All 5 moved to high-security unit

 In Cuba, the spies are being transformed into national heroes.

 BY LUISA YANEZ

 Concerns over protests in Cuba calling for the release of five men convicted of spying in Miami prompted federal prison officials to move them into a high-security unit, one of their attorneys said Monday.

 ``My client was told that they were all put in the secure area because the prison was worried about the demonstrations going on in Cuba,'' said attorney Jack Blumenfeld, who on Monday met with his client, Antonio Guerrero, held along with the others at the Federal Detention Center in downtown Miami.

 The five -- Guerrero, Gerardo Hernández, Ramón Labañino, Fernando González and René González -- were found guilty of operating as unregistered foreign agents on June 8. One of the defendants, Hernández, was also convicted of murder conspiracy. They are all awaiting sentencing in late September or early October.

 On Monday, prison officials confirmed the men have been segregated and placed in the Special Housing Unit, nicknamed ``the hole'' by inmates. They said the move was for ``nonpunitive'' reasons but did not elaborate.

 USUAL REASONS

 Inmates usually are put in the unit for disciplinary infractions, their personal safety or security reasons.

 "I guess prison officials are afraid hundreds of Cubans will come from the Malecón to Miami to try to free them,'' Blumenfeld joked. ``We hope this will be resolved soon and we won't have to go to court.''

 Inmates inside the high-security unit on the 12th floor spend most of the day in a small cell that holds one or two people. Most of their personal belongings are taken
 away. Inmates and visitors sit on opposite sides of a plate glass window.

 Guerrero told his attorney he was sharing a cell with co-defendant Labañino. The accommodations of the three other Cuban spies were unknown and their attorneys could not be reached for comment.

 Luis Fernández, spokesman for the Cuban Interests Section in Washington, D.C., could not be reached for comment.

 MADE INTO HEROES

 In Cuba, the spies are being transformed into national heroes. Their predicament is the main topic on a nightly round table show televised nationally. On Saturday, Fidel Castro's brother Raúl led a rally calling for their release.

 Last month, a letter attributed to the spies also was published in the official Communist Party newspaper in Havana.

 ``We have honored our duty to our people and our homeland,'' they wrote.

 When first arrested in September 1998, the defendants were held in the same high-security unit for 17 months but were moved into the general population in February 2000 after a series of motions by their attorneys.

 Three of the men face life sentences; two others could be sent to prison for at least 15 years.

                                    © 2001