The interesting thing about the Myers case is not that he was a spy for Cuba recruited in the State Department but that the Cubans ''planted'' him in that agency.

Three decades ago, they asked him to return to State, from which he had separated, for the purpose of passing to Cuba secret information about any topic that might have strategic value and could be utilized by, sold to or swapped with countries such as the Soviet Union or Iran.

What the Cubans did at the State Department and the Pentagon they have no doubt replicated or attempted to replicate at the CIA, the FBI, the Army, the Department of Justice or any other administrative, political or media organization where it is convenient to have a good ear capable of collecting sensitive information or lips capable of subtly defending the interests of the Castro brothers' government.

Moreover, I do not doubt -- and surely Simmons doesn't, either -- that the Cuban services, directly or indirectly, have made efforts to ''plant'' or ''cultivate'' someone like Myers inside the legislative branch of the U.S. government.