Extensive espionage network operated since 1987 against the Castro regime in Cuba

Cohen, who attended the presentation of the book "Queen of Cuba" by former FBI Special Agent Peter J. Lapp on the evening of Friday, December 1st, escaped from the island on a raft to Florida in August 1994. His situation had become untenable, and he faced the danger of arrest and subsequent execution due to his espionage activities on behalf of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) of the United States.

Cohen, identified as "Kevin" in Lapp's bestselling book on the case of the spy Ana Belén Montes, created a secret espionage network comprising more than twenty individuals. This network involved compartmentalized participation from officials of the Cuban Ministry of the Interior, foreign businessmen, collaborators, and agents of Cuban Intelligence. Their focus was on industrial espionage, along with the involvement of civilian collaborators.

Cohen and his colleagues provided key information to U.S. counterintelligence services, such as codes to decrypt encrypted messages that Cuba sent to its agents in the United States.

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Photo: From left to right, Miguel Cossío, COO América TeVe, Enrique García, "Mandy", José Cohen, "Kevin", Peter J. Lapp, former FBI Special Agent

At the presentation of the book 'Queen of Cuba,' former Cuban Intelligence officer Enrique García, identified as 'Mandy Gamboa' in Peter J. Lapp's book, was also in attendance. After his defection in 1989, García helped and provided highly valuable information to both the CIA and the FBI in counterintelligence matters. Enrique García was the first to alert U.S. authorities that there were two spies working for the Fidel Castro government infiltrated into the heart of the U.S. Intelligence Community, and both were women. At that time, their identities were not known, but eventually, they were revealed to be Ana Belén Montes, alias "Sonia," residing in Puerto Rico since January 2023, and Marta Rita Velázquez, alias "Bárbara," who has been living in Sweden since 2002. Before his defection, García learned that an acquaintance of his within Cuban Intelligence, whose pseudonym was "Fidelito," was handling two espionage cases on U.S. soil involving two women.