U.S. couple accused of spying for Cuba

An espionage saga that involved a well-liked teacher of U.S. diplomats, the illicit use of shopping carts and a much publicised denunciation of the US-UK special relationship took a new turn Friday when the United States Department of State accused a former employee of working as a Cuban spy for nearly 30 years.

The indictment of Walter Kendall Myers, who was given "top secret" security clearance in 1985 and went on to work part-time for the State Department's Bureau of Intelligence and Research from 1988 and full time from 2001, followed a three-year investigation by the FBI and the state department.

The accusations against the Washington-based 72-year-old - and the length of time for which he allegedly worked for Fidel Castro's government - come as a reminder of the U.S. and Cuba's long history of mutual antagonism.

The Obama administration is seeking to normalize with Havan, having agreed at the weekend to begin high-level talks on immigration and joining other Organization of American States members this week to end Cuba;s 47-year suspension from the group.

During his career, Mr. Myers worked for the State Department's Foreign Service Institute where he was a popular teacher, remembered by students as dishevelled but with one expensive taste - a liking for sailing.

On Friday, the Department of Justice described the charges against Mr. Myers as "incredibly serious." It added that evidence incriminating Mr. Myers, known as "agent 202," and his wife, Gwendolyn Steingraber Myers, "agent 123" and "agent E-634," was obtained after a sting operation.

After an FBI source posing as a Cuban agent congratulated Mr. Myers on his birthday and offered him a cigar, the two Myers offered to provide information on this April's Summit of the Americas in Trinidad and Tobago.

According to the affidavit, Mrs. Myers said her favorite way of passing information to Cuban intelligence agents involved swapping shopping carts in a grocery store because it was "easy enough to do."

Mr. Myers won a moment of international prominence in 2006, when, in his capacity as an expert on Europe, he lambasted Britain's support of George W. Bush and the Iraq War while still on the State Department payroll.

The U.S. State Department alleges that after first contacted by Cuban intelligence agents in 1978 and visited by an official from the Cuban Mission in New York City, the Myers liaised with spies in Mexico, Trinidad, TObago, Argentina, Brazil, Ecuador, Jamaica and New York City.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has ordered a comprehensive review of the case and policy on issuing security clearances. ft.com

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