United States consistently underestimates Cuban intelligence, sources say
March 18, 2024 5 Comments
AGENTS OF THE CUBAN government have “penetrated virtually every segment of the United States national security structure,” enabling Havana to share actionable intelligence with Russia and China, according to a new report. Citing former United States and Cuban intelligence officers, The Wall Street Journal said on Saturday that Washington’s counter- intelligence efforts are no match for Cuba and its intelligence service, the Dirección de Inteligencia (DI). The DI is “the best damn intelligence service in the world” for cultivating agents, according to Brian Latell, a retired CIA analyst who served as the U.S. Intelligence Community’s National Intelligence Officer for Latin America. Latell told The Wall Street Journal that the Dirección de Inteligencia bears the imprint of Fidel Castro himself, who took a personal interest in running the service during his reign.
Among the strengths of the Cuban intelligence service is its ability to recruit Americans who are motivated by ideological reasons, rather than by financial gain. The Cubans have historically approached Americans at a young age, usually at universities in the United States or other countries in the Americas. They cultivate those relationships by employing strategic patience that pays off many years —even decades— later. By recruiting ideological sympathizers, the Cubans rarely need to pay their agents large amounts of money, as the cases of Defense Intelligence Agency analyst Ana Belén Montes and State Department diplomat Manuel Rocha suggest. Many Cuban agents enter military service in the United States, which means they acquire Secret or Top-Secret clearances. Others are instructed to penetrate anti-communist groups of Cuban-Americans in southern Florida, according to The Wall Street Journal.
The U.S. counterintelligence strategy prioritizes Russia and China, which means that Cuban intelligence operations are treated as “an afterthought,” claims the paper. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), America’s primary counterintelligence agency, dedicates relatively few resources to investigating Cuban intelligence. Its efforts are chronically “understaffed and outmatched” by Havana, according to former counterintelligence officers who spoke to The Wall Street Journal. The paper notes that the FBI is often aware of several dozen cases of “actual or potential” Cuban agents operating in the U.S. However, it routinely lacks the requisite resources to investigate them.
► Author: Ian Allen | Date: 18 March 2024 | Permalink
SINCE OCTOBER 7, 2024, when Israel was caught off guard by a sudden and highly damaging attack from Hamas, more information has surfaced regarding why there was no prior warning about the attack and the failures of Israeli intelligence in this regard.
capabilities. Another important insight is that the counterintelligence structures inside Hamas were successful in preventing Israeli intelligence from recruiting agents who were close enough to Sinwar to be able to alert Israel about the impending attack. Furthermore, Israel’s collection and analysis of signals intelligence was unproductive, possibly because Hamas was successful in countering Israel’s ability to produce effective intelligence from signals intercepts.
THE RUSSIAN INTELLIGENCE SERVICES have been “bolstering the[ir] architecture” aimed at stopping potential defectors and “liquidating” those who have already defected and are living in exile, according to a new report. In a 
A RETIRED SENIOR MOSSAD official has alleged that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu repeatedly ignored, and even frustrated, efforts to stop the flow of hundreds of millions of dollars to Hamas. This inaction may have enabled the Palestinian militant group to plan, organize and execute Operation Al-Aqsa Flood, which killed over 1400 Israelis on October 7, 2023, and sparked the current war between Israel and Hamas.
AUTHORITIES IN IRELAND ARE systematically “freezing” applications for Russian diplomatic visas from Moscow over concerns that the Kremlin is using its embassy in Dublin as a base for espionage activities. In 2018, the Irish government introduced emergency legislation that canceled a previously approved expansion of the Russian diplomatic compound in the Irish capital, allegedly due to concerns about espionage activities by Russian diplomats. Three years later, 
AN AFGHAN-BORN MAN, who became a naturalized British citizen and worked for British intelligence for over a decade, is attempting to regain his British citizenship, which was revoked after he was accused of being a Russian spy. The man, who is identified in court documents only as “C2”, was born in Afghanistan and grew up under the Soviet occupation in the 1980s. When the Soviets withdrew from Afghanistan he left the country alongside the Russian forces and resettled in Russia, where he attended university and married a Russian woman.
AUTHORITIES IN INDIA HAVE arrested a security employee at the Indian High Commission in Russia, accusing him of spying for Pakistani intelligence. The embassy of India in Moscow is one of its largest in the world and is viewed as critical to New Delhi’s strategic relations with Russia. Employees that staff the Moscow embassy are highly vetted and typically represent the cream of the crop of India’s Ministry of External Affairs. It follows that news of the arrest of a Moscow embassy security employee on espionage charges must have raised eyebrows in India.
WILLIAM BURNS, DIRECTOR OF the United States Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), reportedly visited in secret at least two East African nations last week, amidst growing tensions and instability in the region. The trip was confirmed by both the Kenyan and Somali governments after Burns had already returned to the United States.
NORTH KOREA APPEARS TO have suspended a long-standing radio station, known for broadcasting content targeted at South Koreans, which also aired encrypted messages intended for North Korean spies abroad. Radio Pyongyang was founded by Korean communist forces in the 1940s. In 1950 it formed part of the North Korean state’s official media propaganda arm.
THE OCTOBER 7 ATTACK on Israel was a total surprise. There was no warning. There were very few signs of a possible attack. Israeli intelligence evaluated these signs as elements of a routine military exercise by Hamas, and even assessed them as parts of an imaginary scenario. It therefore gave no warning to those Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) units that were stationed on the border with Gaza. Meanwhile, what we know about the intelligence failure of October 7 will likely pale before what the commission of inquiry will reveal once it is established. That was precisely what happened in the case of the Agranat Commission of Inquiry, which made significant revelations while investigating the intelligence failings of the IDF in the run up to the 1973 Yom Kippur War.
time, in the first two days of the conflict the IDF was confused and acted without direction, in the apparent absence of relevant action plans for what to do in the event of a massive invasion. The IDF was clearly not ready for such a scenario.
for those conclusions to become public. What is to be done in the meantime? There is public pressure to launch the inquiry soon.
IN AN UNPRECEDENTED AND potentially highly consequential decision, a judge has barred a Chinese PhD student from entering Canada over concerns he might be pressured to spy by the government of China. The case could have “ripple effects” on universities across Canada and possibly even all of North America, 
MIDDLE EAST OBSERVERS WERE hardly surprised by yesterday’s news of the apparent assassination of Hamas leader Saleh al-Arouri in Lebanon. Not only was al-Arouri a 
Yesterday’s assassination at the very heart of Hezbollah’s lair was nothing short of a demonstration of the Mossad’s competency in special operations.
THE UNITED STATES CENTRAL Intelligence Agency (CIA) has sharply stepped up its activities on China, but Chinese espionage operations remain formidable and continue to pose challenges for American decision-makers, a new report claims. Citing “interviews with more than two dozen current and former American officials and a review of internal Chinese corporate documents and public [Chinese government] documents”, the New York Times 
Book review of “Agent of the Iron Cross” a masterful historical account by Bill Mills
March 21, 2024 by Joseph Fitsanakis 2 Comments
Mills’ captivating narrative unfolds against the backdrop of a world engulfed in conflict, where espionage becomes a weapon of choice for a host of warring factions. Witzke’s ambitious mission, orchestrated by German intelligence, epitomizes the high-stakes game of espionage during wartime. It is replete with a host of master spy characters, the inevitable double agents, and even ingenious sabotage devices. Although this book is not a novel, Mills intricately weaves together in a novel-like manner the threads of intrigue, offering readers a riveting account of Witzke’s daring escapades and the shadowy world of espionage that defined that relatively unexplored era in the history of intelligence.
What sets Agent of the Iron Cross apart is Mills’ ability to contextualize Witzke’s actions within the broader canvas of the historical context it which they unfolded. Through vivid prose and meticulous detail, Mills unravels the layers of deception and intrigue that characterized Imperial Germany’s covert operations on American soil. From the near-sinking of the commissioned ocean liner SS Minnesota to the clandestine explosion on Black Tom Island, Mills paints a vivid portrait of a world teetering on the brink of chaos. Standard accounts of that era underplay the role of intelligence, so it is refreshing for a professor specializing in intelligence to read Mills’ detail-oriented narrative.
At its core, Agent of the Iron Cross is a testament to the enduring allure of espionage and its profound impact on statecraft and the course of history. Mills’ narrative prowess and exhaustive research offer readers a glimpse into a little-known chapter of World War I history, underscoring the complexities of intelligence work and its far-reaching consequences. By delving into historical case studies such as this one, Mills provides invaluable insights into the nature of espionage, its challenges, and its enduring relevance in our ever-evolving world.
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