- Matt Murphy
- BBC News
The espionage activity of Anna Monti was not materially motivated
US authorities have released Anna Monti, one of the most notorious Cold War-era spies captured in the US, following serving more than 20 years in prison.
The woman, now 65, spent more than 20 years spying for Cuba while working as an analyst for the Defense Intelligence Agency.
Officials said following her arrest in 2001 that she almost completely revealed US intelligence operations on the island, while an official in the agency went on to say that she was one of the spies who caused the greatest damage among those arrested by the US authorities.
Michel Van Cleef, who was the head of the Counterintelligence Service during President George W. Bush’s presidency, told Congress in 2012 that Monty “revealed everything, practically everything regarding what we know regarding Cuba and how we operate on the island, and that made the Cuban authorities fully aware of what we know.” “And she was able to use that to her advantage. In addition, she was able to influence our assessments of the situation in Cuba in her conversations with her colleagues, and she also found a way to provide information to other powers.”
After her arrest, Monty was accused of revealing the identities of four American spies and revealing huge amounts of information.
She was sentenced to 25 years in prison and the judge who delivered the sentence accused her of “endangering the entire nation”.
Monti differs from other spies caught during the Cold War in that her motivations were ideological rather than material, and she agreed to work for Cuban intelligence in part because of her opposition to the policies of former President Ronald Reagan’s administration and its activities in Latin America.
According to one report, she was furious at US support for the Contras in Nicaragua, a right-wing group suspected of committing war crimes and other atrocities in the country.
She was first approached by a fellow student at Johns Hopkins University in 1984 following she expressed outrage over actions in Nicaragua, then introduced to a Cuban intelligence agent, and over a dinner in New York City she agreed to work to help Nicaragua through the Cubans, reportedly without any hesitation. In the intelligence report regarding its activity.
After traveling to Havana for training the following year, she joined the Defense Intelligence Agency, where she became a senior analyst for the Cuban government.
For regarding 20 years, she met with Cuban intelligence officers every few weeks at restaurants in Washington, D.C., and sent them coded messages via a walkie-talkie. It received the instructions via a shortwave radio transmitter.
She was arrested in September 2001 following US intelligence officials received information that a US government official had been spying for Cuba. One of the arresting officers said that she was calm and composed during the arrest.
Monty will remain under surveillance for another five years, and her online activity will be monitored. It will be prohibited to work in government agencies or contact foreign clients without permission.
Pete Lab, one of the FBI agents who arrested her, told CBS that he did not think she would try to contact the Cubans.
“She has brought the curtain down on that chapter in her life. Having done her job, I don’t expect her to risk her freedom,” he added.