Woman accused of being a secret agent for Cuba freed on bond

Article published Jun 21, 2006
Jun 21, 2006

Woman accused of being a secret agent for Cuba freed on bond

The Associated Press
A woman accused along with her husband of being a secret agent for Cuba
has been freed on bond after spending five months in jail.

Elsa Alvarez left the Federal Detention Center in Miami on Monday after
family members put up their homes as collateral for her $400,000 bond. A
U.S. district judge on Friday granted Alvarez conditional release,
writing that the risk of Alvarez fleeing is small.

She had previously been held without bond. As a condition of her
release, Alvarez must be electronically monitored, has a 9 p.m. curfew
and cannot leave Miami without permission.

Alvarez and her husband Carlos, a Florida International University
professor, are charged with failing to register as agents of a foreign
government.

Prosecutors contend they spied for Cuban President Fidel Castro's
government for decades, mainly reporting on activities of Miami's large
Cuban-American exile community and U.S. political developments. They
were arrested in January and have pleaded not guilty to the charges.

Alvarez's lawyer, Jane Moscowitz, told the South Florida Sun-Sentinel
that her client, who suffers from fibromyalgia, a chronic pain illness,
was resting at home after being released.

A message left early Wednesday for the U.S. Attorney's Office in Miami
was not immediately returned.

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Information from: South Florida Sun-Sentinel,

http://www.gainesville.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060621/APN/606210582