Netflix's latest dramatic thriller, Wasp Network, tells the true story of René González (Edgar Ramírez), a member of the espionage group dubbed the Cuban Five or the Wasp Network. The movie follows González's sudden dispatch to America, work infiltrating and then sabotaging a Cuban-American group working against Fidel Castro, and eventual 1998 arrest. More than the inner workings of the Cuban Five, though, it's González's complicated, beautiful relationship with with Olga Salanueva (Penélope Cruz), his wife he leaves behind in Havana, that gives the film emotional weight. Wasp Network tells an epic tale, one that spans eight years, but the couple's real story continued after González's arrest — and González and Salanueva are still together today.
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In Wasp Network, Salanueva initially feels betrayed by her husband's decision to up and leave their family with no warning. Though she's in pain, she stays loyal and trusts González: when friends and neighbors who don't know the full story begin labeling him as a traitor, Salanueva bears the responsibility of defending him back home. After Salanueva learns that her husband went undercover and is actually considered a national hero, she and her daughter move to Miami, but just a few years later, González is arrested by the FBI.
Following the events of Wasp Network, the real Salanueva stayed married to González. In 2000, she was also arrested in the U.S. "The real objective of my detention was to pressure René into signing a confession prepared by the Florida District Attorney in which he would declare himself guilty and testify against the other defendants," Salanueva wrote in Letters of Love and Hope, a 2005 book she co-authored with the wives of the other Cuban Five members. Salanueva was arrested after three months, but then sent back to Cuba for good.
In 2011, González became the first of the Cuban Five to be released from jail. He served 13 years of his 15-year sentence, but was told he must remain in the U.S. for a three-year probation period. At the time, Salanueva, who was still living in Cuba and wasn't permitted a U.S. visa, spoke out and demanded that González be allowed to go back to Cuba. "In U.S. territory, René is in danger," she told Reuters. "René is a man who has served his time. He has a right to go home, and his home is Cuba." González eventually returned to Cuba in 2013.
To this day, Salanueva continues to fight for the people of Cuba and advocate for her husband. In 2018, she even logged onto Facebook to express disappointment that two members of the Wasp Network were nominated for Cuba's National Assembly, but her husband was not. "Three of the five were left out," Salanueva wrote. "This represents, in my opinion, a great injustice against the five heroes of the Republic of Cuba." If you'd like to keep up with her, Salanueva also uses Twitter to speak up on current issues in Havana.
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