Eloy Gutiérrez Menoyo (December 8, 1934 – October 26, 2012) was a revolutionary who led the guerrilla force Second National Front of Escambray during 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 ...

against

Fulgencio Batista Fulgencio Batista y Zaldívar (born Rubén Zaldívar; January 16, 1901 – August 6, 1973) was a Cuban military officer and politician who played a dominant role in Cuban politics from his initial rise to power as part of the 1933 Revolt of t ...

and later opposed the government of

Fidel Castro Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz (13 August 1926 – 25 November 2016) was a Cuban politician and revolutionary who was the leader of Cuba from 1959 to 2008, serving as the prime minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976 and President of Cuba, president ...

over its pro-

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

leanings. His brother Carlos Gutiérrez Menoyo died in the Presidential Palace attack of March 13, 1957.

Life

Gutiérrez Menoyo came from a Spanish family active in the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War () was a military conflict fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Republican faction (Spanish Civil War), Republicans and the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalists. Republicans were loyal to the Left-wing p ...

and emigrated to Cuba following the victory of

Francisco Franco Francisco Franco Bahamonde (born Francisco Paulino Hermenegildo Teódulo Franco Bahamonde; 4 December 1892 – 20 November 1975) was a Spanish general and dictator who led the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalist forces i ...

′s forces with his family in 1945. In Cuba in 1957, Eloy formed and commanded the rebel group Second National Front of Escambray, which fought against president Batista′s dictatorial rule alongside

′s 26 July Revolutionary Movement and the 13th of March Revolutionary Student Directorate. In March 1957, he and his brother, Carlos, were part of an attack on the

Presidential Palace A presidential palace is the official residence of the president in some countries. Some presidential palaces were once the official residences to monarchs in former monarchies that were preserved during those states' transition into republics. ...

; his brother, Carlos, was killed in that attack. On January 3 of 1959, Eloy and his troops entered the City of

Havana, Cuba Havana (; ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.Fidel Castro Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz (13 August 1926 – 25 November 2016) was a Cuban politician and revolutionary who was the leader of Cuba from 1959 to 2008, serving as the prime minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976 and President of Cuba, president ...

. Eloy was hailed as one of the ''Commanders Of The Revolution''. Eloy's own army was absorbed into the army of Fidel Castro but Eloy was permitted to retain the rank of 'Major' which was the highest rank in Cuba at the time. However, Eloy and many of his senior officers were never offered a post in the Castro administration. While being on the outside and looking in, Eloy grew dissatisfied with the Castro administration and in September–October 1959, Eloy and some of his men from the old 1st version of the Second National Front, which was formed in 1957 as a pro-Castro group, formed the 2nd version of the Second National Front, which was an anti-Castro group. However, in January 1961, events took a turn against these anti-Castro 2nd Version members and Eloy and about 12 military and civilian supporters fled to the US on a boat. Eloy settled in

Miami, Florida 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 ...

. While in Florida, Eloy helped form Alpha 66. Formed in January–February 1962, Alpha 66 was created too late to take part in April 1961

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 ...

. However, after the

assassination of John F. Kennedy John F. Kennedy, the 35th president of the United States, was assassinated while riding in a presidential motorcade through Dealey Plaza in Dallas, Texas, on November 22, 1963. Kennedy was in the vehicle with his wife Jacqueline Kennedy Onas ...

in 1963, Eloy led an armed incursion into Cuba in December 1964, but was captured, jailed, and abused, on one occasion being beaten nearly to death by guards. He was sentenced to death for the revolt, which was later commuted to 30 years in prison. After 22 years in prison, Eloy was freed in 1986 after a petition by the Spanish government. Eloy then went into exile in Spain. Eloy then returned to Miami, Florida where he formed Cambio Cubano or Cuban Change in 1992. In 2003, Eloy left the USA and returned to Cuba where he would remain for the rest of his life as a "tolerated dissident". In 2021, an FBI memo confirmed that Menoyo was an asset of US Army intelligence. Eloy had at least three wives. He had a daughter in

Puerto Rico ; abbreviated PR), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, is a Government of Puerto Rico, self-governing Caribbean Geography of Puerto Rico, archipelago and island organized as an Territories of the United States, unincorporated territo ...

with his first wife; his second wife, Gladys, remained in Florida with their three sons. His third wife was Flor Ester Torres Sanabria.

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Name pronunciation

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gutierrez Menoyo, Eloy 1934 births 2012 deaths Alpha 66 personnel Cuban prisoners sentenced to death Exiles of the Cuban Revolution in the United States Spanish emigrants to Cuba People of the Cuban Revolution Politicians from Madrid People convicted of treason against Cuba Prisoners sentenced to death by Cuba People of the Escambray Rebellion

Life

See also

References

Name pronunciation