Interview With Cuban Spymaster Larisa Montilla
NOTE: Larisa Montilla was spymaster in the Castro regime. A series of events forced her into exile. Diplo Denizen was able to contact her via a chain of confidential intermediaries. Gen. Montilla graciously agreed to this interview under two conditions: that her full face and location not be revealed.
DIPLO DENIZEN: Thank you, Gen. Montilla, for agreeing to this interview. You've gone from being near the top of the Castro regime to being a refugee, a woman without a country. How are you dealing with the transition?
MONTILLA: As best I can. But I am a hardened revolutionary. I have been through worse. I will survive and I will return. With a vengeance.
DIPLO DENIZEN: Well, exile certainly hasn't dulled your zeal. Do you actually believe that you can return to Cuba? And how would you exact revenge if you did return?
MONTILLA: Che was fond of saying, "Hasta la victoria siempre!" - Ever onward to victory! He also used to tell his fighters, "Revenge tempers the spirit and fires the soul." Those responsible for the counterrevolution will pay with their blood. This is all I can say at this time.
DIPLO DENIZEN: Hmm. What we are seeing is Larisa Montilla la tipa dura -- the hard liner. What about Larisa Montilla, the woman?
MONTILLA: What does my gender have to do with anything? I served the Cuban revolution with my heart and soul. My being a woman or a man should make no difference.
DIPLO DENIZEN: Well, you've been called the Cuban Lucrezia Borgia -- a beautiful femme fatale with an unreined ambition. Numerous sources have told us that you stop at nothing to achieve your goals, including ensnaring men with your feminine charms.
MONTILLA: Nonsense. And lies. Fidel described himself as a "soldier of ideas." I was merely his executor of ideas. Such notions of femme fatale are bourgeois contrivances used in silly spy movies and novels.
DIPLO DENIZEN: Speaking of novels, I'm sure you've read James Bruno's latest hot thriller, Havana Queen. In his fictionalized account of recent events, the author quotes Fidel as telling his brother, Raul, “Larisa Montilla has more balls than the entire senior officer corps." FBI agent Nick Castillo furthermore describes you as a "A Torquemada with a sense of humor. The worst kind of torturer who injected humor into her dark art. It showed she enjoyed her work." And, finally, your nemesis, rebel leader Colonel Henrique Marcial, told Bruno, “She is a dangerous woman. A woman whose ambition has no limits. Nor her paranoia. A woman bent on being at the top. No matter what.”
MONTILLA: (shifts uneasily in her chair) These are more fabrica--
DIPLO DENIZEN: You don't deny you've read Bruno's book?
MONTILLA: I…I…well, um, yes, I have read it.
DIPLO DENIZEN: And what did you think of it? SiriusXM Radio has declared Havana Queen, "Book of the Year"--
MONTILLA: --And El Heraldo Cubano called Bruno "a military intelligence officer" and his book, "A subversive act against the Cuban government."
DIPLO DENIZEN: But answer my question. What did you think of the book?
MONTILLA: (again shifts uneasily in her chair) You know the saying, "Know thy enemy"? I read his book in order to know my enemy. Mr. Bruno is a brilliant writer -- but in a hooligan way. Like your American Revolution propagandist, Thomas Paine. He clearly knows much about Cuba, yet he twists and distorts things--
DIPLO DENIZEN: He recently received media coverage all over Latin America for Havana Queen. Furthermore, the attack by the communist organ, El Heraldo Cubano, was in response to the fact that Havana Queen was circulating among the Cuban intelligentsia, which prompted the revolt against the Castro regime, resulting in your ouster as heir apparent. It clearly can be said that James Bruno is responsible for bringing down the communist system in Cuba.
MONTILLA: I do not have to put up with these lies-- (rises from her seat).
DIPLO DENIZEN: And James Bruno uncovered another juicy fact in your background. What is your connection to Che Guevara?
MONTILLA: Read his book. It seems everyone else is. (walks out the door).
DIPLO DENIZEN: (shouts) Thank you, Larisa, for an engaging interview!