Mar 25, 2007 11:00 pm US/Eastern
New Book Sheds New Light On Convicted Cuban Spy
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(CBS4)
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Ana Montes was arrested, convicted, and sentenced to 25 years in a federal penitentiary for Conspiracy to Commit Espionage for the government of Cuba.
CBS
"Ana had access to secrets most Americans can't even imagine." Author and spy hunter Scott Carmichael talking about the subject of his new book, Ana Belen Montes, the highest ranking U-S intelligence official ever convicted of spying for the Cuban government.
"She was no ordinary intelligence analyst and therefore no ordinary spy," said U.S. Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen.
Carmichael's book prompted Ros-Lehtinen and colleagues Mario and Lincoln Diaz-Balart to request an official assessment of the damage done by Montes.
Ana Montes, a 16-year-veteran of the defense intelligence agency, was arrested shortly after 9/11 for spying. Until then, she had been a rising star at the DIA. No one knew more about intelligence operations regarding Cuba than the Puerto Rican born analyst. She was often called on to draft U.S. policy on Cuba.
"Fidel Castro himself might as well have dictated our policies and positions regarding Cuba," said Ros-Lehtinen
The master Cuban spy is believed to have turned over the names of at least 4 undercover agents, and this new book also blames her for the death of Sgt. Greg Fronious, an American soldier killed at a secret camp in El Salvador.
Carmichael writes in his book that just two weeks after Montes visited the camp, leftist rebels attacked and killed Fronious, who was a green beret.
"You don't think it was coincidence? I hardly think it was coincidence," said Carmichael.
Carmichael also claims Montes was among several U.S. intelligence agents warned of Cuba's threats to shoot down brothers to the rescue planes the day before the actual shoot down. Days later, she was called on to help formulate the U.S. response, all the while she was working for the Cubans.
"We've underestimated them way too long. (There are) plenty of other Ana Montes' among us and we need to increase our efforts to find them," said Carmichael.
On September 21, 2001, Montes was arrested, convicted, and sentenced to 25 years in a federal penitentiary for Conspiracy to Commit Espionage for the government of Cuba.
(© MMVII, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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