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| U.S. spy freed by Cuba was longtime asset | U.S. spy freed by Cuba was longtime asset |
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| The Cuban government on Wednesday freed a U.S. spy whom President Obama described as one of most important intelligence agents that the United States has ever had in the Communist country and who helped unravel several long-running Cuban espionage operations. | The Cuban government on Wednesday freed a U.S. spy whom President Obama described as one of most important intelligence agents that the United States has ever had in the Communist country and who helped unravel several long-running Cuban espionage operations. |
| U.S. officials said the release of the spy, a native of Cuba who has not been publicly identified, was a major priority for the intelligence community as part of any deal with the Cubans. That deal, Obama said, also included the release of former U.S. aid worker Alan Gross by Cuba on humanitarian grounds and the exchange of three Cuban spies by the United States. | U.S. officials said the release of the spy, a native of Cuba who has not been publicly identified, was a major priority for the intelligence community as part of any deal with the Cubans. That deal, Obama said, also included the release of former U.S. aid worker Alan Gross by Cuba on humanitarian grounds and the exchange of three Cuban spies by the United States. |
| The choreographed releases ranked as one of the most significant spy swaps in recent memory. In 2010, the United States exchanged 10 “sleeper” agents with Russia in return for the release of several Russian nationals who had spied for the West. | |
| Little is known about the Cuban-born spy other than he had been imprisoned for nearly two decades and presumably had been working on behalf of the either the FBI or CIA long before that. | Little is known about the Cuban-born spy other than he had been imprisoned for nearly two decades and presumably had been working on behalf of the either the FBI or CIA long before that. |
| In a highly unusual disclosure, the Obama administration on Wednesday revealed specific operations that the spy had helped the U.S. penetrate, saying he provided critical information that led to the arrests of the so-called “Cuban Five”; of former State Department official Walter Kendall Myers and his wife Gwendolyn Steingraber Myers; and of the Defense Intelligence Agency’s top Cuba analyst, Ana Belen Montes. | In a highly unusual disclosure, the Obama administration on Wednesday revealed specific operations that the spy had helped the U.S. penetrate, saying he provided critical information that led to the arrests of the so-called “Cuban Five”; of former State Department official Walter Kendall Myers and his wife Gwendolyn Steingraber Myers; and of the Defense Intelligence Agency’s top Cuba analyst, Ana Belen Montes. |
| Although U.S. intelligence is believed to have significant spy operations in Cuba, the existence of a single asset who was instrumental to so many high-profile counterintelligence cases was previously unknown. | Although U.S. intelligence is believed to have significant spy operations in Cuba, the existence of a single asset who was instrumental to so many high-profile counterintelligence cases was previously unknown. |
| While U.S. officials say the spy was ranked among the United States’s best assets in Cuba, a former senior CIA official said there was another alongside him, an individual known as “Touchdown,” who defected in the late 1980s. Touchdown revealed that many of the CIA’s assets in Cuba were double agents. | While U.S. officials say the spy was ranked among the United States’s best assets in Cuba, a former senior CIA official said there was another alongside him, an individual known as “Touchdown,” who defected in the late 1980s. Touchdown revealed that many of the CIA’s assets in Cuba were double agents. |
| In the case of Myers, former intelligence officials said, the FBI had suspected for many years there was a mole in the State Department but did not have a name. | In the case of Myers, former intelligence officials said, the FBI had suspected for many years there was a mole in the State Department but did not have a name. |
| According to the Justice Department, Myers visited Cuba in 1978 and “declared his affinity for Fidel Castro and the Cuban government.” The following year, a Cuban intelligence officer recruited the husband and wife, marking the beginning of a fruitful relationship that lasted for decades as the couple provided “highly classified U.S. national defense information” to Cuba, according to the Justice Department. | According to the Justice Department, Myers visited Cuba in 1978 and “declared his affinity for Fidel Castro and the Cuban government.” The following year, a Cuban intelligence officer recruited the husband and wife, marking the beginning of a fruitful relationship that lasted for decades as the couple provided “highly classified U.S. national defense information” to Cuba, according to the Justice Department. |
| As part of its counterintelligence operations, the FBI launched in 2009 what is known in spy parlance as a “false flag operation,” believing the husband was the likely mole that had eluded them for years. It didn’t take long under FBI questioning before the two acknowledged their ties to the Cuban government. They pleaded guilty months later to spying. | As part of its counterintelligence operations, the FBI launched in 2009 what is known in spy parlance as a “false flag operation,” believing the husband was the likely mole that had eluded them for years. It didn’t take long under FBI questioning before the two acknowledged their ties to the Cuban government. They pleaded guilty months later to spying. |
| In 2010, the husband was sentenced to life in prison; his wife received nearly seven years. | In 2010, the husband was sentenced to life in prison; his wife received nearly seven years. |
| Montes was also spotted early by the Cuban government in a “classic tale of recruitment,” according to the FBI. In 1984, Cuban officials learned she was “sympathetic to their cause,” and she soon agreed to help, landing a job at the DIA in 1985. | Montes was also spotted early by the Cuban government in a “classic tale of recruitment,” according to the FBI. In 1984, Cuban officials learned she was “sympathetic to their cause,” and she soon agreed to help, landing a job at the DIA in 1985. |
| According to the FBI at the time, it was a colleague who reported her in 1996 to a security official suspecting she might be “under the influence of Cuban intelligence.” The bureau made no mention of its secret asset in Cuba, likely to protect him even though he was already in prison. | According to the FBI at the time, it was a colleague who reported her in 1996 to a security official suspecting she might be “under the influence of Cuban intelligence.” The bureau made no mention of its secret asset in Cuba, likely to protect him even though he was already in prison. |
| Montes was arrested days after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and pleaded guilty in 2002. She was sentenced to 25 years in prison. | Montes was arrested days after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and pleaded guilty in 2002. She was sentenced to 25 years in prison. |
| Another woman, Marta Rita Velazquez, whom the FBI said introduced Montes to Cuban intelligence, was charged in 2013 with conspiracy to commit espionage. Velazquez, of Puerto Rico, lives in Sweden. | Another woman, Marta Rita Velazquez, whom the FBI said introduced Montes to Cuban intelligence, was charged in 2013 with conspiracy to commit espionage. Velazquez, of Puerto Rico, lives in Sweden. |
| It’s unclear what role the secret U.S. spy played in the arrest of the Cuban Five — three of whom were released Wednesday and two of whom were released from prison earlier. | It’s unclear what role the secret U.S. spy played in the arrest of the Cuban Five — three of whom were released Wednesday and two of whom were released from prison earlier. |
| The U.S. intelligence community was tight-lipped about the spy exchange on Wednesday. | The U.S. intelligence community was tight-lipped about the spy exchange on Wednesday. |
| “Information provided by this person was instrumental in the identification and disruption of several Cuban intelligence operatives in the United States and ultimately led to a series of successful federal espionage prosecutions,” said Brian Hale, a spokesman for the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. | “Information provided by this person was instrumental in the identification and disruption of several Cuban intelligence operatives in the United States and ultimately led to a series of successful federal espionage prosecutions,” said Brian Hale, a spokesman for the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. |
| Hale added it was a “fitting closure to this Cold World chapter of U.S.-Cuban relations.” | Hale added it was a “fitting closure to this Cold World chapter of U.S.-Cuban relations.” |