Hey, Besties!
I finished reading Queen of Cuba by Peter Lapp. Itās about the FBI investigation and arrest of Ana Montes, a DIA analyst convicted of spying for Cuba. Although I didnāt like his writing style, it was really interesting to get his perspective on the investigation. It was briefly mentioned in Code Name Blue Wren, but he does a much better job explaining how Ana Montes was able to suppress negative information about Cuba, including their role in funding terrorism in Latin America, that ultimately contributed to āour collective identity of the island as a paradise filled with universal healthcare and 1957 Chevys and beautiful pink houses.ā
On a related noteā¦ The Seriousness of America's Latest Homegrown Spy - NPR.org
Compared to Code Name Blue Wren, he paints her boyfriend Roger in a better light. Or, at least, he tries to by referring to him as a āpatriot,ā but I still think heās sus. As a trained intelligence officer with access to all the same information Ana saw, I donāt understand how he didnāt see red flags.
Interestingly, the real heroes of the Ana Montes story are Cubans. Cuban intelligence officers who risked their lives fleeing Cuba in a rubber dinghy gave the US information we needed to begin the hunt. And, at NSA, an analyst who fled Cuba when she was just six years old was the first person to identify Ana Montes as the spy when everyone else was either uninterested or searching for a man.
There are a lot of interesting nuggets throughout the book. Still, one that stood out to me was how, when the Cuban intelligence officers were defecting, they had trouble navigating their tiny boat in the dark because they didnāt have a compass. Cuban citizens werenāt allowed to own them. Before our last OCONUS tour, I would have found it hard to believe and harder to enforce. Now, not so much.
š Now, Iām on to How to Keep House While Drowning. I needed something to listen to on the treadmill and it was in the āavailable nowā bin. The first review on Goodreads is āshort, sweet, and validating as fuckā so Iām instantly intrigued. Iāve moved up to 82nd in line for The Woman In Me audiobook (from 1,113th!). Iāve also added Itās Not Hysteria and Oath and Honor to my list for 2024.
Check out this Belted Kingfisher Beetle spotted at a nearby lagoon. The chestnut belly band indicates that itās a lady. š¤© Beetle started looking for her after watching this video. They dive into the water to catch fish and then smack them against a tree to kill them. Then, they regurgitate little pellets of bone to line their nurseries. Gross but impressive. And also, very cute.
šŗ Weekend Plans
Thanks for reading!
Be best,
šÆBetty
Did I tell you I watched a presentation about Ana Montes by Peter Lapp? Somebody on our security team knows him or worked with him, so he did an hour-long presentation all about her and how they caught her. It was awesome!