Ana Belen Montes' Acts of Treachery

724 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Us Policy And Communism Through The Years

(Potts)

Ana Belen Montes – The “Queen of Cuba”
Ana Montes blindsided the intelligence community with shameless acts of treachery. She was the shining star of the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), yet, in her secret life, her true fervor showed as she was working for Fidel Castro and the Cuban Intelligence Services. She listened to coded messages over shortwave radio, passed secret files to handlers in busy public locales, and snuck into the Communist-country adorned with a fake passport. “Your honor, I engaged in the activity that brought me before you because I obeyed my conscience rather than the law. I believe our government's policy towards Cuba is cruel and unfair, profoundly unneighborly, and I felt morally obligated to help the island defend itself from our efforts to impose our values and our political system on it.” (Montes, 2012) Ana Montes gave this statement to the judge who presided over her case. She showed no remorse, no contrition, and no regret for her actions through her career as an agent for the Cuban Intelligence Services. The purpose of this brief is to explain the life, career working for the United States (U.S.) Government and the Cuban government, the resulting downfall, and sentencing of DIA Analyst General Schedule (GS)-14 Ana Belen Montes.
Born in West Germany, on a U.S. Army base on 28 February 1957, Ana Montes was the oldest child of Emilia and Alberto Montes. Alberto Montes was a respected Army doctor, moved his family often, due to the assignments he received. Ana Montes moved from West Germany throughout the Midwest, and finally settled in Towson, Maryland (MD). After her father separated from the U.S. Army, he opened a private psychiatric practice and his wife, Emilia, became heavi...

... middle of paper ...

...elligence Service had an agent on the inside of the U.S. Government. Montes quickly became DIA’s principal analyst for El Salvador and Nicaragua, and later named the DIA’s top political and military analyst for Cuba. Not only was she one of the U.S. government’s most adept analysts of Cuban military affairs, but she also proved proficient at contouring U.S. policy toward the Cuba itself. The Cubans started slowly, asking for translations and bits of harmless intelligence that might assist causes that would appeal to Montes’ positions and views. Montes traveled to Cuba under the DIA’s Exceptional Analyst Program to study the Cuban military. Following these trips, Montes was exclusively tasked to brief the Joint Chief of Staff, the National Security Council, and even the President of Nicaragua on the “limited capabilities” of the Cuban Military. (Carmichael, 2007)

Show More
Related

  • Chemist Jose Mario Molina and the Discovery of How Chlorofluorocarbons Affect the Ozone Layer

    581 Words  | 2 Pages

    Molina was born on March 19, 1943, in Mexico City. Molina was interested in science since a very young age that he created his own and personal chemistry lab in a bathroom at his house. Molina's aunt was a chemistry and figured out her nephew’s great interest in science. She was a key figure in his life because she helped him to perform chemistry experiments that weren't taught at his school. He completed his studies in Mexico and Germany before moving to the United States to achieve an advance degree in physical chemistry.

    Read More

  • Did Yellow Journalism Cause the Spanish American War?

    520 Words  | 2 Pages

    In 1898, three big events got in the way of any peaceful resolution in Cuba. The New York Journal received a letter from the Spanish minister in Washington, Enrique Dupuy de Lo...

    Read More

  • The Heroism of Minerva Mirabal Who was the Most Couragous

    807 Words  | 2 Pages

    risked their lives to gain their freedom. And even though all of the Mirabal sisters were involved,

    Read More

  • Maria Teresa Mirabal Character Analysis

    720 Words  | 2 Pages

    Maria Teresa Mirabal, also known as Mate was born on October 15, 1935. She is the youngest out of all the Mirabal sisters and we mostly get to know her from her journal entries. Mate received her diary from Minerva on the day of her first communion. At school, people would make fun of her for having the diary and would steal it from her. Mate used to think differently about Trujillo as a little girl, she thought he was someone that everyone loved and should be respected. On Benefactor’s Day, she wanted to give Trujillo her best wishes, "I am taking these few minutes to wish El Jefe Happy Benefactor's Day with all my heart. I feel so lucky that we have him for a president." (37) Mate’s sister Minerva starts to get in trouble at school for leaving

    Read More

  • The Reasons the United States Entered the Spanish American War

    960 Words  | 2 Pages

    Long before our involvement, the Cubans had been leading revolts and revolutions against Spain. The Spanish empire considered Cuba to be its jewel, not only for its beauty but also for its economics. Cuba’s main source of income was from its expansive sugar plantations that greatly contributed to its wealth (more so to the Spanish Empires wealth). Ironically, even due to the high regard to Cuba, it was neglected and oppressed, as the Spanish Empire began its decline in the middle of the nineteenth century. The Empire was falling due to it slowly loosing its control over its territories, closer to the US then to Spain, because of a lack of industrializing. The Spanish would claim ownership, but never contribute back to their land. This opened the door for what is known as the 10-year war and the struggle for Cuban Independence. The United States never got directly involved, but it sympathized greatly with the Cuban’s cause, for ...

    Read More

  • BAY OF PIGS

    2847 Words  | 6 Pages

    Cuba and the U.S.: The Tangled Relationship. New York: The Foreign Policy Association, 1971. Flaherty, Tom.

    Read More

  • Bay Of Pigs Summary

    1887 Words  | 4 Pages

    The story of the failed invasion of Cuba at the Bay of Pigs , located on the southern coast of Cuba about 97 miles southeast of Havana, was one of mismanagement, poor judgment , and stupidity ( " Bay Pigs " 378). The blame for the failed invasion falls directly on the CIA (Central Intelligence Agency) and a young man by the name of President John F. Kennedy. The whole purpose of the invasion was a communist assault Cuba and Fidel Castro ended . Ironically , thirty nine years after the Bay of Pigs , Fidel Castro remains in power . First, we need to analyze why the invasion happened and then why it did not work .

    Read More

  • Americans and Cubans Approaches to the Platt Amendment

    1533 Words  | 4 Pages

    The U.S.’s relationship with Cuba has been arduous and stained with mutual suspicion and obstinateness, and the repeated U.S. interventions. The Platt agreement and Castro’s rise to power, served to introduce the years of difficulty to come, while, the embargo the U.S. placed on Cuba, enforced the harsh feelings. The two major events that caused the most problems were the Bays of Pigs and Cuban Missile Crisis.

    Read More

  • Iran-Contra Affair

    1419 Words  | 3 Pages

    America had begun to indulge in the unilateral environment afforded to it during the Cold War. As the Soviet Union began to collapse in the 1980s, the United States was on its way to becoming a solo super power. This acquisition of complete power would inevitably lead the country into new problems, including those foreign and domestic. One of the main issues that came around in the 1980s for the Unites States was the Iran-Contra Affair, which involved the Reagan Administration. With the United States readily inserting influence across the globe, the Iran-Contra Affair proved how foreign intervention can lead to scandal and disgrace in the modern world. Along with detrimental scandals, the Iran-Contra Affair showed how America’s imperialistic behavior in South America was beginning to catch up. In order to remain a dominant influence in South America, the United States had no choice but to topple governments that did not align with American ideology. Using guerillas like the Contras insinuates America’s cornerstone of doing what is necessary in order to satisfy foreign interest.

    Read More

  • CIA’s 50 Years of Corrupt Drug Trafficking

    3050 Words  | 7 Pages

    The CIA’s 50-year history of smuggling drugs into America is generating hatred for the United States throughout the world. Like Pontius Pilate, CIA washes their hands of the human tragedies and the corruption of government offices. They do this by remaining and by refusing to recognize the evidence, supporting corruption. For the past 50 years, the CIA has abused its power by deliberately drugging and corrupting America; and therefore should be prosecuted.

    Read More

  • Should the United States Lift the Embargo on Cuba?

    1425 Words  | 3 Pages

    The United States embargo of Cuba has its roots planted in 1960, 53 years ago, when “the United States Congress authorized President Eisenhower to cut off the yearly quota of sugar to be imported from Cuba under the Sugar act of 1948… by 95 percent” (Hass 1998, 37). This was done in response to a growing number of anti-American developments during the height of the cold war, including the “expropriation of United States-owned properties on the island… [and] the Soviet Union [agreeing] to purchase sugar from Cuba and to supply Cuba with crude oil” (Hass 1998, 37). Bad sentiments continued to pile up as Cuba imposed restrictions on the United States Embassy and especially when, after the United States “officially broke off diplomatic ties with Cuba, and travel by United States citizens to Cuba was forbidden ... Castro openly proclaimed his revolution to be ‘socialist’” (Hass 1998, 38). The day after this, the Bay of Pigs invasion occurred, but it failed in its job to topple Castro (Hass 1998, 38). Left with no diplomatic options and a failed military attempt, the United States decided that the only way to end Castro’s socialist regime was to sever all ties, and from 1961 to 1996, a series of acts were passed prohibiting the majority of trade and interaction with Cuba. (Hass 1998, 38).

    Read More

  • The Perfect Failure by Trumbull Higgins

    1357 Words  | 3 Pages

    Trumbull Higgins' book is a fascinating and intricate read. His account of the process that led to the Bay of Pigs invasion is thorough and engaging. The interviews and direct quotations from the individuals involved provide the reader with a first-hand account of the information. At times, it feels as though the reader is in the room, listening in on discussions with these interesting and powerful figures. Higgins' writing is engaging as he describes the Cuban invasion, from its inception to the implementation of the operation, and ultimately, the results.

    Read More

  • Operation Northwoods False Flag

    1659 Words  | 4 Pages

    “An idea they had was to fly low level U-2 flights over Cuba, with the intention of having one shot down as a pretext for a war” (Ruppe). The joints chiefs had a plan to propose in using the potential death of astronaut John Gleen during the first attempt to put an American into orbit as a false pretext for war with Cuba. Other plans were discussed, one of the ideas the U.S. had was to have friendly Cuban agents start riots near the Guantanamo Base’s main gate to start fires by blowing ammunition up; which would soon spread across the area. “They were planning to land Cuban immigrants that seemed to be friendly in uniform to help stage an authentic look in an attack.” Another plan they had was to burn an aircraft on base to make it look like the aircraft was being sabotaged. Which would put Cuba in a very bad situation and make Cuba look bad. Which is why the U.S. makes these plans just to get the power and control they want. The government had an idea to take down the Cuban government by hijacking aircrafts, sink boats, and use bombs. “Putting plastic bombs in spots that would not injure or kill anyone; but maybe they would have” (Grabianowski). Basically uses fake bombs and fake victims to make it seem that something really did happen; which would be turned around and be blamed on Cuba. “They even conducted an idea to have funerals for mock victims, taking the charade to the next level” (Vatu). See the government can be dirty to get what they

    Read More

  • A Brief History Of U.S.-Cuba Relations

    2889 Words  | 6 Pages

    On this day 191 years ago John Quincy Adams expressed his prediction for the future of Cuban-American contact. The Cuban wars of independence were only 15 years away from his prediction when he estimated. These independence wars continue to influence Cuba’s cultural and political attitude toward Europe and the United States; This in part due to the externalities involved in the remodeling of social structure in the aftermath of the revolution. The intentions and motives of each faction: rebels, United States government, Spanish government, United States public, and the Cuban public, varied widely to an extend that caused even more concern in the future. Depending on the point of view of an outsider the situation in Cuba seemed to be a continuation of revolution...

    Read More

  • Fidel Castro's Role in the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962

    1817 Words  | 4 Pages

    The tropical island of Cuba had been an object of empire for the United States. Before the Missile Crisis, the relationship between Castro and the US were strained by the Bay of Pigs occurrence in 1961. This was where counterrevolutionary Cubans were American funded and tried to invade Cuba and overthrow Castro. However, the counterrevolutionaries failed. Castro then found an alliance with the Soviet Union and an increase of distrust that Castro had on the US. On January 18, 1962, the United States’ Operation Mongoose was learned. The objective would be “to help the Cubans overthrow the Communist regime” so that the US could live in peace. Consequently, Castro informed the Soviet Union that they were worried about a direct invasion on Cuba, thus longed for protection against th...

    Read More

More about Ana Belen Montes' Acts of Treachery

Open Document