The Corporation

by T. J. English

Account of Ernesto “Ernestico” Torres and Idalia Fernandez on the run: Testimony of Idalia Fernandez, Florida v. Jose Miguel Battle Sr., November 8, 1977; statement of Carlos “Charley” Hernandez, Renaissance Hotel, Newark, NJ, December 23, 1976; other statements and deposition of Charley Hernandez, October 19, 1977; testimony of Charley Hernandez, Florida v. Battle, 1977; interview with Jack Blumenfeld, October 21, 2015.

  Attempted murder of Idalia Fernandez and murder of Ernestico Torres: Testimony of Idalia Fernandez, Florida v. Battle, November 8, 1977; statements, depositions, and testimony of Charley Hernandez.

  “You don’t have to be scared anymore”: Police interview with Idalia Fernandez, translated by the State of Florida, exhibit 458-00625, Florida v. Battle, 1977.

  1. BRIGADE 2506

  The invasion: Triay, Bay of Pigs; Jim Rasenberger, The Brilliant Disaster: JFK, Castro, and America’s Doomed Invasion of Cuba’s Bay of Pigs (New York: Scribner, 2011); Haynes Johnson, The Bay of Pigs: The Leaders’ Story of Brigade 2506 (New York: Dell, 1964); Peter Kornbluh, Bay of Pigs: Declassified (New York: New Press, 1998); interview with Raul Martinez; interview with Ramon and Fidel Fuentes, February 6, 2016; interview with Pepe Hernandez; interview with Felix Rodriguez.

  The Fuentes brothers: Interview with Ramon and Fidel Fuentes.

  Raul Martinez Urioste: Interview with Raul Martinez.

  Account of Battle’s heroic act: Interview with Ramon and Fidel Fuentes; interview with Raul Martinez. In June 2016, the author visited the site of the invasion at the Bay of Pigs, including the various locations traversed by Battle and the men who were interviewed for this account.

  Dispatches of Pepe San Román: Rasenberger, The Brilliant Disaster, pp. 271, 281–83.

  Capture of Martinez: Interview with Raul Martinez.

  Capture of Battle and the Fuentes brothers: Interview with Ramon and Fidel Fuentes.

  “If I’d known it was you”: Interview with Jack Blumenfeld.

  Asphyxiation of prisoners: Rasenberger, The Brilliant Disaster, p. 324; Johnson, The Bay of Pigs, p. 181.

  Treatment of prisoners: Interview with Raul Martinez; interview with Ramon and Fidel Fuentes; Rasenberger, The Brilliant Disaster, pp. 313–81; Johnson, The Bay of Pigs, pp. 197–76; Triay, Bay of Pigs, pp. 131–79.

  “We talked about whorehouses”: Interview with Raul Martinez.

  Battle and Mujica together: Ibid.

  “Albert, I want to tell you something”: Ibid.

  Release of the prisoners: Interview with Raul Martinez; interview with Ramon and Fidel Fuentes; Rasenberger, The Brilliant Disaster, pp. 363–75; Johnson, The Bay of Pigs, pp. 291–325; Triay, Bay of Pigs, pp. 136–55.

  “It wasn’t until we were transported”: Interview with Raul Martinez.

  2. BIRDS OF A FEATHER

  “I hated the United States”: Johnson, The Bay of Pigs, pp. 210–11; Rasenberger, The Brilliant Disaster, p. 342.

  Pepe San Román’s speech at the Orange Bowl: Johnson, The Bay of Pigs, pp. 330–31; Rasenburger, The Brilliant Disaster, p. 380.

  JFK at the Orange Bowl: Text of President Kennedy’s speech, Presidential Papers, John F. Kennedy Library and Museum, viewed via official website; Johnson, The Bay of Pigs, pp. 329–32; Triay, Bay of Pigs, pp. 82, 179.

  “Most of my attention that day”: Interview with Raul Martinez.

  “It was the first time it ever snowed at the Orange Bowl”: Triay, Bay of Pigs, p. 137.

  Brigade members’ feelings toward JFK: Triay, Bay of Pigs, p. 82; Johnson, The Bay of Pigs, pp. 332–33, 336–37; interview with Raul Martinez; interview with Felix Rodriguez.

  Brigade veterans given opportunity by Kennedy to join U.S. armed forces: Triay, Bay of Pigs, pp. 179–80.

  Battle enlists in the U.S. Army: Battle military records, U.S. Army.

  Brigade veterans stationed at Fort Benning: Fabián Escalante, JFK: The Cuba Files (New York: Ocean Press, 2006); Lamar Waldron with Thom Hartmann, Ultimate Sacrifice: John and Robert Kennedy, the Plan for a Coup in Cuba, and the Murder of JFK (New York: Carroll & Graf, 2005).

  CIA-Mafia attempts to assassinate Castro: Fabián Escalante, Executive Action: 634 Ways to Kill Fidel Castro (New York: Ocean Press, 2016); Fabián Escalante, CIA Targets Fidel: The Secret Assassination Report Inspector General’s Report (New York: Ocean Press, 1996); Don Bohning, The Castro Obsession: U.S. Covert Operations Against Cuba (Washington, DC: Potomac Books, 2005); Jon Ellison, Psywar on Cuba: The Declassified History of U.S. Anti-Castro Propaganda (New York: Ocean Press, 1999); Hernando Calvo, The Cuban Exile Movement: Dissidents or Mercenaries? (New York: Ocean Press, 2000).

  CIA files: In 2008, the CIA declassified all files related to their partnership with certain Mafia figures to assassinate Fidel Castro. These documents, part of what the Agency refers to as “the family jewels,” were made public on the CIA website and are also archived with the National Security Archive at George Washington University.

  The Cuba Project: Ellison, Psywar on Cuba, pp. 65–126.

  Rescate and Tony Varona: Escalante, Executive Action, pp. 145, 149–50.

  Meeting with RFK: Interview with Francisco “Pepe” Hernandez.

  Hernandez’s experiences during the invasion: Ibid.

  “I got the impression”: Ibid.

  Poker games at Fort Benning: Interview with Luis Posada Carriles.

  Brigade veterans at Fort Benning: Ibid.

  “I liked him”: Ibid.

  Operation 40: W. Thomas Smith Jr., The Encyclopedia of the CIA (New York: Facts on File, 2003), includes an entry that reads, “Operation 40 was the code name for a CIA-sponsored counterintelligence group composed of Cuban exiles. The group was organized during the planning stages of the ill-fated invasion of Cuba at the Bay of Pigs in 1961 and continued to operate unofficially for nearly a decade after the invasion. The group was disbanded in 1970 after allegations surfaced that a cargo plane flying in support of Operation 40 that had crashed in California had been transporting a large cache of cocaine and heroin.”

  Over the decades, among conspiracy theorists who believe that Cuban exiles were behind the assassination of JFK, the history and lore of Operation 40 loom large. Though there is a body of evidence showing that individuals associated with Operation 40 have been involved in innumerable covert actions, both independently and on behalf of the CIA, there is no convincing evidence of Operation 40 involvement in political assassinations.

  Frank Sturgis: Testimony of Frank Sturgis, President’s Commission on CIA Activities (also known as the Rockefeller Commission), April 3, 1975; Steve Dunleavy, “Sturgis Exclusive Story: Marita Pressured by Reds,” New York Post, November 3, 1977.

  The testimony of Sturgis at the Rockefeller Commission hearings, probably more than any other single event, gave rise to the concept of Operation 40 as a secret assassination squad responsible for many political murders, including perhaps the JFK assassination. That Sturgis was sometimes linked to the assassination did not bother him: in fact, he seemed to revel in the notoriety, appearing on television talk shows where he liked to give the impression that he knew more than he could say publicly.

  Carlos Marcello’s feelings about JFK: John H. Davis, Mafia Kingfish: Carlos Marcello and the Assassination of John F. Kennedy (New York: Signet, 1989), pp. 88–101, 154–56, 301–9.

  “If you want to kill a dog”: Ibid., p. 154.

  Marita Lorenz: Deposition of Marita Lorenz, case of E. Howard Hunt v. Joseph Okpaku Publications et al., Southern District of Florida, January 25, 1978; testimony of Marita Lorenz, House Select Committee on Assassinations (HSCA), May 31, 1978.

  Paul Meskill, “Ex-Spy Says She Drove to Dallas with Oswald & Kennedy ‘Assassin Squad,’ ” New York Daily News, September 5, 1973; Ann Louise Bardach, “The Story of Marita Lorenz: Mistress, Mother, CIA Informant, and Center of Swirling Conspiracy Theories,” Vanity Fair, November 1, 1993.

  House Select Committee on Assassinations (HSCA): The committee was formulated in 1976 and issued a final report in 1978. A
n investigator for the committee, Gaeton Fonzi, later published a book entitled The Last Investigation (New York: Basic Books, 1993), considered to be one of the essential texts in the JFK assassination canon.

  The Secret War by Fabián Escalante: The series is comprised of three books: The Cuba Project: CIA Covert Operations Against Cuba 1959–1962; JFK: The Cuba Files; and Executive Action: 634 Ways to Kill Fidel Castro. Escalante’s work has provided landmark information and intelligence on the many plots to kill Castro, the anti-Castro movement in general, and the assassination of JFK, but it should also be noted that since he was a former director of Cuban intelligence, his investigative work is driven by a very specific agenda. Escalante is unambiguous in his belief that anti-Castro Cuban exiles were key players in the Kennedy assassination.

  Battle military records: Battle’s complete military file was entered into evidence at U.S. v. Battle et al., 2006. The file totals more than one hundred pages.

  Battle Sr. settles in New York City and Union City: Battle’s military records show that upon discharge from the service he listed his address on West 83rd Street in Manhattan. Within months his official address had switched to Union City, New Jersey. For a valuable historical and sociological portrait of Union City, see Yolanda Prieto, The Cubans of Union City: Immigrants and Exiles in a New Jersey Community (Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 2009).

  3. SANTO

  Trafficante’s background: Deitche, The Silent Don; Andy Rosenblatt, “Triumphs and Trials of a Mob Boss as Rivals Eye His Turf, an Ailing Santo Trafficante May Face His First Term in an American Jail,” Miami Herald, July 17, 1983; interview with Julio Ojeda, February 6, 2016.

  José Miguel and Gustavo Battle meet with Trafficante: FBI intelligence report, from Lieutenant Charles Black, Supervisor Criminal Intelligence Section, to George E. Leppig, Acting Director. Subject: Santo Trafficante. December 6, 1966.

  The Trafficantes and narcotics: Ibid. Among other things, the memo states: “Concerning TRAFFICANTE’S recent trip to Madrid, Spain, on November 22, 1966, it has been learned that the purpose of this trip was to meet with VICENTE IGLESIAS ARMADA, who is reputed to be a major figure in international narcotics traffic. On his return to the United States through New York, TRAFFICANTE was strip-searched by U.S. Immigration Inspectors, and a new address book was obtained and copied.”

  Tampa/Ybor City crime history: Deitche, Cigar City Mafia, pp. 6–9, 19–21.

  Alejandro “Alex” Pompez: Adrian Burgos Jr., Cuban Star: How One Negro-League Owner Changed the Face of Baseball (New York: Hill and Wang, 2011).

  Racism toward “the Spanish Menace”: “The Spanish Menace in Harlem,” New York Age, January 28, 1929.

  Battle meets Mafia bosses in New Jersey and New York City: Testimony of David Shanks, U.S. v. Battle et al., 2006; Shanks/Rosario interview with Vincent Cafaro, January 31, 1998.

  Mujica’s role in the early formation of bolita syndicate in New York City–New Jersey area: Testimony of Abraham Rydz, U.S. v. Battle et al., 2006.

  The Cuban Mafia: The origin of the term seems to come specifically from this era when the bolita bosses and Mafia numbers bosses formed their alliance. The term refers to “old school” Cuban organized crime, not to be confused with the narcotraficantes of the 1980s and 1990s, who generally operated as an entity separate from the Italian Mafia.

  Incident at Tony’s Barbershop: Interview with Jesús.

  Assault charges against Battle dropped: Battle’s criminal record shows that he was arrested by the Union City Police Department on December 12, 1968, and charged with aggravated assault with a firearm, with the outcome listed as “No Disposition.”

  Trafficante Jr. setting up tryst for Senator Kennedy in Havana: This incident is depicted in English, Havana Nocturne, pp. 210 –11.

  Hector Duarte and the attack on the presidential palace: R. Hart Phillips, “Cuba Suppresses Youths’ Uprising, Forty Are Killed: Students Storm Batista’s Palace Routed as Tanks and Troops Attack,” New York Times, March 14, 1957. This seminal event is depicted in all the major books on the Cuban Revolution, including Thomas, Cuba, pp. 614–17; Carlos Franqui, Diary of the Cuban Revolution (New York: Viking, 1980), pp. 147–61; and many others.

  Duarte as a “dangerous hoodlum”: At the same time Duarte was designated as a dangerous hoodlum, he was being recruited by both the Cuban Intelligence Service (CIS) and the CIA. The Americans knew Duarte was working for CIS and sought to use him as a double agent. CIA DISPATCH; from Chief of Station JMWAVE to Chief of Special Affairs. Title: Operational Report on personalities known to Hector Duarte Hernandez. File No. 201-147801. January 27, 1964.

  Battle-Duarte shootout in Little Havana: Miami PD Crime Scene Search Report, case #664094, Records and Identification Unit, December 26, 1969; Miami PD Field Report, December 26, 1969; Miami PD interview reports with Gustavo Battle, Pedro Battle, Manuel Chacon, and assorted witnesses; Miami PD Supplementary Report, January 5, 1970.

  Duarte killing ruled justifiable homicide: Miami PD, Supplementary Report, February 5, 1970.

  Gustavo Battle narco conviction: Gustavo’s criminal record shows arrest on June 21, 1970, in Miami for Federal Conspiracy to Sell/Import Cocaine. He was found guilty on October 12, 1970, and sentenced to ninety-eight months in prison at Atlanta Federal Penitentiary.

  Bernardo de Torres: FBI memo, Newark office, Organized Crime Division, July 8, 1966. Filed office File No. 165-619. Report made by S.A. Anthony P. Rezza.

  INS “not conducting investigation”: Ibid. The memo states: “On 6/17/66, investigator ED WHALEN, INS, furnished information that his office would not be conducting an active investigation with regard to the subject since it is their belief that the subject is anti-Castro and anti-communist in his beliefs.”

  The Kelly brothers: FBI memo, Newark office, Organized Crime Division, July 8, 1966. Report made by S.A. Anthony P. Rezza.

  Battle and Pete Kelly: Ibid. The memo includes log of surveillance conducted by Special Agents Kenneth F. Hackmann and Anthony P. Rezza.

  FBI surveillance of Battle: Ibid.

  4. THE RAIN IN SPAIN

  Carlos Rodriguez meets Battle: Interview with Carlos Rodriguez, October 20, 2015.

  Rodriguez biography: Ibid.

  Incident at El Brinque: Ibid.

  “Why is he a friend of yours?”: Ibid.

  Indictment of Battle et al.: U.S. v. Jose Battle, Angel Mujica, William Alter, Rolando Mirabente, Orestes Destrade, Gerardo Martinez, Juan Diaz, Erdio Gomez, Lazaro Delgado, Mario Lopez, Francisco Menesses, Raomon Enriquez, Aldo Battle, and Hiram Battle. U.S. District Court of New Jersey, Criminal Docket No. 350-70, AUSA Frederick B. Lacey. July 22, 1970.

  Incident with Alejandro Lagos: Lagos interviewed by David Shanks, who drafted a report stating, “Between October 16, 1997 and October 21, 1997 a series of interviews were conducted by [Detective David L. Shanks] with ALEJANDRO N. LAGOS regarding his knowledge of the illegal activities of JOSE MIGUEL BATTLE.” Case No. 331829-J.

  “Listen, the man that hit you is El Padrino”: Ibid.

  Battle flees to Madrid: U.S. v. Battle et al., 1970.

  Los Cubanos in Madrid: Interview with Joaquin Deleon Jr., May 12, 2016; interview with George Dávila, May 10, 2016; interview with Ernesto Torres Izquierdo, September 15, 2016; interview with Antonia Izquierdo, February 18, 2017.

  In May 2017, the author traveled to Madrid and visited many of the locations where Battle, Ernestico Torres, and the others lived and socialized.

  Background on Joaquin Deleon Sr.: Interview with Joaquin Deleon Jr.

  “He could be loud”: Ibid.

  “He wasn’t like his father”: Ibid.

  Isleño Dávila background: Interview with Michael Dávila, April 18, 2016; interview with George Dávila; interview with Humberto Dávila Jr., September 15, 2016.

  In telling the story of the Corporation, the Dávilas were especially concerned that the role of their family be accurately portrayed. Both Michael and George, who were nephews of Isleño Dáv
ila, and Humberto Jr., his son, were generous with their time and memories. Humberto Jr. even traveled from Panama City to Miami to be interviewed for this book.

  Ernesto Torres in Spain: Interview with Ernesto Torres Izquierdo; interview with Antonia Izquierdo; Certificación de Nacimiento, Ministerio de Justicia, La Habana [birth certificate for Ernesto Heriberto Torres y Alsina] states that he was born on May 22, 1953, to Ernesto Ramon Torres y del Valle (father) and Librada Ada Alsina y Acanda (mother).

  Ernesto Torres Sr. and Battle: Interview with Ernesto Torres Izquierdo.

  Antonia meets Ernestico: Interview with Antonia Izquierdo.

  Confrontation between Ernestico and Isleño Dávila: Ibid.

  Pedro Battle serves as godfather: Interview with Ernesto Torres Izquierdo; interview with Antonia Izquierdo.

  Killing by Ernestico in Spain: Interview with Joaquin Deleon Jr.

  Cubans vacationing together at Costa del Sol: Ibid.

  Battle apprehended upon return to the United States: U.S.v. Battle et al., 1970. Battle was arrested by FBI special agent Wendell W. Hall and delivered to court in Newark by Deputy U.S. Marshal Jack Drazen on September 22, 1972; FBI Memo, Subject: Case #590-48-7001. From SA Jose A. Valdes and CIA agent Vonnie Ames to Bureau Chief Rolando D. Bolanos. A chronological criminal history and intelligence summary on Jose Miguel Battle Sr. and his organization. June 27, 1984.

  Battle at Danbury prison, meets Eugenio Rolando Martinez: Interview with Eugenio Rolando Martinez, August 10, 2016.

  Battle presents watch to Martinez: Ibid.

  Posada, the Alejos conspiracy, and other early CIA efforts: FBI memo, May 17, 1965. “It is noted that ROBERT ALEJOS ARZU, 180 Palm Drive, Palm Island, Miami Beach, Florida, is a wealthy Guatemalan national and has been conspiring to overthrow the government of Guatemala.” Among the items confiscated by U.S. Customs were: portable flame thrower, fifty-one M-21 hand grenades (fragmentation), sixteen Bazooka rockets, forty-four sticks of dynamite (military), and ten thousand rounds of ammunition for everything from a Thompson submachine gun to a .45-caliber M-3 Grease gun.