Cuban spies very difficult to uncover

Access to material
But someone with top secret clearance can do a lot of damage because he would have had broad access to intelligence material and a license to search for what he wanted, said the former senior intelligence official. One key question to be answered will be whether the Cubans were using Myers to produce information for other countries, like Russia, Venezuela, Iran or China.

Like Montes — whom he admired — Myers memorized most of the information he passed to his Cuban handlers rather than take classified documents home, an effort to avoid detection. He did hide some papers in bookends at his house, holding onto them for no longer than a day, according to court documents unsealed Friday. Myers received his orders by Morse code, and he and his wife usually hand-delivered intelligence, sometimes in the grocery store. Myers was familiar with spy trade craft, like using water-soluble paper to take notes, according to court documents.

Chris Simmons, a former counterintelligence officer with the Defense Intelligence Agency who worked on the Montes case, said Myers' role as an instructor at the Foreign Service Institute posed a real threat because he would be able to provide dossiers and personal observations on his students to the Cuban government. The institute trains officers in regional specialties from all corners of the U.S. government, not just the State Department. When those students go abroad for State, the U.S. military, or undercover as CIA officers, foreign intelligence services may already have files on them to attempt recruitment. It was at the institute that Myers first met the Cuban official who recruited him into spying in 1978.

The former intelligence officer who worked on spy cases said Myer's would be valuable to the Cuban government for his ability to spot potential recruits among the students.

'Students love him'
Myers could also have provided leads and files on students from the prestigious Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies in Washington.

Myers has been an adjunct professor there since the late 1980s, said Felisa Neuringer Klubes, a spokeswoman for the school. He taught most recently this spring semester. Many U.S. government employees get advanced degrees there or go on to teach there. It is where Myers earned his doctorate.

Myers usually taught British politics and general international relations. His expertise is European studies, specifically Britain, said Klubes. He is one of at least 130 adjunct professors at the school at any given academic year, she said.

Mitchell Orenstein, an associate professor of European studies, has known Myers for about two years and said he was surprised at the charges.

"He's been a fantastic colleague, a great guy," Orenstein said. "He was in a happy retirement and planning on doing some sailing with his wife."

In fact, Myers and his wife told the undercover FBI agent that they had been planning to sail to Cuba and live on their boat. They considered Cuba their home, though they had only visited it.

Orenstein said he never heard Myers talk about Latin American relations. He didn't hear him mention Fidel Castro or speak about American politics.

He said Myers was "a smart person who we thought had done a good job at the State Department."

"The students love him," he said.

An undercover FBI agent posing as a Cuban handler approached Myers outside Johns Hopkins on April 15, according to a law enforcement official speaking on a condition of anonymity about the ongoing investigation. That began a series of meetings that resulted in the couple's indictment this week.

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