April 18, 2026

Ana Montes did much damage prying to have Cuba. Chances are, your sanctuary’t observed their unique

Ana Montes has been locked up to own good erica. Once a very adorned You.S. intelligence analyst with a-two-bedroom co-op in the Cleveland Park, Montes now lives in a two-bunk phone on large-defense women’s jail in the united kingdom. Their own neighbors provides included a former housewife who strangled an expecting lady to find their own little one, a longtime nursing assistant exactly who murdered five patients that have enormous treatments of adrenaline, and you can Lynette “Squeaky” Fromme, the Charles Manson groupie just who tried to assassinate President Ford.

Instead, she discover the news headlines oddly comforting

However, difficult time in the Lizzie Borden ward of a colorado prison has not softened the former Safety Agencies wunderkind. Ages after she was caught prying getting Cuba, Montes stays defiant. “Jail is one of the past metropolises I would personally enjoys actually ever chosen to stay, however some something in daily life can be worth planning to jail having,” Montes writes from inside the an effective 14-page handwritten page in order to a family member. “Or worthy of starting immediately after which killing on your own before you can have to spend too much effort when you look at the jail.”

Such as Aldrich Ames and you will Robert Hanssen before her, Ana Montes blindsided the brand new cleverness area that have brazen acts of treason. During the day, she is actually a buttoned-off GS-fourteen during the a shelter Intelligence Agencies cubicle. When the sun goes down, she try to the time clock getting Fidel Castro, enjoying coded texts more than shortwave radio, passage encrypted files so you can handlers for the congested food and falling unnoticed on the Cuba sporting a good wig and you may clutching a fake passport.

Montes spied having 17 many years, patiently, systematically. She introduced along a lot of gifts throughout the their acquaintances – plus the cutting-edge eavesdropping networks one to Western spooks got secretly hung within the Cuba – that cleverness advantages imagine their unique one of the most harmful spies into the present memories. However, Montes, now 56, failed to hack only their nation bride Mesquite, NM and her acquaintances. She plus betrayed their own sis Tito, an FBI special agent; their particular previous boyfriend Roger Corneretto, an intellect administrator for the Pentagon dedicated to Cuba; and her aunt, Lucy, a beneficial twenty eight-12 months experienced of your own FBI that acquired honours having providing so you’re able to unmask Cuban spies.

Complete Display The case against the ‘Queen off Cuba’ Examine Pictures Ana Montes invested almost twenty years spying to own Cuba when you’re being employed as a great You.S. intelligence specialist. Ana Montes spent almost 20 years spying having Cuba while functioning just like the good You.S. intelligence specialist. Ana Montes’s FBI scheduling images at the time off their own arrest, . ./ Due to FBI Wait step one 2nd to keep.

Regarding weeks following we field office is into large alert. All the hijackers had invested time in Southern area Florida, and you may FBI teams there had been eager to understand whether any more got stayed at the rear of. As soon as a manager asked Lucy Montes to come calmly to his workplace, she failed to blink. Lucy was an experienced FBI words analyst exactly who interpreted wiretaps and you will other sensitive interaction. However, so it impromptu meeting got nothing in connection with Sept. 11. An FBI squad chief seated Lucy off. The sister, Ana, has been arrested having espionage, he shared with her, and she you certainly will deal with the new death punishment. Your cousin, Ana, is actually a beneficial Cuban spy. Lucy failed to shout, did not storm out in disbelief. “We believed it instantly,” she recalled inside the a current interviews. “They informed me a lot of things.” Big information teams reported on the arrest, of course, nonetheless it are overshadowed from the continuous publicity of the violent periods. ***

Today, Ana Montes remains the most important spy you’ve never observed

Created to the good U. S. Military legs when you look at the 1957, Ana Montes ‘s the earliest youngster off Emilia and you can Alberto Montes. Puerto Rico-born Alberto are a respected Army dily went appear to, regarding Germany to help you Kansas so you’re able to Iowa. They compensated inside Towson, external Baltimore, in which Alberto setup a successful individual psychiatric habit and you can Emilia turned into a frontrunner from the local Puerto Rican area. Ana thrived in Maryland. Slender, bookish and you can amusing, she finished which have a beneficial step three. To outsiders, Alberto are a compassionate and you can really-experienced dad out-of five. However, behind closed doors, he was small-tempered and bullied his pupils. Alberto “occurred to trust that he encountered the right to beat their high school students,” Ana do afterwards give CIA psychologists. As he had enraged. Sure. Ana try 15 whenever their unique mothers ages is over.