Eugenio Martinez dies

[Steve Thomas]

Eugenio Rolando Martínez, Watergate burglar and former CIA asset in Miami, dies at 98

Miami Herald 02/02/21

https://this.kiji.is/729174268642623488

“In a column he penned in 1974, Martínez described the scheme [Watergate]as a bungled affair that reminded him of the 1961 Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba — an ill-fated, poorly planned attempt by the CIA to spur revolution by attacking communist dictator Castro’s troops with Cuban exile troops.

“I can’t help seeing the whole Watergate affair as a repetition of the Bay of Pigs,” he wrote. “The invasion was a fiasco for the United States and a tragedy for the Cubans. All of the agencies of the U.S. government were involved, and they carried out their plans in so ill a manner that everyone landed in the hands of Castro — like a present.””

“Martínez, born in July of 1922 in Artemisa, Cuba, was a prolific asset for the U.S. CIA in the 1960s, running hundreds of missions to Cuba from Miami. Martínez’s granddaughter, Michelle Diaz, said Monday that he conducted 365 missions in all.”

Steve Thomas

 

[Matt Allison]

98, dang. That's a long lick of the lollipop there.

[Douglas Caddy]

Article from the Miami Herald:

Eugenio Rolando Martínez, Watergate burglar and former CIA asset in Miami, dies at 98 ｜ Miami Herald (kiji.is)

 

[Douglas Caddy]

I first met Eugenio Martinez when he was in the holding cell in the police precinct in D.C. following his arrest shortly before inside the Democratic National Committee on June 17, 1972. I had first met Bernard Barker, his cellmate, a few months before when Howard Hunt invited me to join him and Mr. Barker at the Army Navy Club for lunch.