Gloria Estefan was recruited by CIA to be a spy

Gloria Estefan, said she was recruited by the U.S, Central Intelligence Agency to become an undercover agent because of her language skills.

At the time the young Cuban-born singer who is fluent English, Spanish and French, was working as an interpreter for US Customs at Miami International airport.

“They realised I was someone who could pass as a regular person without raising any eyebrow,” she told the Miami Herald.

“So the CIA approached me and wanted me to train in their Atlanta HQ,” she added.

Estefan, was reluctant to take the job, as her father had worked for the Cuban government and it wasn’t a good experience.

Her father, Jose Fajardo, once worked as a bodyguard for Cuban President Fulgencio Batista, and had been imprisoned in Cuba after being captured at the Bay of Pigs Invasion in 1961.

Fajardo later fled to Florida, where he was granted citizenship and then enlisted in the US army to fight in Vietnam.

Estefan, said her mother Gloria convinced her to decline the job offer.

The Grammy-winner has sold 90 million albums worldwide with hits such as Rhythm Is Gonna Get You and Dr Beat, later went on to create her Latin pop group, the Miami Sound Machine, with her partner and husband Emilio Estefan.

They now run a chain of Cuban restaurants in south Florida and are estimated to worth more something close to $500 million.

However the eighties singer admits it had been a tempting offer.

“Maybe I made the decision [to do it],” she said “What better cover than going around as a singer, talking to presidents, talking to kings, close to all the people they wanted access to? So, who knows?”