By Tim Johnson. Knight-Ridder Tribune News.
Houston Chronicle. Sept. 28, 2001, 11:40PM
WASHINGTON -- A week after her arrest as a spy for Cuba, a textured portrait
is emerging of Ana Belen Montes, a 44-year-old Puerto Rican who was rapidly
rising into the senior ranks of the U.S. intelligence community.
Montes, often quiet, sometimes prickly and stand-offish in bearing, appeared
to have a direct impact on U.S. policy toward Cuba, most recently in attempting
to soften a 1999 ground-breaking Pentagon assessment that declared Cuba no
longer a threat to the United States militarily.
As a senior intelligence analyst on Cuba for the Defense Intelligence
Agency, Montes traveled to Havana, first in 1993 on a CIA-paid leave to study
the Cuban military, again in January 1998 during Pope John Paul II's visit, and
perhaps other times, colleagues said.
In her post, Montes rubbed elbows with dozens of policy-makers and
intelligence analysts. She conducted briefings on Capitol Hill, regularly met
with CIA counterparts, and had access to the Intelink computer network of secret
intelligence reports on a variety of issues.
Montes may face the death penalty for her alleged spying.
"The offense that she committed is a capital offense," Sen. Bob
Graham, D-Fla., told the Miami Herald's editorial board Friday.
Graham, who chairs the Senate intelligence committee, said several months
may elapse before prosecutors determine if Montes will provide details about the
extent of her alleged espionage to avoid the death penalty.
Whether ideology, ego, money, love or some other factor impelled Montes in
her alleged betrayal of the United States is unclear. She lived in an apartment
-- not beyond her means -- in a leafy, residential neighborhood of northwest
Washington.
Colleagues offer sharply different appraisals of her work. "She was
superb," said a retired intelligence officer. Another dismissed her as "very
weak" and prone to depression.
"She's certainly not a warm person," said Edward Gonzalez, a
retired UCLA professor. "She is not a happy person. She was always
scowling."
The daughter of a military psychologist from Puerto Rico, Montes was born in
Germany and educated at top schools in the United States. She obtained a
master's degree from the School of Advanced International Studies at Johns
Hopkins University.
In 1985, Montes got a job as an analyst at the Defense Intelligence Agency,
which provides the Pentagon with military and political analysis. A supervisor,
who spoke on condition of anonymity, remembered Montes for her introverted
nature.
"She was very private. She never attended parties. When we had office
parties, she might show up for only a little while. She'd never bring a
boyfriend," he said.
The Cuban leader called the attacks on the United States "insane'' and
emphasized that "under no circumstances should those responsible for the
brutal attacks against the American people be allowed to go unpunished - if they
can be identified.''
But he accused U.S. officials of warmongering and insisted the United
Nations (news - web sites) should be given the leading role in a worldwide
effort to eradicate terrorism "with total and unanimous support of world
opinion.''
"The unanimous shock suffered by all nations of the world ... has
created exceptional conditions for the eradication of terrorism without the need
to unleash a useless and perhaps endless war,'' Castro said.
"But the main obstacle is that the most notable political and military
leaders in the United States refuse to listen to any word said against the use
of weapons and in favor of a truly effective solution to the worrisome
problem,'' he added.
"One wonders: Why this obstinate course of starting a complicated and
open ended war? Why are the American leaders showing such arrogance when their
enormous power gives them the privilege of showing some moderation?'' Castro
said.
Castro, whose communist country has been squeezed by U.S. sanctions for four
decades, spoke a day after the U.N. Security Council approved a sweeping
U.S.-sponsored resolution requiring all 189 U.N. member nations to deny money,
support and sanctuary to terrorists.
Cuba is on the list of countries the United States accuses of sponsoring
terrorism, but Castro said a week ago that "Cuba will never be used for
terrorist actions against the American people and we will do everything within
our reach to prevent such actions against that people.'' | 
