‘Castro’s Spies’ (review)

Directed and produced by Ollie Aslin and Gary Lennon, Castro’s Spies tells the story of the Cuban 5, dramatized in the 2019 film, Wasp Network starring Penelope Cruz, Edgar Ramirez, and Ana de Armas The five were Cuban intelligence officers, spies to you and me and the US government, who assumed the identities of long dead US citizens of Latin American descent, and carried out operations on behalf of the government of Cuba.

If you are thinking this sounds a lot like The Americans, you aren’t too far off.

In fact, the spies whose stories are told in this documentary all grew up watching a Cuban television show called En Silencio Ha Tenido Que Ser, which translates to “In Silence it had to be Done.” It tells the story of a Cuban spy undertaking missions against the CIA, all while changing names and disguises.

Makes you wonder what Joe Weisberg was watching as a kid.

But it also answers a question I have always had, I wonder if real spies were influenced to become one because of the fictional adventures of one.

In this case at least, it’s true.

But unlike the big screen fictional spies, these live much more mundane lives.

Sent to the US to infiltrate anti-Castro groups, they do this and manage to find low level jobs, one at of all places a US military base in the Florida Keys. It’s a time of great tension when they arrive, with Cuban American groups undertaking what are for all intents and purposes terrorist acts against the Cuban people, and the ever present fear of US military action against Cuba.

The five quickly ingratiate themselves in the Cuban American community, using tales of daring escapes from Cuba to build their bona fides. Nothing like stealing a plane and leaving your unknowing wife behind to set up a great defection story.

Now I am no fan of the Cuban regime and the danger I find with some documentaries are the all too visible biases of the filmmakers. And while the sympathies of the filmmakers are there to be seen, it’s never heavy handed. They leave it up to you to decide who you feel the good guys and the bad guys are.

The five are eventually caught, and imprisoned for their actions. It’s no secret to say they get out and return as heroes to Cuba.

Would it be a good spy tale if they hadn’t? But you are left to wonder, was it all worth it?

Leaving their families behind, risking the arrests that eventually came, and the time in jail, for what remains the status quo.

However the way the story is told, it doesn’t really matter. It’s the study of what people will do when they feel their country is threatened.

And that is a universal story we all can relate to.

*****
Directed & Produced by Gary Lennon and Ollie Aslin
Featuring René González, Gerardo Hernández, Fernando González, Ramón Labañino,
Antonio Guerrero, Jose Basulto, Guy Lewis, Adriana Peréz, Olil Horowitz,, Paul Mckenna,
Jack R. Blumenfeld, Ricardo Alarcón, Keith Bolender,
Fidel Castro, Barack Obama, Bill Clinton