YESTERDAY afternoon, while thoroughly analyzing the speech delivered by Obama at the Islamic University of Cairo, certain cables from the news agencies arrived with the strange information that two retirees aged over 70 had been arrested on charges of having spied for the Cuban government for the past 30 years. Almost every major Western news agency – eight in total – was circulating the news.

The people accused are Walter Kendall Myers and his wife Gwendolyn Steingraber Myers. The report added that the former had worked as a specialist on European affairs and that in 1995 – 14 years ago – they had traveled to Cuba, and were received by me during their trip. During that period, I have met with thousands of different U.S. citizens for diverse reasons, either individually or in groups; sometimes, there were groups numbering several hundred, such as the students who traveled to Cuba on the Semester at Sea Project, so for that reason I could hardly remember details of a meeting with two individuals. Now I realize why George W. Bush prohibited the cruise ship students from continuing to visit Cuba. They talked with me for many hours, despite the fact that they came from upper middle-class families.

The accusation states that the couple received many awards, but at the same time acknowledges that they never sought money nor personal benefits.

I for one can confirm that, as a matter of principle, we have never tortured anyone nor have we paid anyone to obtain any type of information. Those who, in one way or another, have helped to protect the lives of Cuban citizens against terrorist plots and conspiracies to assassinate their leaders, out of the many perpetrated by several US administrations, did so as the moral imperative of their own consciousness and, in my opinion, deserve all the honors in the world.

What is curious is the fact that this news has come to light 24 hours after the defeat suffered by U.S. diplomacy at the OAS General Assembly.

It is really strange that if those people were under control, given that FBI agents deceived them by passing themselves off as Cuban spies, why weren’t they arrested before and why have they done so at this particular time?

Now will begin the game of supposed justice against two people who have been morally shredded beforehand by accusations that will predetermine the conduct of the jury which will have to decide whether they are guilty or innocent. They will definitely not receive the kind treatment dispensed to the terrorists recruited by the government of that country to destroy the Cubana airliner with all those aboard and to commit horrific crimes against our people, and who, moreover, violated U.S. laws by committing many despicable acts of terrorism in their own country.

A campaign has already been launched against the married couple; they are being portrayed as traitors who could be sentenced to 35 years imprisonment, a sentence they will have to serve until they are more than 100 years old. The prosecutors will be able to utilize their traditional maneuvers in their quest for political goals.

All of this mess has been created after Obama took office as president of the United States. Perhaps the arrest was influenced not only by the tremendous setback suffered at San Pedro Sula, but also by the news that there have been some contacts between the governments of the United States and Cuba on important issues of common interest.

According to a news report from ANSA, Walter Kendall Myers stated that he tried to be "very prudent" on picking up or transmitting secrets to Cuba.

Other articles refer to a diary found in Gwendolyn’s possession. If all of this were true, I could not but admire her selfless and courageous behavior towards Cuba.

The confrontation with the United States is of an ideological nature and has nothing to do with the security of that country.

However, yesterday another three news agency cables released information that does have a lot do with the political morale and the security of the United States:

The AFP agency reported that a new argument occurred on Friday when several Democrat legislators accused Republican opponents of revealing secret information on torture techniques, divulged during an in camera Congress hearing.

The report adds that the representative from Illinois, Jan Schakowsky, pointed out that everybody in the commission understands what a private hearing means.

She further stated in a communiqué that it was irresponsible for members of this commission to leave the confidential meeting before it ended and go straight to speak to the press.

The AP news agency reported that federal attorneys had charged a man for making threats against President Barack Obama after he allegedly told a bank employee in Utah that his mission was to kill the president.

Last Thursday, the Salt Lake Tribune daily published on its website that Daniel James Murray had confessed his intentions to a bank cashier on May 27 while withdrawing $13,000 from a bank account.

According to the newspaper, nobody knows where the accused is. A document submitted yesterday to the justice authorities states that Murray is from New York and had very recently traveled to California, Utah, Georgia, Oklahoma, and possibly Texas.

The newspaper notes that the Secret Service says that Murray has at least eight registered firearms, and adds that Malcolm Wiley, a Secret Service spokesman in Washington, declined to make any comment on the matter to the Associated Press.

According to the AFP news agency, sensitive U.S. military technologies required for the manufacture of nuclear weapons can easily be acquired in the United States and exported illegally, as the Government Accountability Office (GAO) has warned.

A recent report published by that institution states that, by using a front company and false identities, the GAO was able to buy sensitive products such as infrared goggles used by U.S. troops in Iraq and Afghanistan to identify targets at night, electrodes to detonate nuclear weapons, electronic sensors used in the manufacture of homemade bombs and chips from tele-guided missiles.

Does not that immense and sophisticated arsenal put at the disposition of the market place the world on the verge of a precipice?

Doesn’t the Cuban espionage comic strip appear totally ridiculous to you all?