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Queen of Cuba with Peter J. Lapp

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What’s Happening?

As a spy prepared to give away America’s biggest secrets after the 9/11 attacks, FBI agents raced to catch the mole. US government officials knew they had an intrusion. But it never occurred to them it was a woman—and certainly not a superstar Defense Intelligence Agency employee known as “the Queen of Cuba.”

Ana Montes had spent 17 years spying for the Cubans. She had been raised in a patriotic Puerto Rican household: Her father, a psychiatrist, was a former colonel in the US Army. Her sister worked as a translator for the FBI and helped break up a ring of Cuban spies in Miami. Her brother was also a loyal FBI agent. Montes impressed her bosses, but in secret, spent her breaks memorizing top secret documents before sending them to the Cuban government. Join International Spy Museum Historian and Curator Dr. Andrew Hammond live in conversation with retired FBI agent Peter J. Lapp, the author of Queen of Cuba: An FBI Agent's Insider Account of the Spy Who Evaded Detection for 17 Years for a discussion of this incredible case. They’ll discuss her motivation, the harm she did, and the clues—including never-released information—that led the FBI team to catch one of the United States’ most dangerous spies.

A very special artifact related to this case will be on display before the program.

Queen of Cuba will be available for sale and signing after the program.

As a spy prepared to give away America’s biggest secrets after the 9/11 attacks, FBI agents raced to catch the mole. US government officials knew they had an intrusion. But it never occurred to them it was a woman—and certainly not a superstar Defense Intelligence Agency employee known as “the Queen of Cuba.”

Ana Montes had spent 17 years spying for the Cubans. She had been raised in a patriotic Puerto Rican household: Her father, a psychiatrist, was a former colonel in the US Army. Her sister worked as a translator for the FBI and helped break up a ring of Cuban spies in Miami. Her brother was also a loyal FBI agent. Montes impressed her bosses, but in secret, spent her breaks memorizing top secret documents before sending them to the Cuban government. Join International Spy Museum Historian and Curator Dr. Andrew Hammond live in conversation with retired FBI agent Peter J. Lapp, the author of Queen of Cuba: An FBI Agent's Insider Account of the Spy Who Evaded Detection for 17 Years for a discussion of this incredible case. They’ll discuss her motivation, the harm she did, and the clues—including never-released information—that led the FBI team to catch one of the United States’ most dangerous spies.

A very special artifact related to this case will be on display before the program.

Queen of Cuba will be available for sale and signing after the program.

More about International Spy Museum
The International Spy Museum (SPY) is an independent nonprofit museum which documents the tradecraft, history, and contemporary role of espionage. It holds the largest collection of international espionage artifacts on public display. The Museum opened in 2002 in the Penn Quarter neighborhood of Washington, DC, and relocated to a new, expanded building with all-new exhibitions at L'Enfant Plaza in 2019.
When & Where
Dec 6, 2023, 6:30pm to 8:00pm Timezone: EST
Free


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