Ana Belen Montes has repeated history by saying what she said during her trial 21 years ago: the US government's policies against Cuba are very harsh and she behaved according to her conscience rather than the law. She added: "I felt morally obligated to help the island defend itself from our efforts to impose our values and our political system on it."

After spending 20 years in a Texas prison, the US has released American citizen Montes after being imprisoned for supporting the Cuban revolution. Montes previously served as an analyst in the US Defense Intelligence Agency. 

Now 65 years old, Montes left Carswell prison in Fort Worth, Texas, and has begun a five-year probation period inside the US as she is not allowed to leave American soil. 

Cuba's 007 hero 

A Puerto Rican-American citizen, Montes was sentenced back in 2001 for espionage dating back from 1992 to 2001 for Cuba. 

In 2001, the US accused her of spying for a duration of 10 years. One year later, she was handed a sentence of 25 years after charging her with conspiracy to commit espionage and giving Cuba confidential information for it to defend itself. 

Montes herself was a top official in the military intelligence pertaining and was responsible for issues related to Cuba. 

Due to Montes and her efforts, Cuban authorities were able to investigate a large number of US plans and attacks that were meant to destabilize Cuba over the years.