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AMERICAN MORNING
Held in Cuba
Aired June 25, 2003 - 09:32 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Three people from Miami being held in Havana, possibly on suspicion of spying.
Lucia Newman tracking down the story live in Havana with more on what has been happening right now with the Cardosa family.
Lucia, hello. Good morning there.
LUCIA NEWMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Bill.
Well, one of the most alarming aspects of the story from the point of view from the family is that the U.S. government can't do very much about this. In fact, although Mr. And Mrs. Cardoso are residents, permanent residents of Miami and U.S. taxpayers, they are not U.S. citizens. So legally, the U.S. government cannot demand consular access to see them in prison.
Now they are being held also with another brother who is a resident here of Cuba, of Camaway (ph). The Cardoso family, we are told by a sister who arrived in Havana early this morning on the train to see them at an interrogation center here in Havana, she tells us they were detained on the eighth of April on their way back to the United States with their two young children, 7 and 15. They were held and accused, according to her, of espionage. They were apparently carrying a letter which authorities here found suspicious. They were held for about 71 days, Bill, in Camaway, which is in the center of Cuba, and then last Thursday, they were brought here to Havana, to the main interrogation center of Cuba's state security police.
Now, Mr. and Mrs. Cardoso's sister tells us that they have not had any access to an attorney, and that they probably won't for quite sometime, because in cases of this type, Cuban law says that until prosecution has made their case, they can be deprived of a lawyer until almost before they go to trial -- Bill.
HEMMER: Interesting development. Lucia Newman, thanks, on top of it in Havana. More on the same story with Daryn.
NEWMAN: Yes, in fact, Bill, we have two of Maria Cardoso's children with us, Lizandra Fernandez and Ruben Manzo. They are our guests now from Miami.
Good morning. Thank you for being with us.
Lizandra, let me go ahead and start with you. You were on this trip when your mother was arrested. Can you tell us how these events unfolded? LIZANDRA FERNANDEZ, MOTHER IN CUBAN PRISON: We were just coming back. Everything was OK. And then all of a sudden, they took my mom, saying nothing to me, letting me know nothing. I didn't know what was going on for about, for, like, three hours.
KAGAN: You were in the airport, right?
FERNANDEZ: Yes.
KAGAN: And at what point were you able to talk with your mom?
FERNANDEZ: About three hours later.
KAGAN: And what did she tell you?
FERNANDEZ: That she didn't know what was happening, but that everything was going to be OK, and I asked them before they took me to my aunt's house back, and they told me they were going to be OK, but they were going to come back home, you know, the same day, which didn't happen.
KAGAN: Clearly, things are not OK, and she's still in custody with other members of your family. At what point, and who made the decision for you to come back to the U.S. with your little sister?
FERNANDEZ: It was my aunt. She was moving around, trying to see how, and me and my little sister came back, because we were sick over there, and they were not allowing us to come back for, like, two weeks.
KAGAN: How long have you been back now?
FERNANDEZ: About two months already.
KAGAN: And how much contact have you been able to have with your mom since you last saw her at the airport?
FERNANDEZ: None. I only saw her once before I came.
KAGAN: Before you came back to the U.S.?
FERNANDEZ: Yes.
KAGAN: Ruben, let's bring you in here now. What kind of efforts, and it sounds like it's so frustrating that the family's trying to bring attention to this, but to get the U.S. government involved?
RUBEN MANZO, MOTHER IN CUBAN PRISON: Well, we're going to, you know, now we're trying to do everything we can, because, you know, that's my mama over there. You know, we was waiting, you know, to -- yesterday, we couldn't (UNINTELLIGIBLE). because we was thinking like, it's nothing against her, but, you know, but she was in prison. That's why I was waiting to see if they let them go to come back to the United States, but they didn't do it. So that's why we couldn't hold no more, because we're going, you know, that's my two sisters, and I'm the big brother, so that's too much for me.
KAGAN: Understandable. When the U.S. government says we feel for you, we're sorry, but your mother is not a U.S. citizen, there's really nothing we can do, what's your reaction to that?
FERNANDEZ: It's really sad.
MANZO: Very sad.
FERNANDEZ: Because I have a little sister who is suffering from this. And so am I. It's horrible. You know, the whole family.
KAGAN: And so what's the next step now for your family?
FERNANDEZ: To see what we could do, so she'll come back.
MANZO: We're going to do whatever we can do.
FERNANDEZ: Whatever we can.
KAGAN: And you're hoping by publicizing her flight and talking about it that, it will put some pressure on the Cuban government?
FERNANDEZ: Hopefully.
MANZO: That's what we think.
KAGAN: What kind of support are you getting from the Cuban- American community there in South Florida?
MANZO: My uncle spoke to (UNINTELLIGIBLE) brother, he going to have a meeting today, you know, to talk about this.
KAGAN: Well, we wish you well in trying to find freedom for your mother and the other members of your family. It must be a very scary and uncertain time for her children, for Maria Cardoso's children. Thank you for joining us this morning. We wish you well.
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