Philip Agee, Former CIA Agent Who Became Outspoken Critic Of US Policy, Dead At 72

HAVANA (AP) — A former CIA agent who infuriated U.S intelligence officials by naming dozens of purported agency operatives has died.

Philip Agee was 72.

Cuban state media reports say he died during surgery for perforated ulcers.

Agee’s actions in the 1970s inspired a law criminalizing the exposure of covert U.S. operatives.

Agee quit the CIA in 1969, after 12 years working mainly in Latin America. His 1975 book “Inside the Company: CIA Diary,” alleged agency misdeeds against leftists, and included a 22-page list of purported operatives.

He has also been accused of receiving up to $1 million in payments from the Cuban intelligence service – an allegation he denied.

Agee’s U.S. passport was revoked in 1979. U.S. officials said he had threatened national security.

Cuba’s Communist Party newspaper described Agee as “a loyal friend of Cuba.”