World

How Cuban Spy Used Incredible Memory To Betray US

Published

2 years ago

2023-01-10

Geoff Brown

Ana Belén Montes poses for a photo shortly after her release from a 20-year prison sentence. Her brown hair is streaked with grey, and she is approximately 66 years old.

There was little evidence that Montes had spent years as a covert Cuban spy embedded deep within the US government. Or that she was formerly regarded as one of the most dangerous intelligence operators targeting the country.

That, according to experts, is what made her the ideal spy.

Ana Montes was caught on September 21, 2001, and was later found guilty of plotting to spy on the United States.

US Intelligence Searching For Decades

For nearly a decade, US intelligence authorities had been looking for a Cuban mole inside the government, but determining who was sending sensitive information to the Cubans proved to be a herculean effort.

“It truly is a needle in a haystack,” said Pete Lapp, a former FBI agent who, along with his partner, Steve McCoy, was part of the team that proved Montes was a Cuban spy.

Lapp and his team were tasked with finding and eliminating the mole. To complicate matters further, Mr. Lapp claimed that the Cubans also attempted to conceal Montes’ gender by implying that the spy was a man with high-level clearance, thus broadening the pool of prospective targets.

“It would have been a lot easier if we had known we were looking for a woman,” he admitted.

The FBI was looking for a lady and a top US intelligence official in Cuba and Central America.

The Cuban Queen

Cuba played a long game with Montes. Mr. Lapp says that she was asked to spy for them before graduating from graduate school. So, she became an “operative of the Cuban intelligence service” and joined the US Defense Intelligence Agency.

“She did an excellent job of being near-perfect, and everything she accomplished as an analyst simply served to build a wall of security around her,” he explained.

Ana Montes moved up in the US intelligence services. Before becoming a senior intelligence operative studying Cuba, she first worked on a portfolio for El Salvador and Nicaragua. Her expertise earned her the title “Queen of Cuba” within the agencies.

She also sent some of the most sensitive information about the country to a foreign government that was against it for more than 17 years.

On The Run for 17 Years

“One of the reasons I think she never got caught was she primarily memorized the knowledge that she took away,” said Jim Popkin, author of Code Name Blue Wren, which chronicles Montes’ climb through the ranks and eventual capture.

“She had a day job where she sat silently, studiously, and memorized as many sensitive documents as possible. Her nocturnal duty was to go home, type it up on a Toshiba laptop, encrypt it, and send it to her handler.”

Instead of working for money, Montes eventually admitted to investigators that she spied on the US because she opposed her government’s interventionist actions in Central America and Cuba.

Mr. Popkin said, “She was especially dangerous because she told the real names of American spies in Cuba.”

That information alone could have put lives in danger, but Montes also revealed the existence of a multibillion-dollar stealth satellite used by the US to spy on Russia, China, and Iran.

“That’s why intelligence officers call her one of the most damaging spies in American history and, in my opinion, the most damaging female spy we’ve ever had,” Mr. Popkin added. By 2000, intelligence agencies suspected Montes of being a spy, and Mr. Lapp and his team narrowed down on her as a suspect.

An International Spy

“Let’s not focus on catching her in the act of spying,” I insisted. “Let us first ensure that we have the proper individual,” Mr. Rapp stated.

After looking for the mole for years, Lapp and his team finally found him over Memorial Day weekend in 2001. They went to Montes’ house and found a laptop under her bed with secret information from the 1990s.

“I thought, holy [expletive], holy [expletive],” said Mr. Lapp, whose inquiry will be detailed in the upcoming book Queen of Cuba.

Montes receives a National Intelligence Certificate of Distinction from CIA Director George Tenet.

Leading the compartmentalized life of a spy meant lying not just to the nation’s highest intelligence organizations but also those closest to her, including her family.

The Cuban Queen

Her sister, Lucy, was one of four close family members who worked with the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The day Montes was caught, the rest of the world discovered she was a spy for the Cuban government.

Mr. Popkin talked to the family for his book, and he said that the family’s anger at her betrayal was mixed with relief when she was sent to prison.

“It did give [Lucy] some solace just to understand a little bit more about her sister and why their once-close connection had deteriorated over the years,” he added.

Ana Montes was released on January 6 after serving most of her 25-year term. Montes said she wishes to live a “quiet and private existence” now that she is out of prison and back in Puerto Rico. However, within hours of her release, Montes stated that she was still thinking about Cuba.

“I encourage anyone who wishes to focus on me to do so on significant subjects, such as the major problems confronting the Puerto Rican people or the United States’ economic embargo on Cuba,” she said in a statement provided to BBC News by her lawyer, Linda Backiel.

“Who has asked the Cuban people in the previous 60 years if they want the United States to enforce a strangling embargo that causes them to suffer?”

But Montes’ release was a setback for Mr. Lapp and the men and women who had worked to bring her to justice for years.

“I knew this day was coming, but that doesn’t make it any less painful,” he added.

SOURCE – (BBC)

World

Biden Escalates Ukraine War With Long-Range Missiles

Published

6 days ago

2024-11-18

Geoff Brown

The Kremlin announced on Monday that President Joe Biden’s decision to allow Ukraine to hit targets inside Russia with US military long-range missiles is “fuel to the fire” and will exacerbate international tensions.

Biden’s decision to allow Ukraine to employ US military long-range missiles to strike deep within Russia has raised concerns about growing tensions, with many fearing that this decision could lead to world conflict.

On Monday, with less than two months remaining in office, President Joe Biden authorized American-provided Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMS) to strike deep within Russia.

“It is obvious that the outgoing administration in Washington intends to take steps and they have been talking about this, to continue adding fuel to the fire and provoking further escalation of tensions around this conflict,” said Peskov, the spokesman for the president.

Peskov reminded journalists of a September statement by President Vladimir Putin, who stated that enabling Ukraine to target Russia would dramatically raise the stakes.

It would alter “the very nature of the conflict dramatically,” Putin stated. This would mean that NATO countries, the United States, and European countries would be at war with Russia.”

Peskov asserted that Western countries that deliver longer-range weaponry also provide targeting services to Kyiv. “This fundamentally changes the modality of their involvement in the conflict,” he said.

Ukraine War Escalation

In June, Putin threatened that if NATO permitted Ukraine to utilize the arsenal of its partners to attack Russian territory, Moscow would send longer-range weapons to others to strike Western targets.

“The Westerners supply weapons to Ukraine and say: ‘We do not control anything here anymore and it does not matter how they are used.'” Putin had said. “We can also say, ‘We supplied something to someone — and now we have no control over anything.'” “And let them think about it.”

Putin again emphasized Moscow’s willingness to deploy nuclear weapons if it perceived a threat to its sovereignty.

Biden’s decision will “mean the direct involvement of the United States and its satellites in military action against Russia, as well as a radical change in the essence and nature of the conflict,” Russia’s Foreign Ministry stated.

The new policy has unpredictable consequences. ATACMS, with a range of roughly 300 kilometers (190 miles), can travel deep behind Ukraine’s 1,000-kilometer (600-mile) front line, although their range is modest compared to other types of ballistic and cruise missiles.

President-elect Donald Trump, who takes office on January 20, has not responded, but he won the election on promises to stop the conflict, and some people close to him have decried the action as a hazardous escalation.

Missile Decision Sparks Anger

The Military Industrial Complex appears to want to start World War III before my father has a chance to restore peace and rescue lives. We need to lock in those $Trillions. Life be damned!! Imbeciles!” Donald Trump Jr., the President-elect’s son, posted on X

“On his way out of office, Joe Biden is dangerously trying to start WWIII by authorizing Ukraine to use U.S. long-range missiles against Russia,” said Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., on X. “The American people gave a mandate on November 5 against these exact American last decisions.”

Rebekah Koffler, a former Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) officer and author of “Putin’s Playbook,” speculated that the stories were a “trial balloon to disrupt Trump” and that Biden may not have authorized the ATACMS strikes yet.

According to Dani Belo, PhD, Director of Security and International Relations at Global Policy Horizons Research Lab, Ukraine’s ability to currently hit Russian territory has the potential to escalate the war with Russia.

However, Donald Trump’s victory is likely to moderate the escalation.

There is speculation that Donald Trump’s administration would restrict military hardware deliveries to Ukraine, putting political pressure on Kyiv to resolve the crisis. This implies Ukraine has no motivation to escalate now and lose its fighting capability in a matter of months.

Russia sees no reason to escalate the situation at this time. Moscow expects that Trump’s administration will try to finish the war soon, so the Kremlin will likely take a wait-and-see approach until the new presidential administration takes office without significantly escalating the conflict. As a result, any escalation is unlikely.

Source: AP

Trump Shakes Up Pentagon Names Pete Hegseth Defence Secretary

Trump Shakes Up Pentagon Names Pete Hegseth Defence Secretary

World

A Court Filing Reveals Elon Musk Flatly Rejected OpenAI’s ICO in 2018.

Published

1 week ago

2024-11-15

Salman Ahmad

(VOR News) – Elon Musk, the billionaire and CEO of Tesla, claims in a subsequent court filing that was submitted on November 14 that he was successful in stopping OpenAI from doing an initial coin offering (ICO) in 2018.

According to the filing requirements, this information was disclosed.

Musk and his legal team have claimed that two of OpenAI’s founders, Greg Brockman and Sam Altman, tried unsuccessfully to create a token in early 2018 to help the company grow. To the best of our knowledge, this was the founders’ intention.

Elon Musk accurately described the scenario.

Elon Musk made the remark during the pertinent time period, according to the lawsuit’s accusations.

This, in his opinion, would lead to a significant decline in trust in OpenAI and everyone involved in the initial coin offering (ICO). These statements are extracted from his initial declaration.

A unique project backed by Altman, Worldcoin launched a token twenty-three years ago with the goal of creating digital identification for verified individuals.

Furthermore, the company in charge of token distribution was Worldcoin. Through the use of the token, Worldcoin was able to authenticate individual identities.

When OpenAI was first founded, it was a nonprofit organization dedicated to creating safe artificial general intelligence (AGI).

In this context, the acronym AGI stands for artificial global intelligence. “Musk has continuously voiced concern about the grave threat that these sophisticated systems pose to humanity,” his attorney wrote in the complaint. These sophisticated technologies represent a serious threat to humankind.

“Musk remains apprehensive regarding this threat.” “Musk regards these threats with the utmost seriousness.” “Elon Musk has harbored these concerns for an extended period.”

This led to Musk joining OpenAI’s board of directors and continuing to serve as co-chair of the board. Furthermore, he was appointed to that board of directors post.

Elon Musk contributed $44 million to the enterprise.

OpenAI declared in a March 5th news release that it was imperative that the company adopt a profit-making structure in order to obtain the necessary funding to achieve its objectives. In order to enable OpenAI to fulfill its objectives, this transition was necessary.

According to both the OpenAI statement and the amended filing, Elon Musk advocated for the combination of OpenAI and Tesla to help the artificial intelligence startup with its financial issues.

The aforementioned measures were implemented to mitigate the challenges that the organization was facing at that specific moment. Musk submitted his resignation as an OpenAI employee in February 2018.

He founded his own artificial intelligence company, which he named XAI, in the ensuing years. His efforts directly led to the achievement he achieved.

We are deeply disappointed that our friendship with someone we have always held in the highest respect has deteriorated.

As we started to make significant strides toward OpenAI’s goal on our own, this person, who had previously motivated us to achieve greater heights, abruptly predicted that we would fail, established a rival company, and filed a lawsuit against us, according to the group’s press release.

In August of this year, Musk filed a lawsuit against OpenAI and its CEOs, Altman and Brockman, claiming that they had violated federal RICO statutes, engaged in unfair competition, and committed fraud. OpenAI is the target of legal action taken by Elon Musk.

According to Elon Musk, they have engaged in additional illegal activity. Microsoft was named as one of the defendants in the dispute in the updated complaint, which was submitted on November 14.

It’s being presented as a case at the moment. Microsoft and OpenAI started working together in 2019, and Microsoft committed $1 billion in the partnership.

In July 2023, OpenAI’s native cryptocurrency, Worldcoin (WLD), was made available to the general public. Not too long ago, an article published by The Block disclosed this knowledge. When the market closed on November 15 at 11:36 p.m. Eastern Time (16:36 UTC), the price of a share of WLD was $2.21.

SOURCE: TB

World

Trump Appoints Robert F. Kennedy Jr to Head HHS

Published

1 week ago

2024-11-15

Geoff Brown

Trump Appoints Robert F. Kennedy Jr to Head HHS

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to run the United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)

President-elect Trump appointed Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (RFK Jr) to run the United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), sending Democrats and Big Pharma allies into a tailspin.

“I am delighted to announce Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS). For too long, Americans have been crushed by the industrial food complex and medicine firms, which have engaged in deception, misinformation, and disinformation regarding public health,” Trump stated in his announcement.

“The safety and health of all Americans is the most important role of any administration, and HHS will play an important role in ensuring that everyone is safe from harmful chemicals, pollutants, pesticides, pharmaceutical products, and food additives that have contributed to this country’s overwhelming health crisis.

Mr. Kennedy will restore these agencies to gold-standard scientific Research and Transparency traditions, stopping the Chronic Disease Epidemic and making America Great and Healthy Again!” Trump added.

Reactions to RFK Jr HHS Appointment

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) oversees the Food and Drug Administration, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Medicare, Medicaid, and the National Institutes of Health.

Kennedy is a former environmental justice lawyer who has recently started an anti-vaccine nonprofit. He ran for president as an independent candidate in 2024 but dropped out to join Trump’s closest circle.

House Republicans have reacted to Donald Trump’s nomination of former presidential contender Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as health secretary.

Chip Roy, a Texas congressman, calls it “great news”. He tells me, “We need disruption throughout the federal government.” He’ll be fantastic at HHS [the Department of Health and Human Services] to do that.”

Roy adds that he expects Kennedy’s candidacy will clear the Senate.

“There’s been a few Kennedy’s in the Senate in the past so maybe there’ll be some legacy there that they will want to move him through,” he speculates.

South Carolina Congressman Ralph Norman concurs with Roy on Kennedy’s confirmation in the Senate: “I believe he was an excellent choice by the president, as have all of them. Kennedy is interested in, and passionate about, the medical industry. He will do a terrific job with it.”

According to Public Citizen, a progressive nonprofit group focused on consumer protection, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. “is a clear and present danger to the nation’s health.”

He should not be allowed to enter the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), let alone be appointed director of the nation’s public health agency.”

“Donald Trump’s mishandling of public health policies during the Covid outbreak resulted in hundreds of thousands of deaths. “By appointing Kennedy as secretary of HHS, Trump is courting another policy-driven public health disaster,” the organization continued.

Apu Akkad, an infectious disease physician at the University of Southern California, described the statement as a “scary day for public health”.

Meanwhile, pharmaceutical stocks such as Pfizer and Moderna plummeted following news of Kennedy’s nomination for HHS Secretary, as investors considered his potential impact on vaccine sales.

Novavax and BioNTech finished down more than 7%, with almost all losses occurring when word of the selection broke—Novavax shares fell to $7.22, and BioNTech shares fell to $103.56.

Moderna’s stock closed 5.6% at $39.77, reaching its lowest point of the year.

Sanofi’s stock fell 3.4% to $47.82, continuing a weeks-long share price decline that began after the company’s latest earnings report last month.

Pfizer lost less than its competitors on Thursday, closing down 2.6% at $26.02, despite having its sharpest drop of the day immediately following the RFK Jr. announcement.