Well well!

Two and a half years ago, we called for the head of Kendall Myers, a State Department analyst, after Dr. Myers criticized the governments and leaders of both Britain and the United States in regard to the Iraq war. The particular flashpoint was his statement that "the role of Britain acting as a bridge between Europe and America is disappearing before our eyes," and that, "in a certain sense," he "'hope[s] [Britain] break[s] it with us' because it was important for Britain to have stronger bonds with the EU." "If you work at that level for the government of the United States and you can't bear the policies enacted by our elected leaders, Dr. Myers," we urged, "you should do the honorable thing and quit." He didn't, and remained in situ until his retirement a year later.

I read with interest today, then, that Dr. Myers et ux. have been arrested and charged with spying for Cuba for nearly 30 years. The charges specify "conspiracy to act as illegal agents of the Cuban government, providing classified information to that government, and wire fraud." A "law enforcement official" told CNN that "the couple's primary motive was not money. The couple were 'true believers' in the Cuban system, the official said." My skepticism about reporting based on anonymous sources is rebutted by a diary entry by Myers, quoted in an affadavit filed with the charges:

The abuses of our system, the lack of decent medical system, the oil companies and their undisguised indifference to public needs, the complacency about the poor, the utter inability of those who are oppressed to recognize their own condition ... Have the Cubans given up their personal freedom to get material security? Nothing I have seen yet suggests that. I can see nothing of value that has been lost by the revolution. The revolution has released enormous potential and liberated the Cuban spirit.