Shadow Warrior: The CIA Hero of a Hundred Unknown Battles

A CIA undercover agent in Cuba before the Bay of Pigs debacle, Cuban-born Rodriguez also ran a communications network in Nicaragua, took part in the capture of Che Guevara in Bolivia, led a strike force during the Vietnam war and, more recently, served as Oliver North's liaison to the Salvadorian government. He was roughly handled by a Senate subcommittee investigating ties between the contras and drug smuggling in Central America--its chairman, Senator John Kerry, later apologized to him publicly. Rodriguez's personal adventures, written with freelancer Weisman, make for exciting reading, but of broader historical interest are his comments on Che Guevara's final hours, the dissension within Miami's Cuban community and its various anti-Castro movements and his informed indictment of U.S. operational blunders in Central America. Photos. (Oct.)