Jim Popkin, who the U.S. intelligence agencies used to
get their message to the public, the FBI counter-intelligence task force caught Ana Montes through
CRYPTOGRAPHIC codes sent by Roly directly to the CIA. In fact, that’s exactly what Chris
Simmons told Newsweek reporter Jeff Stein and NY Times reporter Mark Mazzetti 3 weeks before
he wrote that it was the “strengths and weaknesses in the High Frequency broadcasts”.
Therefore, Simmons should try to get his act together and figure out whether Roly passed cryptographic
codes or just hints regarding weaknesses in the Cuban communications network. Apparently, it is Chris
Simmons who is the source of the fib that Roly was a cryptographer. He is reinforced by the two official,
anonymous (Alan P. Hale and James R. Clapper) U.S. Government disinformants who told the press that
Roly supplied information that led to the capture and conviction of The Cuban Five (1998), Ana Montes
(2004) and the husband and wife team of Myers and Myers (2008).
The 'leak' that Roly was a cryptographer worth exchanging the remaining 3 mmbers of the Cuban Five
which was an impediment to the reestablishmeent of relations between the US and Cuba is actually a
study in the methods the US Government uses to disinform the public.
Simmons concludes his article with...
“the three-man CIA ring in which Roly served was compromised in 1994.”
Cuba Disinformation