The Bureau for the Repression of Communist Activities (Spanish: Buró para Represión de las Actividades Comunistas, BRAC) was the secret police agency that Cuban President Fulgencio Batista maintained in the 1950s, which gained a reputation for brutality in its fight against the 26th of July Movement.[1][2][3][4][5]
The bureau was headed by Mariano Faget, who had first gained fame as a Nazi hunter during Batista's first turn at power, from 1940 to 1944, when he was chief of the Office of Investigation of Enemy Activities (Oficina de Investigación de Actividades Enemigas),[a] a counter-espionage unit that targeted Nazi and Fascist agents.
On Dec. 7, 1955, BRAC agents fired upon an anti-Batista demonstration held by the Federation of University of Students in Havana. Several demonstrators, including Camilo Cienfuegos, were wounded when the police opened fire on the crowd.[6]
The development of BRAC was aided and encouraged by the CIA starting in 1956.
Explanatory notes
edit- ^ Also called the Servicio, Buró or Sección de Investigación de Actividades Enemigas.
References
edit- ^ "Miami Herald: Faget's father was a brutal Batista official". Jonathanpollard.org. Retrieved 2016-01-14.
- ^ Jean-Guy Allard. "Bush and Batista: Brothers in Arms". Webcitation.org. Archived from the original on September 24, 2009. Retrieved 2016-01-14.
- ^ "Cuba's Batista". Latinamericanstudies.org. 1959-01-01. Retrieved 2016-01-14.
- ^ "4/22/96 - Camilo Cienfuegos As An Immigrant In U.S". The Militant. Retrieved 2016-01-14.
- ^ "The Cuban revolution the truth behind the lies". Cubaverdad.net. Archived from the original on 2018-09-27. Retrieved 2016-01-14.
- ^ Sierra, Rafael "Camilo Cienfuegos As An Immigrant In U.S." The Militant(April 22, 1996)
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