Leaked documents discuss Cuban spies, US concerns (updated)

[Bacchus39]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101201/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/lt_venezuela_wikileaks

lots of juicy diplomatic "gossip"

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He praised WikiLeaks for exposing espionage and back-stabbing tactics by American diplomats. "The empire was left naked," Chavez said.

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A secret memo dated Jan. 28, 2010, discussed a biannual counterintelligence meeting "to review current threat levels and countermeasures." It says that the embassy faced a high espionage threat and that officials discussed the need for strict security policies, including in the use of BlackBerry phones.

The memo said U.S. officials believed tht Venezuelan intelligence agencies "are controlled by the Cuban Intelligence Service" and that they "have the capability, means and desire to monitor and target Embassy staff."

In other released documents, U.S. diplomats said they believed there are leftist rebels in Cuba belonging to the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC. And they said that in one private conversation in November 2009, Brazilian Defense Minister Nelson Jobim "all but acknowledged presence of the FARC in Venezuela."American diplomats also attempted to provide a detailed portrait of Chavez's personality and motivations. One 2004 confidential cable reported on a conversation with Chavez's former lover Herma Marksman.

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"Marksman stated that Chavez is loyal to no one and does not have true friends. If he has a problem, he will only confide in his brother, Adan, whom she characterized as a communist, and Cuban leader Fidel Castro," the cable said.