The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) issued a warning this week: Cuba continues to be one of the most persistent and effective espionage threats against the U.S., despite its small geographic size and its lack of economic power.
The alert was presented in a video titled "Cuba: The Spy Next Door", shared on the official account of the organization, where two or three officials from the Division of Counterintelligence and Espionage analyzed the scope of the island's intelligence operations for nearly half an hour.
“Let’s focus on a country that has historically been quite effective in this field: Cuba”, stated Josh Obsfeld, Senior Executive Director for External Engagement of that division, as he opened the conversation alongside a special agent identified as Aliza and Senior National Analyst Tiffany.
A persistent and underestimated threat
According to FBI specialists, the Cuban case is particularly striking because it breaks with traditional patterns of power and influence in intelligence matters.
"Despite being a small country, it has had a disproportionately high performance in espionage," Tiffany stated, emphasizing that the geographical proximity—just 90 miles from the United States—and the historical fear of invasion have driven Havana to invest in its intelligence services for decades.
That investment, they added, allowed Cuba to develop an operational capacity that had been underestimated by Washington for years.
One of the most revealing examples occurred in 1987, when a Cuban defector revealed that multiple American agents had been turned into double agents.
This was compounded by the dismantling of networks such as the notorious "Red Avispa," composed of infiltrators in U.S. institutions.
Spies recruited from a young age and for ideological reasons
The FBI emphasized that one of the most complex elements of Cuban espionage lies in the profile of its agents.
Unlike other cases where economic incentives prevail, many spies linked to Cuba were recruited from a young age and motivated by ideological convictions.
"These agents were recruited from a young age, often even before entering the government, many times for ideological reasons rather than economic ones,” Tiffany explained.
This characteristic makes them much harder to detect, as they do not exhibit typical signs such as sudden enrichment, debt, or personal conflicts.
Cases like those of Ana Montes, Walter Kendall Myers, and Víctor Manuel Rocha—this last being a former U.S. diplomat sentenced for acting as a Cuban agent for decades—illustrate the depth of these infiltrations.
What is espionage and how does it operate?
During the conversation, the FBI officials also provided a detailed explanation of how espionage works, aiming to educate the public.
"There is information that someone wants to keep secret, and another entity is trying to obtain it illegally," Tiffany summarized, comparing it to the theft of strategies in a sports team.
The process usually involves several figures: the spy—who betrays their own country—the foreign intelligence officer who recruits and manages them, and occasionally intermediaries or indirect collaborators.
They also warned about the existence of “non-traditional collectors,” such as academics or entrepreneurs, who can obtain sensitive information—such as industrial secrets or technological advancements—without being formally part of an intelligence service.
Espionage is not limited to the military realm. It also includes what is known as economic espionage, such as the theft of intellectual property. The FBI recently cited the case of a Google employee accused of attempting to transfer information about artificial intelligence to China as an example.
A complex and difficult-to-detect crime
From a legal standpoint, espionage in the United States is defined by the Espionage Act of 1917.
In order for the crime to be established, several elements must be fulfilled, including the transmission of information relevant to national defense to a foreign power, which has the potential to benefit that actor or harm the United States.
However, beyond the legal definition, experts emphasized the significant difficulty of detecting these operations.
"Detecting espionage is extremely difficult. Adversaries are highly sophisticated actors, with state resources and complex strategies," Tiffany warned.
This is compounded by the fact that many spies are familiar with investigative methods, which allows them to evade authorities for years.
The FBI's Call: Alert without Paranoia
Despite the described situation, the FBI insisted that these cases can be uncovered and dismantled through inter-agency cooperation and the gathering of small clues.
He also made a direct appeal to the public and institutions to remain vigilant.
"It’s not about living in paranoia, but rather being alert," the officials stated, recommending reporting any suspicious behavior and being cautious with the information shared.
The final message reinforces a central idea of U.S. counterintelligence: espionage is not a phenomenon of the past or exclusive to great powers, and countries like Cuba have shown that they can operate with an effectiveness that, in the words of the FBI itself, “has far exceeded their size.”
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