"Look at the impact on the Cuban (American) community: he's got Cuban groups fighting against each other, he's got the Cuban community criticizing the administration," said Otto Reich, President George W. Bush's chief advisor on Latin America.
"This was a million-dollar operation; you cannot buy that kind of discord," Reich told AFP.
The administration has come under criticism from prominent Cuban-American leaders for sending back to Cuba a dozen people intercepted at sea after allegedly hijacking a Cuban government boat in a bid to flee the communist-run island last month.
"I feel some of the incidents recently do not pass the smell test of being genuine," Reich told AFP, largely in reference to the apparent hijacking. "I think that the Cuban (American) community is the target of Castro."***