On Friday, Ana Belén Montes, an American citizen convicted of spying for Cuba, was released from US federal prison in Fort Worth, Texas, according to Federal Bureau of Prison online records.^[0] For almost two decades, Montes had worked as an analyst in the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) and had met with her Cuban handlers every few weeks at Washington DC restaurants, sending coded messages containing top secret information to them via pager.^[1]

In September 2001, following a tip that a government employee was suspected of spying for Cuba, US intelligence officials detained her.^[2] In 2002, after entering a plea of guilty to espionage, she was handed a sentence of 25 years in prison.^[3] Montes was sentenced by the judge to five years of probation upon release from prison.^[4]

Michelle Van Cleave, who was head of U.S. counterintelligence under President George W. Bush, said that Montes was “one of the most damaging spies the United States has ever found.”^[5] At her sentencing, Montes argued she had obeyed her conscience and that US policy to Cuba was cruel and unfair, saying “I felt morally obligated to help the island defend itself from our efforts to impose our values and our political system upon it.”^[6]

In four years' time, a counterintelligence officer at the DIA, Scott Carmichael, was notified that the FBI was searching for an anonymous spy within the DIA who was working for Cuba.^[7] Upon his search for a compilation of DIA personnel that had gone to Guantanamo Bay during the specified time, a recognizable name stood out to him--that of Ana Montes.^[7]

Upon her release, Montes will be placed under supervision for five years, during which time her internet and computer usage will be monitored and unpermitted contact with foreign governments forbidden.^[5] Florida Sen. Marco Rubio has slammed Montes for betraying the US and assisting Cuba’s communist regime.^[7]

0. "Notorious Cuban spy Ana Montes released from federal prison" New York Daily News, 8 Jan. 2023, https://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/ny-ana-montes-cuban-spy-released-prison-20230108-7jzufzmskvb7zfwlfkixawqtcu-story.html

1. "Ana Montes, "one of the most damaging spies," released from prison" Yahoo! Voices, 7 Jan. 2023, https://www.yahoo.com/now/ana-montes-one-most-damaging-123400472.html

2. "Ana Montes: Top spy freed in US after more than 20 years" BBC, 7 Jan. 2023, https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-64200872

3. "'Very dangerous' double agent Ana Montes who spied for Cuba freed from jail after 20 years" Express, 8 Jan. 2023, https://www.express.co.uk/news/us/1718483/ana-montes-spy-cuba-dxus

4. "Ana Montes: Top spy released in the US after more than 20 years in prison" BOL News, 8 Jan. 2023, https://www.bolnews.com/world/2023/01/ana-montes-top-spy-released-in-the-us-after-more-than-20-years-in-prison/

5. "Ana Montes, Cold War spy who fed secrets to Cuba, is released" The Washington Post, 8 Jan. 2023, https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2023/01/08/ana-montes-spy-cuba-release-prison/

6. "'Very deadly' double agent Ana Montes who spied for Cuba is freed after 20 years in jail" Sky News, 8 Jan. 2023, https://news.sky.com/story/very-deadly-double-agent-ana-montes-who-spied-for-cuba-is-freed-after-20-years-in-jail-12782163

7. "Ana Montes, American convicted of spying for Cuba, released from US federal prison after 20 years" KVIA, 8 Jan. 2023, https://kvia.com/news/2023/01/08/ana-montes-american-convicted-of-spying-for-cuba-released-from-us-federal-prison-after-20-years