The Cuban Intelligence community’s effectiveness and danger should never be under estimated. Since pre-1959 Fidel Castro has placed the highest priority on effective intelligence, counter intelligence, foreign agents, disinformation, and a professional Intelligence community. Originally the DGI, Directorio General de Inteligencia, the agency responsible for foreign intelligence, was trained in Moscow by Soviet Intelligence. The DGI name has been changed to Direccion de Inteligencia (DI). Little has been written in the US about Cuban Intelligence, but after 50 years it is a world class, highly professional, lethal Intelligence organization. The current director is Brig Gen Eduardo Delgado Rodriguez. There are six divisions with two sub categories Operations and Support. The DI is under the umbrella group Ministry of Interior, MININT, headed by Gen Abelardo Colome Ibarra, with perhaps 38,500 members and 52,000 in reserve. The DI may have about 15,000 members. Since 1959 the DI controls a world wide network of spies, highly trained agents with the US being the major target. In the 1960s US counter intelligence knew that every Cuban exile group, every major US government agency, the media, student groups, and political leaders were DI targets of opportunity. It is difficult to send a covert Russian agent into the United States, but it is very easy to send an English speaking Cuban DI agent into the US as part of the hundreds of thousands other Cuban refugees. The DI agent can be a “sleeper,” with a mission to rise to decision responsibility within a government agency, business, or the media. The successful Puerto Rican DI agent Ana Belen Montes (above) was embedded for 18 years in the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA). She was about to be given US Intelligence Community overview clearance when she was finally caught.
The Department State Security (DSE) is responsible for all internal security, including Territorial Militia (MTT) with 1 million volunteers; local police; and telephone, internet, and mail monitoring. As Cuba moves into a post-Castro period, the DSE will have an increasing role to control and crush any internal unrest or discontent.
Point being for 50 years the Cuban Intelligence agencies have worked with all the international terrorist groups, especially now the Middle East terrorists groups. Cuban intelligence officers were in Vietnam, Angola, Sudan, Iraq, etc. Today they are active with groups in Iran, Venezuela, El Salvador, Nicaragua, China, the Middle East, etc.
In the Soviet Union when the government collapsed, the former intelligence officers took charge of the political and economic structure. Consequently whatever happens in Cuba, the current or former Intelligence officers will have a decisive role.
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