Posted on Sat, Mar. 17, 2007
WASHINGTON
Book sparks inquiry into Cuban spy
A book that suggests Cuban spy Ana Belén Montes is partially responsible
for a death of a U.S. green beret has lawmakers seeking a damage assessment.
BY PABLO BACHELET
pbachelet@MiamiHerald.com
WASHINGTON --
A new book on convicted Cuban spy Ana Belén Montes prompted calls by
lawmakers Friday for the Bush administration to reveal more on the
damage done by a spy who may have caused the death of a U.S. green beret.
Miami Republican Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen said Montes ''may well turn
out to be one of the most notorious spies to infiltrate'' the Defense
Intelligence Agency, where she worked as the top Cuba analyst with
access to secret documents and intelligence gathering methods for years.
Ros-Lehtinen and fellow Miami Republican Reps. Lincoln and Mario
Díaz-Balart have requested ''a top-to-bottom assessment'' of the damage
caused by Montes, who was arrested shortly after the Sept. 11, 2001,
attacks.
''Our questions are simple,'' they said in a joint statement. ``How many
reports did Montes write? How much influence did she have on the final
reports the policymakers read? The persons she met with? What was the
extent of her spying?''
In his new book True Believer, Scott W. Carmichael, the senior
counterintelligence investigator for the DIA, suggests Montes was at
least ''partially responsible'' for the death of Army Sgt. Gregory
Fronius, a green beret who died in a battle with left-wing guerrillas
that overran a Salvadoran army camp in 1987.
The book, which was cleared by the DIA, is unusual because Carmichael is
an active agent who investigated Montes for five years before her
arrest. He told The Miami Herald Friday that he wanted to raise public
awareness on the threat posed by Cuban intelligence services and their
ability to penetrate the U.S. government.
''They run those people as agents right under our noses without [our]
detecting them,'' he said. ``That's what makes them good.''
His book says that Montes visited a Salvadoran army camp known as El
Paraíso just weeks before the guerrillas attacked it on March 31, 1987.
Fronius was killed in the battle.
''I cannot blame her for his death because there is no hard evidence to
directly connect her to his death,'' he told The Miami Herald. ``There
is circumstantial [evidence] to suggest that she provided some input
that contributed to his death.''
At the time, Montes was an intelligence analyst on Central America and
met with Cuban intelligence operatives every two weeks.
The book's proceeds will go to Fronius' son and daughter.
The lawmakers said they believe Havana shares intelligence with U.S.
foes like China, North Korea, Iran, Russia and Venezuela.
Montes is now serving a 25-year prison term.
http://www.miamiherald.com/581/story/44348.html
WASHINGTON
Book sparks inquiry into Cuban spy
A book that suggests Cuban spy Ana Belén Montes is partially responsible
for a death of a U.S. green beret has lawmakers seeking a damage assessment.
BY PABLO BACHELET
pbachelet@MiamiHerald.com
WASHINGTON --
A new book on convicted Cuban spy Ana Belén Montes prompted calls by
lawmakers Friday for the Bush administration to reveal more on the
damage done by a spy who may have caused the death of a U.S. green beret.
Miami Republican Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen said Montes ''may well turn
out to be one of the most notorious spies to infiltrate'' the Defense
Intelligence Agency, where she worked as the top Cuba analyst with
access to secret documents and intelligence gathering methods for years.
Ros-Lehtinen and fellow Miami Republican Reps. Lincoln and Mario
Díaz-Balart have requested ''a top-to-bottom assessment'' of the damage
caused by Montes, who was arrested shortly after the Sept. 11, 2001,
attacks.
''Our questions are simple,'' they said in a joint statement. ``How many
reports did Montes write? How much influence did she have on the final
reports the policymakers read? The persons she met with? What was the
extent of her spying?''
In his new book True Believer, Scott W. Carmichael, the senior
counterintelligence investigator for the DIA, suggests Montes was at
least ''partially responsible'' for the death of Army Sgt. Gregory
Fronius, a green beret who died in a battle with left-wing guerrillas
that overran a Salvadoran army camp in 1987.
The book, which was cleared by the DIA, is unusual because Carmichael is
an active agent who investigated Montes for five years before her
arrest. He told The Miami Herald Friday that he wanted to raise public
awareness on the threat posed by Cuban intelligence services and their
ability to penetrate the U.S. government.
''They run those people as agents right under our noses without [our]
detecting them,'' he said. ``That's what makes them good.''
His book says that Montes visited a Salvadoran army camp known as El
Paraíso just weeks before the guerrillas attacked it on March 31, 1987.
Fronius was killed in the battle.
''I cannot blame her for his death because there is no hard evidence to
directly connect her to his death,'' he told The Miami Herald. ``There
is circumstantial [evidence] to suggest that she provided some input
that contributed to his death.''
At the time, Montes was an intelligence analyst on Central America and
met with Cuban intelligence operatives every two weeks.
The book's proceeds will go to Fronius' son and daughter.
The lawmakers said they believe Havana shares intelligence with U.S.
foes like China, North Korea, Iran, Russia and Venezuela.
Montes is now serving a 25-year prison term.
http://www.miamiherald.com/581/story/44348.html
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