Judge bars key fax in ex-CIA agent's perjury trial

EL PASO, Texas -- Jurors considering perjury charges against an ex-CIA agent won't be allowed to see a fax that prosecutors say links him to a series of 1997 hotel bombings in Cuba, a federal judge ruled Wednesday in a potential blow to the government's case.

The judge decided there wasn't enough evidence tying Luis Posada Carriles to the fax that arrived in Guatemala in 1997. Prosecutors argue that the document indicates Posada was discussing payments for the bombings.

Posada, 83, was born in Cuba and spent years crisscrossing Latin America as an anti-communist militant whose activities were largely backed by the U.S. government. But he is now charged with obstruction, perjury and immigration fraud, accused of lying during citizenship hearings in Texas about how he sneaked into the U.S. in 2005.

Posada also is accused of failing to disclose his alleged involvement in the bombings that killed an Italian tourist and of using a Guatemalan passport with a false name.

On Wednesday, Cuban-American engineer Antonio "Tony" Alvarez testified that he opened an office in Guatemala for a Florida energy firm in 1997. He said he met Posada and shared an office with two of his associates, who prosecutors said were co-conspirators.

"He told me he was a freedom fighter and he was working to free Cuba," Alvarez, 75, recalled of his first meeting with Posada.

Alvarez also told the jury how he dated Fidel Castro's half-sister for several years, but fled Cuba in 1961. Posada is considered Castro's personal nemesis.

U.S. District Judge Kathleen Cardone dismissed the jury before prosecutors asked Alvarez about the fax so she could decide whether the evidence would be admissible.

Alvarez told Cardone that a fax arrived at the Guatemala office, and was signed by "Solo," an alias used by Posada that was based on the spy character from a 1970s American television show. Alvarez said the signature contained a swoosh flourish that Posada also used to sign his name.

He said the fax was a hand-written note in Spanish noting a wire transfer worth $3,200 from New Jersey to pay a "hotel bill." The writer also complained about a lack of press coverage, saying if there wasn't more attention in U.S. newspapers that no more money would be paid for the services rendered.

Alvarez said he didn't know who sent it, but that he drafted a letter to Guatemalan authorities alerting them that it might detail illegal activity. When local authorities did nothing, he turned it over to the FBI.

Prosecutors allege that Posada sent the fax from El Salvador to his co-conspirators, Alaverez's office-mates.