Félix Rodríguez (Central Intelligence Agency)
| Félix Rodríguez | |
|---|---|
Félix Ismael Rodríguez in August 2011 in Miami.
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| Nickname(s) | Lázaro, Max Gómez, Félix Ramos Medina, Félix El Gato |
| Born |
31 May 1941 Havana, Cuba |
| Allegiance |
 United States |
| Service/branch | Central Intelligence Agency, United States Army |
| Years of service | 1959 – Present |
| Rank | Colonel |
| Unit | Special Activities Division, Army Special Forces, MACV-SOG |
| Battles/wars |
Bay of Pigs Invasion Operation Mongoose Laotian Civil War Ñancahuazú Guerrilla Vietnam War 1973 coup in Chile |
| Awards |
Intelligence Star (very rare CIA valor award), Silver Star, (9) Crosses for Gallantry by South Vietnamese regime |
Félix Ismael Rodríguez Mendigutia (born 31 May 1941) is a former Central Intelligence Agency officer, known for his involvement in the Bay of Pigs Invasion, in the execution of Leftist revolutionary Che Guevara and his ties to George H. W. Bush during the Iran–Contra affair. He is Cuban American.
His uncle was minister of Public Works during the Fulgencio Batista dictatorship in Cuba. His family was fairly wealthy and owned land. After the Cuban Revolution several of his family members were captured by the Communist Forces and executed.
He attended the Perkiomen School in Pennsylvania, but dropped out to join the Caribbean Anti-communist Legion, created by Dominican dictator Rafael Trujillo, with the intention of ending communism in Cuba.
The invasion of Cuba was a failure and Rodríguez went back to Perkiomen. He graduated in June 1960, and went to live with his parents in Miami, where thousands of Cuban exiles had moved.
In September, 1960 he joined a group of Cuban exiles in Guatemala, supported by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), to receive military training. They were called Brigade 2506.
He was a Paramilitary Operations Officer from Special Activities Division. He joined and became a leader in the CIA-backed Operation 40 and Brigade 2506, and illegally entered Cuba a few weeks before the failed Bay of Pigs Invasion. Utilizing his familiarity with the country, he was able to gather critical intelligence to be used in the planning and preparation for the invasion.
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Wikipedia