Antonio Veciana facts for kids

Antonio Veciana Blanch (born October 18, 1928 – died June 18, 2020) was a Cuban exile who founded and led a group called Alpha 66. This group was against Fidel Castro, who was the leader of Cuba.

In the mid-1970s, Veciana told a special government committee in the United States that a person he knew as Maurice Bishop had told him to start Alpha 66. Veciana said Bishop, who he believed worked for the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), helped plan many of Alpha 66's actions. This included two attempts to remove Fidel Castro from power. Veciana also claimed that he met a man he later recognized as Lee Harvey Oswald. This meeting happened when Veciana was with Bishop, a few months before the assassination of U.S. President John F. Kennedy. The government committee found that Veciana was likely involved in the attempts against Castro. However, they could not confirm if Bishop existed or if he was connected to Oswald.

Career

Life Before the Revolution

When the Cuban Revolution happened in 1959, Antonio Veciana worked as an accountant for a well-known businessman named Julio Lobo. He was also the president of the association for professional accountants.

Joining the Fight Against Castro

Veciana said he was asked by the CIA to become a spy in 1959. He claimed that David Atlee Phillips, also known as Maurice Bishop, recruited him to try and remove Fidel Castro from power. After this first contact, Veciana took a short course. He learned about how to influence people's minds and how to carry out secret operations.

After a failed attempt by the U.S. to invade Cuba in April 1961, Bishop told Veciana to help plan another attempt to remove Castro. This plan was to happen in Havana from an apartment. Veciana left Cuba the day before this attempt in October 1961. His wife and children had already left Cuba some months earlier. This attempt, which involved a special weapon called a bazooka, did not succeed.

Starting Alpha 66

Veciana stated that he settled in Miami, Florida, with his family. After Bishop contacted him there, Veciana founded Alpha 66 in mid-1962. He became the group's civilian leader and was in charge of raising money. He also found a military leader for the group from another Cuban exile organization. Alpha 66 became one of the most active groups of Cuban exiles. They got weapons and boats and launched small, quick attacks on Cuba.

Work in Bolivia

From August 1968 to June 1972, Veciana worked in Bolivia. Officially, he was a banking advisor for the Central Bank of Bolivia. His office was located in the American Embassy. His main job was to organize activities against communism and against Castro. This included another attempt to remove Castro in Chile in 1971. This plan involved putting a gun inside a television camera. Veciana's relationship with Bishop ended when he tried to blame Russian agents for the assassination plan. Bishop ended their connection in 1973. He paid Veciana a large sum of money for his past services.

Meeting Oswald and Government Investigation

In 1976, Veciana told the United States House Select Committee on Assassinations (HSCA) about a meeting he had with Bishop in Dallas. He said that in late August or September 1963, he arrived to see Bishop talking with Lee Harvey Oswald. Veciana also said that a few months after President Kennedy's assassination, Bishop offered to pay a relative of Veciana. This relative worked for the Cuban intelligence agency in Mexico City. The payment was for the relative to publicly say they had met Oswald there.

On September 21, 1979, in Miami, Veciana was shot in the head while riding in his car. He was taken to the hospital. Veciana's family and friends believed that agents of the Cuban government had tried to kill him. Veciana was not actively involved with Alpha 66 at the time of the shooting. His wife said he had received threats eight months earlier. The leader of Alpha 66 at the time, Nazario Sargen, said Veciana had told a press conference that the Cuban government planned to kill him. Veciana said he learned about this plan from the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Later years

Veciana briefly worked as a treasurer for Maurice Ferré's campaign for mayor of Miami-Dade in 2004. He resigned quickly because he was not a registered voter, which was required by the state.

In 2013, Veciana gave interviews saying he believed that the assassination of John F. Kennedy was carried out by high-ranking military and intelligence officials. On January 16, 2016, a video was published online where Veciana clearly stated that Maurice Bishop was actually David Atlee Phillips.

Antonio Veciana was married to Sira Muino. They had a daughter, who is a journalist named Ana Veciana-Suarez.

In the years before he passed away, Veciana lived in a care facility for older adults in Miami-Dade, Florida. He died in Miami on June 18, 2020.