The guilty plea of a former American ambassador who spied for Cuba has put the spotlight on the dangers posed by these figures, who have not only relied critical information to Havana but also finding secrets later shared with country foes such as Russia, China, North Korea and Iran.
CBS News' 60 minutes delved into the issue, analyzing high profile cases such as Manuel Rocha's, the aforementioned former ambassador, and others throughout the years. Jose Cohen, a former Cuban intelligence officer who defected in 1994, confirmed that Cuba shares U.S. intelligence with its adversaries.
Another notorious case was Ana Montes' a Pentagon official who spied for Cuba for 17 years. Montes, recruited while at Johns Hopkins University due to her strong opposition to U.S. policy in Latin America, became a top analyst at the Defense Intelligence Agency.
She meticulously memorized classified information and relayed it to her Cuban handlers, even revealing the identities of undercover American officers in Cuba and a secret satellite program. Montes was arrested in 2001 and served 20 years in prison before her release in January 2023.
Despite the arrests of Rocha and Montes, the threat of Cuban espionage persists. Peter Lapp, a retired FBI special agent involved in the Montes investigation, believes there are still spies within the U.S. government. He emphasized that individuals motivated by ideology rather than money pose a unique challenge, as demonstrated by Montes' unwavering commitment to Cuban interests, even at the risk of American lives.
Rocha was arrested in Miami in December after discussing his actions with an undercover FBI agent who pretended to be a Cuban intelligence official. The recorded meetings, which took place between 2022 and 2023, show Rocha describing the U.S. as "the enemy" and saying his greatest goal when working for the State Department for almost 40 years was "strengthening the Cuban revolution."
His sentencing to 15 years in prison, however, highlights the ongoing challenge of countering espionage. While Rocha is cooperating with investigators, the full extent of the secrets he divulged remains classified.
The State Department said its conducting an assessment of the extension of his work to "fully assess the foreign policy and national security implications of these charges."
Meanwhile, Montes has shown no public remorse and is living in Puerto Rico, celebrated by some as a hero.
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