Eulalio Francisco Castro Paz (Frank Castro or Frank Pérez) was a Cuban-American freedom fighter, anticommunist revolutionary, gang leader, arms dealer, terrorist group leader, intelligence operative, undercover agent, drug and narcotics smuggler, decades-long jewelry store owner, and pillar of the

Little Havana Little Havana () is a Neighborhoods in Miami, neighborhood of Miami, Florida, United States. Home to many Cuban exiles, as well as many immigrants from Central and South America, Little Havana is named after Havana, the Capital (political), ...

community who has a street named after him in Miami. Frank was a Cuban-born exile living in the United States who worked for the

Central Intelligence Agency The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA; ) is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States tasked with advancing national security through collecting and analyzing intelligence from around the world and ...

and as a member of

Brigade 2506 Brigade 2506 (Brigada Asalto 2506) was a CIA-sponsored group of Cuban exiles formed in 1960 to attempt the military overthrow of the Cuban government headed by Fidel Castro. It carried out the abortive Bay of Pigs Invasion landings in Cuba ...

participated in the

Bay of Pigs Invasion The Bay of Pigs Invasion (, sometimes called or after the Playa Girón) was a failed military landing operation on the southwestern coast of Cuba in April 1961 by the United States of America and the Cuban Democratic Revolutionary Front ...

. Frank was a vocal critic of the

Castro regime The political career of Fidel Castro saw Cuba undergo significant economic, political, and social changes. In the Cuban Revolution, Fidel Castro and an associated group of revolutionaries toppled the ruling government of Fulgencio Batista, forcin ...

, and was a staunch

anticommunist Anti-communism is Political movement, political and Ideology, ideological opposition to communism, communist beliefs, groups, and individuals. Organized anti-communism developed after the 1917 October Revolution in Russia, and it reached global ...

and anti-Castro activist (activista anticastra). Castro hated Castro most of all, and spent his adult life in exile trying to topple his government in Cuba.

Life

Prior to the

Cuban Revolution The Cuban Revolution () was the military and political movement that overthrew the dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista, who had ruled Cuba from 1952 to 1959. The revolution began after the 1952 Cuban coup d'état, in which Batista overthrew ...

, Frank was a pilot in the Republic of Cuba Air Force. After the Revolution, Frank Castro escaped to

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

, where he lived until the

. After the invasion failed, the members of

brigade 2506 Brigade 2506 (Brigada Asalto 2506) was a CIA-sponsored group of Cuban exiles formed in 1960 to attempt the military overthrow of the Cuban government headed by Fidel Castro. It carried out the abortive Bay of Pigs Invasion landings in Cuba ...

were held in Cuban prison until

John F. Kennedy John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), also known as JFK, was the 35th president of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963. He was the first Roman Catholic and youngest person elected p ...

was able to negotiate their release from prison. Frank, who went by Frank Pérez in his civilian life (the surname Castro often caused confusion), quickly became a jewelry store owner and community leader in

. The jewelry store that Frank started after being released from Cuban prison was called "Frank Joyeria," and is still managed by his two sons. In May 2024, city of

Miami Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

Commissioner

Joe Carollo Joseph Xavier Carollo (born March 12, 1955) is a Cuban-American politician who served as mayor of Miami from 1996 to 1997 and again from 1998 to 2001. Following his loss in the 2001 mayoral election, he served as Doral, Florida city manager fr ...

designated a street in the community to be named "Frank Perez Avenue." Eventually, Frank became the leader of the Cuban National Liberation Front (FLNC), and planned several bombings in the Caribbean. The United States Attorney's Office would call him the "most angerousmilitant Cuban exile" in the world. Frank was also the leader of CORU. According to the

Federal Bureau of Investigation The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and Federal law enforcement in the United States, its principal federal law enforcement ag ...

"Cuban National Liberation Front is a Cuban exile terrorist organization which was formed on October 1973, when several leaders from different groups participated in a sea attack against a Government of Cuba fishing boat. FLNC has claimed credit for about 25 acts of terrorism...

...Frank Castro, present leader of CORU... has reportedly stated that CORU needs to plant magnetic type bombs on communist country ships in four different ports, and on simultaneous dates of departure. Further, such devices should have 24 hour delay activators causing explosions well after the victim ship leaves the port. This would increase any chances for the destruction of any evidence."

While he was the leader of CORU, the organization planned kidnappings, bombings, targeted assassinations, and funded their activities through illegal smuggling of drugs, weapons, and narcotics. Frank was known to many as a drug kingpin, and is known to have had associations with

Pablo Escobar Pablo Emilio Escobar Gaviria (; ; 1 December 19492 December 1993) was a Colombian drug lord, narcoterrorist, and politician who was the founder and leader of the Medellín Cartel. Dubbed the "King of Cocaine", Escobar was one of the wealthie ...

and other narcotics dealers in the region. However, from direct sources, Frank readily admitted that he was only selling drugs to raise money for "the Revolution," and the overthrow of Fidel Castro. In 1976, Frank created two satellite branches of CORU: in Miami, the Youth of the Star, and in New York City, the "F-14." He is recognized today by the government of Cuba as a terrorist. He was implicated in the CORU terrorist bombing of

Cubana de Aviación Flight 455 Cubana de Aviación Flight 455 was a Cuban flight from Barbados to Jamaica that was brought down on 6 October 1976 by a terrorist bomb attack. All 73 people on board the Douglas DC-8 aircraft were killed after two time bombs went off and the p ...

in October 1976 over Barbados, having been himself a co-founder and the leader of CORU. He was later implicated in the

Iran–Contra affair The Iran–Contra affair (; ), also referred to as the Iran–Contra scandal, the Iran Initiative, or simply Iran–Contra, was a political scandal in the United States that centered on arms trafficking to Iran between 1981 and 1986, facilitat ...

, however there is no evidence that he was a

Sandinista The Sandinista National Liberation Front (, FSLN) is a socialist political party in Nicaragua. Its members are called Sandinistas () in both English and Spanish. The party is named after Augusto César Sandino, who led the Nicaraguan resistan ...

- but he did sell narcotics to raise money for the Nicaraguan revolution, and he did find the weapons to arm the Sandinista movement. He has been accused of being involved in the

Watergate scandal The Watergate scandal was a major political scandal in the United States involving the Presidency of Richard Nixon, administration of President Richard Nixon. The scandal began in 1972 and ultimately led to Resignation of Richard Nixon, Nix ...

, as the FLNC was involved in the break-in. The mercenary Karl Penta writes in his memoirs that Frank Castro was also a leader of

Alpha 66 Alpha 66 is an anti-Castro paramilitary organization. The group was originally formed by Cuban exiles in the early 1960s and was most active in the late 1970s and 1980s. Its activities declined in the 1980s. History Foundation Alpha 66 was found ...

"All the weapons came out: MAGs, Minimees, they even had a fifty-calibre mounted on an observation tower set up at the airfield. All the boys looked the part in uniforms with jungle boots and webbing full of ammunition, all courtesy of Frank Castro."

References

{{reflist 1942 births 2003 deaths Alpha 66 personnel Brigade 2506 personnel Cuban revolutionaries Central Intelligence Agency People convicted of treason against Cuba