In
Havana in the early 1990s, pilot René González leaves his wife Olga and daughter Irma in
Cuba to start a new life in the
United States. He secretly flies to
Miami on a stolen plane (
Antonov An-2). González soon joins a group of Cuban exiles and
Castro opponents,
Brothers to the Rescue, who operate from
Florida and act against the Cuban government through military operations and also aim to disintegrate the Cuban tourism industry. They even fly over Cuban airspace to deliver flyers. A Cuban secret organization named la
Red Avispa, or the "Wasp Network," is directed by Gerardo Hernández, also known as Manuel Viramontez. The
Cuban American National Foundation (CANF) and Brothers to the Rescue not only launch propaganda brochures about Havana, and lead
balseros from Cuba to the Florida shores, but also smuggle drugs and weapons. They also conduct terrorist activities in Cuba organised by
Luis Posada Carriles. In 1996, two
Cessna Skymasters from Brothers to the Rescue are
shot down by Cuban
MiGs over the
Caribbean Sea, killing four aviators. Juan Pablo Roque is another Cuban pilot who
defects by swimming to
Guantanamo Bay Naval Base and asking for
political asylum. He arrives in Miami, and works as an
FBI informant in addition to piloting for the Brothers. He buys expensive clothes, a
Rolex, and settles down and marries Ana Margarita Martínez. After few years flies back to Havana making it very clear that he was a
mole who had infiltrated anti-Castro associations. After months and many bureaucratic procedures, Olga and her daughter are allowed to leave Cuba and rejoin René in Miami. But before their travel, Viramontez informs Olga that her husband is not a
gusano (Spanish for worm) or a traitor to the Castro regime but indeed is a hero and a
Cuban intelligence agent who infiltrated the CANF, which she must keep secret for the security of all of them and the Wasp Network. In
El Salvador in 1997, Raúl Cruz León is recruited by anti-Castroists to place
C-4 bombs in Havana hotels. An Italian tourist dies and the same day he is caught by the Cuban police. After being caught the organization abandons him to his fate. Finally, René González, Manuel Viramontez and the entire Wasp Network are captured by the
FBI, all face charges of
conspiracy to commit
espionage, conspiracy to commit
murder, acting as an
agent of a foreign government, and other illegal activities in the
United States and face long prison terms if found guilty in the
Federal Court of
judge Joan A. Lenard. In an interview
Fidel Castro defends the actions of the agents and their program. Despite the fact that the FBI offers to reduce his sentence in exchange for information, René refuses to cooperate.
Aftermath: • Olga Salanueva-González was deported to Cuba after 3 months in prison. She was later reunited with her daughters Irma and Ivette and campaigned for the liberation of her husband. • René González served 12 years in prison. He was released on 7 October 2011. • Gerardo Hernández aka Manuel Viramontez received 2 life sentences. He was released as a part of a spy swap after only serving 15 years. • Ana Margarita Martínez sued the
Cuban government. She was awarded $27 million in punitive damages. To this day, she has collected only $200,000. • Juan Pablo Roque was never a pilot again. Facing money problems, he sold his
Rolex on
eBay. • Raúl Cruz León is still serving a 30-year sentence. • Luis Posada Carriles died in 2018, aged 90. He was never prosecuted for the
1997 Cuba hotel bombings. ==Cast==