INS Official Accused of Spying for Cuba

A U.S. immigration official with “secret” security clearance was arrested Thursday and charged with spying for the Cuban government, the FBI said.

Mariano Faget, 54, was being held at the Federal Detention Center in Miami and was to appear in court today, the FBI said in a statement.

Faget, a native of Havana, is employed at the Immigration and Naturalization Service as a supervisory district adjudication officer. He held a secret security clearance and was responsible for supervising decisions that affected immigrants and people seeking political asylum, the FBI said.

“Faget has access to classified and sensitive INS files relating to confidential law enforcement sources and Cuban defectors,” the FBI said.

The agency said he had made unauthorized contacts with Cuban intelligence officers in Miami and other U.S. cities.

A spokesman for the Cuban Interests Section, which represents the nation in Washington, declined comment. The White House also had no comment, spokesman Mike Hammer said.

The FBI said it wouldn’t release any further details on the case until a news conference scheduled for this morning.

Russ Bergeron, director of media relations at INS headquarters in Washington, said he could not comment on Faget’s arrest. He said it is INS policy to cooperate with such investigations.

Jose Basulto, president of the Cuban exile group Brothers to the Rescue, said he believes there are many Cuban spies working in the United States.

“The U.S. should be very embarrassed by this finding,” he said. “Until the cancer is removed, which is Castro, this will continue.”

In October 1998, 14 people were charged in Florida in what authorities called the largest Cuban espionage ring uncovered in the United States in decades. Authorities said the group tried to penetrate U.S. military bases, infiltrate anti-Castro exile groups and manipulate U.S. media and political organizations.

FBI spokesman Terry Nelson told the Orlando Sentinel that Faget’s arrest is unrelated to this spy ring.

The United States severed diplomatic relations with Cuba in January 1961, two years after Fidel Castro’s rise to power, and initiated a trade embargo in 1962. Travel to and from the country is restricted by the U.S. government, but athletic, cultural and academic exchanges have been allowed.

Relations between the United States and Cuba recently have been strained by the case of Elian Gonzalez. The INS has said the 6-year-old boy should be returned to his father in Cuba while his relatives in Miami have been fighting to keep the boy in the United States.

Elian survived a crossing from Cuba in November, but his mother drowned when their boat capsized.