Feds: PR woman spied for Cuba
By CB Online Staff
WASHINGTON — Puerto Rico-native Marta Rita Velázquez has been charged by federal authorities with spying for Cuba in a case that dates back three decades.
» Ex-US government worker 'Cuban spy'
25/04/13 17:43 from BBC News - Latin America & Caribbean
A former US government employee is accused of recruiting US citizens in sensitive national security posts to spy for Cuba.
» Unsealed Indictment Charges Former U.S. Federal Employee with Conspiracy to Commit Espionage for Cuba
26/04/13 06:58 from Latin American Herald Tribune
The defendant allegedly helped a Cuban Intelligence Service recruit and insert spy into the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency.
» News & Notes: Velazquez '79 accused of espionage against US government - The Daily Princetonian
25/04/13 21:38 from puerto rico politics - Google News
News & Notes: Velazquez '79 accused of espionage against US government The Daily Princetonian The following year, she helped organize the Latino Festival, in which she gave the opening remarks for a talk called “Independence and Social..
The one-count indictment unsealed in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia on Thursday charges Velázquez, 55, with conspiracy to commit espionage.
The charges against Velázquez stem from, among other things, her alleged role in introducing Ana Belén Montes, now 55, to the Cuban Intelligence Service (CuIS) in 1984; in facilitating Montes’s recruitment by the CuIS; and in helping Montes later gain employment at the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA).
Montes served as an intelligence analyst at DIA from September 1985 until she was arrested for espionage by FBI agents on September 21, 2001. In March 2002, Montes pleaded guilty in the District of Columbia to conspiracy to commit espionage on behalf of Cuba. Montes is currently serving a 25-year prison sentence.
The indictment against Velázquez, who is also known as “Marta Rita Kviele” and as “Barbara,” was originally returned by a grand jury in the District of Columbia in February 2004. It has remained under court seal until Thursday. Velázquez has continuously remained outside the United States since 2002. She is currently living in Stockholm, Sweden. If convicted of the charges against her, Velázquez faces a potential sentence of up to life in prison.
According to the indictment, Velázquez was born in Puerto Rico in 1957. She graduated from Princeton University in 1979 with a bachelor’s degree in political science and Latin American studies. Velázquez later obtained a law degree from Georgetown University Law Center in 1982 and a master’s degree from Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) in Washington, D.C., in 1984.
Velázquez later served as an attorney advisor at the U.S. Department of Transportation, and, in 1989, she joined the State Department’s U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) as a legal officer with responsibilities encompassing Central America. During her tenure at USAID, Velázquez held a top secret security clearance and was posted to the U.S. Embassies in Nicaragua and Guatemala. In June 2002, Velázquez resigned from USAID following press reports that Montes had pleaded guilty to espionage and was cooperating with the U.S. government.
The indictment alleges that, beginning in or about 1983, Velázquez conspired with others to transmit to the Cuban government and its agents documents and information relating to the U.S. national defense, with the intent that they would be used to the injury of the United States and to the advantage of the Cuban government.
As part of the conspiracy, Velázquez allegedly helped the CuIS spot, assess, and recruit U.S. citizens who occupied sensitive national security positions or had the potential of occupying such positions in the future to serve as Cuban agents. For example, the indictment alleges that, while Velázquez was a student with Montes at SAIS in Washington, D.C., in the early 1980s, Velazquez fostered a strong, personal friendship with Montes, with both sharing similar views of U.S. policies in Nicaragua at the time.
In December 1984, the indictment alleges, Velázquez introduced Montes in New York City to a Cuban intelligence officer who identified himself as an official of the Cuban Mission to the United States. The intelligence officer then recruited Montes. In 1985, after Montes’ recruitment, Velázquez personally accompanied Montes on a clandestine trip to Cuba for Montes to receive spy craft training from CuIS.
Later in 1985, Velázquez allegedly helped Montes obtain employment as an intelligence analyst at the DIA, where Montes had access to classified national defense information and served as an agent of the CuIS until her arrest in 2001. During her tenure at the DIA, Montes disclosed the identities of U.S. intelligence officers and provided other classified national defense information to the CuIS.
During this timeframe, Velázquez allegedly continued to serve the CuIS, receiving instructions from the CuIS through encrypted, high-frequency broadcasts from her handlers and through meetings with handlers outside the United States.
This case was investigated by the FBI’s Washington Field Office and the DIA. It is being prosecuted by Senior Trial Attorney Clifford Rones of the Counterespionage Section in the Justice Department’s National Security Division and Assistant U.S. Attorney G. Michael Harvey of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia.
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25 April 2013 Last updated at 17:43 ET
Marta Rita Velazquez is alleged to have sent documents and defence information to Cuba
Ex-US government worker Marta Rita Velazquez 'Cuban spy'
Marta Rita Velazquez is alleged to have sent documents and defence information to Cuba
A former US government employee has been accused of recruiting US citizens in sensitive national security posts to spy for the Cuban government.
Marta Rita Velazquez, 55, worked for the state department between 1989-2002 and had top-secret clearance.
Authorities say she fled the US in 2002 amid reports a spy she had recruited was co-operating with investigators.
Ms Velazquez, who now lives in Sweden, is also accused of passing secret documents to the Cuban government.
If extradited, tried and convicted, she could face life in prison.
The charges stem in part from an earlier case against Ana Belen Montes, Ms Velazquez's alleged co-conspirator, who pleaded guilty in 2002 to spying on behalf of the Cuban government and is now serving a 25-year prison sentence in the US.
According to an indictment unveiled by the US justice department, Ms Velazquez recruited Montes in 1984, introduced her to the Cuban Intelligence Service and then helped her obtain a job at the US Defense Intelligence Agency. Montes became the agency's senior analyst for Cuban affairs.
Ms Velazquez is also accused of passing on documents and information to Cuban intelligence officials on matters relating to US national defence.
The indictment against Ms Velazquez, who has also gone by the names Marta Rita Kviele and Barbara, was first returned by a grand jury in 2004 but was not unsealed until Thursday.
She was born in Puerto Rico in 1957 and studied at Princeton University, Georgetown Law Center and Johns Hopkins University, the charge sheet says.
Ms Velazquez developed a close friendship with Montes at Johns Hopkins, US authorities said.
As a federal employee, Ms Velazquez worked for the state department's development arm, the US Agency for International Development, held a top-security clearance and was posted to US embassies in Nicaragua and Guatemala.
As it emerged that Montes had pleaded guilty to espionage and was co-operating with the US government, Ms Velazquez resigned her government job and left the US.
The US has maintained a near total trade embargo against Cuba since 1962, but during his first term in office President Barack Obama relaxed restrictions on Cuban Americans' travel to the island and raised the limit on the amount of money they could send to family members there.
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» Ex-US government worker 'Cuban spy'
25/04/13 17:43 from BBC News - Latin America & Caribbean
A former US government employee is accused of recruiting US citizens in sensitive national security posts to spy for Cuba.
» Unsealed Indictment Charges Former U.S. Federal Employee with Conspiracy to Commit Espionage for Cuba
26/04/13 06:58 from Latin American Herald Tribune
The defendant allegedly helped a Cuban Intelligence Service recruit and insert spy into the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency.
» News & Notes: Velazquez '79 accused of espionage against US government - The Daily Princetonian
25/04/13 21:38 from puerto rico politics - Google News
News & Notes: Velazquez '79 accused of espionage against US government The Daily Princetonian The following year, she helped organize the Latino Festival, in which she gave the opening remarks for a talk called “Independence and Social..
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