Writer discovers that childhood nanny ran Soviet spy network in Uruguay By Maria
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The Argentine writer Laura Ramos published the book Mi niñera de la KGB. The work reconstructs the life of a woman who took care of her and her brother as children in Montevidéu. Anos later, the author discovered that the nanny was hiding a different identity.
África de las Heras used the name María Luisa on Uruguai. Ela presented herself as a seamstress and a person with no interest in politics. The Spanish woman arrived at Montevidéu at the end of 1947 alongside the Uruguayan writer Felisberto Hernández. The marriage served to obtain Uruguayan citizenship and set up a base of operations.
Childhood marked by simple routine
Laura Ramos was around seven or eight years old in 1964. Ela and her brother attended Escuela Francia, which was on the same block as María Luisa’s house. The woman waited for the children at the school entrance and took them for lunch.
The visits included sweets from brands such as Oro del Rhin or La Mallorquina. Ramos remembers a coffee with milk served on the living room sofa. The nanny told stories from a book about a Soviet woman named Gulia Koroliova. Her voice was calm, but her manner was dry, without displays of excessive affection.
Ramos’s family was connected to Montevidéu because of the mother. Anos Before, the mother met María Luisa in circles of Uruguayan intellectuals. Depois from the change to Argentina, contact was resumed when the children were still young.
Intelligence operations on América from Sul
Africa de las Heras served as a KGB agent with the code name Patria. Ela built a spy network from Uruguai over two decades. The country served as a base because it was off the main radar during the beginning of Guerra Fria.
One of the tasks involved obtaining false documents. The agent visited cemeteries in the Uruguayan interior in search of birth certificates of deceased children. With these papers, he produced identities for other Soviet agents. The focus included information about Estados Unidos’s nuclear program.
Before that, De las Heras participated in actions in Europa and México. Registros indicate that she worked as a telegraphist against Nazi forces in Ucrânia during Segunda Guerra Mundial. Ela also was part of operations linked to the planning of the murder of León Trotsky.
Weddings used as a facade
The Spanish woman first married Felisberto Hernández in Paris. The union lasted until she obtained Uruguayan citizenship. Depois of separation, married Italian Valentino Marchetti, another agent sent by Moscou.
The couple lived in a house on street Williman, in Montevidéu. The property was the same one where the children Ramos went to have a snack after school. The façade included sewing work and friendly relations with local intellectuals.
De las Heras presented himself as apolitical in front of these people. Ela offered help with children and domestic services to maintain the appearance of an ordinary housewife.
- The agent obtained Uruguayan citizenship through her first marriage
- Made false documents from certificates of dead children
- Coordinated intelligence operations from Montevidéu for about 20 years
- Maintained contact with circles of Uruguayan writers and artists
Discoveries during five-year investigation
Laura Ramos began the research after her brother revealed the nanny’s true identity. The author gathered testimonies, documents and recordings over five years. The result became the recently released book.
A cassette tape contains the testimony of a Uruguayan woman who acted as a collaborator. The recording mentions two deaths linked to De las Heras. One involves the Italian husband and the other a Uruguayan university professor named Arbelio Ramírez.
According to the report in the recording, De las Heras poisoned Valentino Marchetti. The same person asked for help to move the body inside the house. The incident occurred on the sofa used years later by the children for lunch.
Links between two deaths investigated
Professor Arbelio Ramírez died in 1961 during an act with Ernesto Che Guevara in Montevidéu. The recording suggests that he had been co-opted for secret tasks with the agent.
Ramos highlights a detail that connects the cases. The doctor called to certify Marchetti’s death is the same one who performed the autopsy on Ramírez three years earlier. The author presents these elements as part of the documentation in the book.
The Spanish woman died Moscou in 1988, shortly before the end of União Soviética. Ela carried the rank of colonel and several decorations. Muitos Career secrets were never revealed publicly.
Legacy of a double life
The story of África of las Heras crosses different periods of the 20th century. Ela began as a communist militant in Espanha against the regime of Francisco Franco. Depois, he acted on different fronts in the service of Soviet interests.
At Uruguai, the facade of a seamstress made it possible to build contacts without arousing suspicion. The routine included caring for children from known families. Ninguém of the close circle imagined the real role in the intelligence network.
Laura Ramos describes the discovery as a shock. The woman who seemed ordinary hid a background in international operations. The book mixes personal memories with biographical reconstruction based on varied sources.
The work brings to light details of Guerra Fria in América Latina. Ela shows how discrete bases in neutral countries served to coordinate larger actions. Ramos avoided sensationalism and prioritized fact-checking throughout the research.
