February 10: Two Spies in Caracas Characters

Characters - Two Spies in Caracas by Moises Naim

February 1992

Havana -  G2 (Cuba’s Intelligence Directorate)

Raimundo Galvez

Ivan Rincon ( Mauricio Bosco)

Chloe

Adalberto Sanataria, cousin

The General

Washington, DC - CIA

Colonel Oliver Watson

Cristina Garza (Eva Lopez/LUNA)

undocumented immigrant

Marine, Just Cause (removal of General Manuel Noriega)

Sen Brendan Hatch

Rita Ferguson

Caracas, Venezuela - Miraflores

President Carlos Andres Perez

Colonel Hugo Chavez - passions: baseball, women, politics

Clara

Flora

Eloisa

Oscar Rojas

Donato Gil, Cuban Santeria

Colonel Manuel Sanchez

Colonel Angel Montes

General Raul Mujica

Colonel Gonzalo Giron - Antonieta

Nicolas Maduro

Luz Amelia Lobo - Lia Ron, Bala Loca, Crazy Bullet

Venezuela-Cuba Plan

Pran (Yusnabi Valentin) 

Willy Garcia (Patricia)

Juan Cash

The Generals Cartel

Monica Parker

Chuck, father

Gunther Muller Uri Abarbanrl

Ftank Stanley

February10: Two Spies in Caracas

Two Spies in Caracas by Moisés Naím, Daniel Hahn (Translator)

From the New York Times bestselling author of The End of Power comes an edge-of-your-seat political thriller about rival spies, dangerous love, and one of history’s most devastating revolutions.

Venezuela, 1992. Unknown colonel Hugo Chávez stages an ill-fated coup against a corrupt government, igniting the passions of Venezuela’s poor and catapulting the oil-rich country to international attention. For two rival spies hurriedly dispatched to Caracas—one from Washington, DC, and the other from Fidel Castro’s Cuba—this is a career-defining mission.

Smooth-talking Iván Rincón of Cuba’s Intelligence Directorate needs a rebel ally to secure the future of his own country. His job: support Chávez and the revolution by rallying the militants and neutralizing any opposing agents.

Meanwhile, the CIA’s Cristina Garza will do everything in her power to cut Chávez’s influence short. Her priority: stabilize the greatest oil reserves on the planet by ferreting out and eliminating Cuba’s principal operative.

As Chávez surges to power, Iván’s and Cristina’s paths cross. Soon they’re caught in the fallout of a toxic political time bomb: an intrepid female reporter and unwitting informant, a drug lord and key architect in Chávez’s rise, and Iván and Cristina themselves. With everything at stake, the adversaries find themselves at the center of a game of espionage, seduction, murder, and shifting alliances playing out against the precarious backdrop of a nation in free fall. A thrilling fictional story based on unimaginable real-life events.

December 9 - Traitor

 Traitor: A Thriller - (Ya’ara Stein #1) by Jonathan de Shalit 

In the exhilarating tradition of I Am Pilgrim comes a sprawling, international high-stakes thriller that pits the intelligence of one man against one of the most successful spies ever to operate against American interests.

When a young Israeli walks into an American embassy and offers to betray his country for money and power, he has no idea that the CIA agent interviewing him is a Russian mole. Years later, that young man has risen in the ranks to become a trusted advisor to Israel’s Prime Minister and throughout his career, he’s been sharing everything he knows with the Kremlin. 

Now, however, a hint that there may be a traitor in the highest realms of power has slipped out and a top-secret team is put together to hunt for him. The chase leads the team from the streets of Tel Aviv to deep inside the Russian zone and, finally, to the United States, where a most unique spymaster is revealed. The final showdown—between the traitor and the betrayed—can only be resolved by an act of utter treachery that could have far-reaching and devastating consequences

November11: The Billion Dollar Spy Major Characters

 Major Characters - The Billion Dollar Spy 

Adolf Tolkachev: 

Tolkachev was the spy who provided the CIA with thousands of pages and other sources of top secret information concerning avionics and radar technology being developed by the Soviet Union.

John Guilsher: 

Guilsher was Tolkachev’s first CIA case officer. He developed a trusted relationship with the spy throughout the duration of their relationship.

David Rolph: 

Rolph was Tolkachev’s second CIA case officer who also developed a solid relationship with him. He wanted to be assigned specifically to the Moscow division in order to fight the Cold War.

Edward Lee Howard: 

Howard was a disgruntled former CIA officer who gave information about the Tolkachev operation to the Soviet Union.

Burton Gerber: 

Gerber developed the Gerber rules for determining possible CIA spies and later became Chief of Station in Moscow while the CIA was running Tolkachev.

Gardner “Gus” Hathaway: 

Hathaway was the first Chief of Station in Moscow while the CIA was running Tolkachev. He pushed for initial contact with the spy while the total stand-down was in effect.

Natasha Tolkachev: 

Natasha was Adolf Tolkachev’s wife. Her mother was executed in 1937 and her father imprisoned for ten years during Stalin’s Great Purge, forcing her to to grow up in multiple state orphanages.

Oleg Tolkachev: 

Oleg was Adolf and Natasha’s son. His love of Western music and architecture fueled many of Tolkachev’s personal requests of the CIA.