The Miami Herald
March 10, 2001

Jilted wife of spy wins $7.1 million

                                      BY JAY WEAVER

                                      The jilted former wife of Cuban spy Juan Pablo Roque was awarded
                                      more than $7 million in damages Friday by a Miami judge who
                                      declared Cuba committed acts of sexual battery, torture and
                                      terrorism by orchestrating Roque's sham marriage so he could
                                      infiltrate the exile community.

                                      ``This court finds that as the unwitting victim in a plot among
                                      terrorists that was targeted, used and injured in furtherance of acts
                                      of international terrorism, Ms. [Ana Margarita] Martinez
                                      herself is the victim of a terrorist act,'' Miami-Dade Circuit
                                      Judge Alan Postman ruled.

                                      Postman said he wanted to impose a separate $20 million
                                      award in punitive damages against Cuba for its ``repugnant,
                                      contemptible and reprehensible'' actions. But he could not
                                      because Cuba has sovereign immunity under federal law.

                                      The judge's award of $7.175 million in compensatory
                                      damages took into account Martinez's emotional pain and
                                      suffering, including not only the alleged sexual battery but
                                      also the ridicule by some exiles who labeled her as Roque's
                                      ally in his spy mission.

                                      To collect the civil judgment, her attorneys will rely on an
                                      anti-terrorist law to pursue frozen Cuban assets in this
                                      country -- an arduous process that will involve finding the
                                      assets, garnishing them and then obtaining President
                                      Bush's approval to tap them.

                                      Cuba chose not to defend itself in Martinez's suit, saying in
                                      a diplomatic note that the U.S. courts have no jurisdiction
                                      over its government.

                                      Last June, Postman found Fidel Castro's government liable.
                                      Following a brief damages trial last month, the judge decided
                                      to award $175,000 a year for the rest of Martinez's expected
                                      lifetime, to age 81.

                                      Martinez, 40, an executive secretary with two teenage
                                      children from a previous marriage, had mixed feelings.

                                      ``The only disappointment is I don't think the award gives
                                      Cuba a hard enough blow,'' said a teary Martinez. ``I wish it
                                      could have been higher, not so much for my sake, but for the
                                      Cuban government to feel more pain from this.''

                                      Roque, described as a dashing pilot who portrayed himself
                                      as an anti-communist, left Cuba in 1992 and dated Martinez
                                      for three years before marrying her. He used the marriage as
                                      a front while he infiltrated the exile community and, in
                                      particular, the Brothers to the Rescue, which searches for
                                      Cuban rafters at sea.

                                      Roque abruptly left Miami on Feb. 23, 1996. His shocking
                                      identity was revealed during a CNN interview in Havana on
                                      Feb. 26 -- two days after Cuban jets shot down two Brothers
                                      planes, killing four fliers.

                                      ``[Roque] was a bad actor, but the real bad egg was the
                                      Cuban government,'' said attorney Fernando Zulueta, who
                                      represented Martinez.

                                      In his 22-page opinion, Postman said Roque, as an agent of
                                      the Cuban government, committed sexual battery on
                                      Martinez because he did not have her ``informed consent to
                                      having marital relations.''

                                      The shootdown and subsequent revelation of Roque's
                                      identity shattered Martinez's life, the judge wrote. Roque
                                      was eventually indicted as part of a spy ring that allegedly
                                      conspired to penetrate U.S. military establishments. Five of
                                      his co-conspirators are now on trial in federal court.

                                      In the civil case, Postman said the Castro government pulled
                                      all the strings behind the scenes, including Roque's
                                      marriage to Martinez, without any concern for the fallout.

                                      ``Ms. Martinez was emotionally distraught and devastated
                                      by the revelation,'' the judge wrote. ``Betrayed and alone,
                                      she suffered the criticism of some members of the local
                                      Cuban-American community who doubted her sincerity.

                                      ``Some members of the local community ostracized Ms.
                                      Martinez, mistakenly suspecting that she might have known
                                      her husband was a Cuban spy. She allegedly was accused
                                      on some radio programs of conspiring with Roque.''

                                      Following the shootdown, three of the four fliers' families
                                      sued the Cuban government. In 1997, U.S. District Judge
                                      James Lawrence King awarded the families about $50
                                      million in damages, plus $35 million in sanctions against
                                      Cuba.

                                      But citing national security interests, President Clinton
                                      would not unfreeze Cuban assets to pay the judgment -- at
                                      least not until Congress passed a law last fall to take care of
                                      terrorist victims' families.

                                      Last month, the U.S. government transferred about $93
                                      million, including interest, in frozen Cuban bank accounts to
                                      the Brothers families.

                                      Attorney Scott Leeds, who also represented Martinez, said
                                      it might take a couple of years to unlock more blocked
                                      Cuban assets for his client, but he expects cooperation from
                                      the Bush administration.

                                      ``In the scheme of things, you couldn't ask for a better
                                      administration,'' Leeds said. ``Both on a state and federal
                                      level, it will be well received. . . . This was truly a terrorist
                                      act. You don't let that money go back to [perpetrators] of
                                      terrorist acts.''