NSNL 64 - Intelligence news

In the U.S. Department of State Fact Sheet from 30 June you can read about a number of successful Cuban infiltrations in the USA. Note that both Ana Montes and the Wasp-spies received info via Cuban numbers stations.

Ana Montes, a Defense Intelligence Agency analyst, confessed to spying for Cuba for 16 years (from 1985 to the time of her arrest on September 21, 2001).

Seven Cuban spies, the so-called Wasp Network, were convicted of or confessed to espionage or related crimes in June and September 2001. The group sought to infiltrate U.S. Southern Command headquarters.

An INS official, provided information in 2000 in a sting operation, thereafter passed the information to a business associate with ties to Cuban intelligence.

Over a 15-year period from 1983 to 1998, 15 members of the Cuban mission to the United Nations were expelled for espionage activities, including three who were handlers for the Wasp Network in 1998.

Cuban spies have also found considerable success penetrating U.S.- based exile groups. A notable example is that of Juan Pablo Roque, a former MiG-23 pilot who defected to the United States in 1992, became a paid source for the FBI, and joined the ranks of the Brothers to the Rescue (BTTR). He re-defected back to Cuba just days after the early 1996 BTTR shoot down, denouncing the exile group on Cuban television and accusing it of planning terrorist attacks against Cuba and Castro.

A similar example involves the case of Jose Rafael Fernandez Brenes, who jumped ship from a Cuban merchant vessel in 1988. From 1988-1991, he helped establish and run the U.S. Government-financed TV Marti, whose signal was jammed from its inception in March 1990, due in part to frequency and technical data provided by Fernandez Brenes.

China / USA / Canada

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) said this week that China will be the greatest espionage threat to North America during the next 10 years to 15 years, reports Canada's Asian Pacific Post. FBI Director Robert Mueller told the United States Congress that China has more than 3,000 "front" companies in America coordinating direct espionage efforts.

In Canada, intelligence reports indicate the number of Chinese front companies to be between 300 and 500. But unlike America, Canada's China experts say the political climate in Ottawa is not conducive to cracking down on the threat.

Sixty-fourth edition of the N&O column / Spooks newsletter

Intelligence news

Cuba / USA

China / USA / Canada