Former State Security agent Enoel Salas Santos, known as Allam, has died at the age of 89 in the municipality of Placetas, Villa Clara, after a career marked by infiltrating counterrevolutionary organizations and carrying out risky missions that contributed to the defense of the Cuban Revolution.
Recalling his roots in an interview given years ago, Salas Santos recounted that in August 1957, at just 21 years old, he decided, along with farmers and students, to rise up against dictator Fulgencio Batista.
In the Escambray Mountains, he said, he learned the true meaning of struggle, and he recalled being wounded in the left arm during the battle of La Llorona, though this did not deter him.
The legendary Argentine-Cuban guerrilla fighter Ernesto Guevara (Che) later found him and granted him the rank of first lieutenant, with which he participated in the battles of Güinia de Miranda, Banao, Fomento, Guayos, Cabaiguán, and other towns, each representing a piece of the recovered homeland.
Regarding the triumph of January 1959, Allam expressed with nostalgia that entering Havana meant writing the first page of the dreamed-of history; he reminisced about meeting Che at La Cabaña Fortress and later, under the command of Ramiro Valdés, organizing the army in Las Villas province.
Shortly afterward, he received the mission of purging the ranks and identifying those who did not deserve to remain, an experience that taught him that the Revolution was also defended with intelligence.
Regarding his infiltration of the counterrevolution, he explained that he had to resign his status as a rebel officer and feign treason; his family turned their backs on him, but he emphasized that this was the order: infiltrate, climb the ranks, and reach the outside world.
Once in the United States, he penetrated the counterrevolutionary organization Alpha 66 and rose to the position of military coordinator, from which he thwarted pirate attacks and uncovered plots against Fidel Castro Ruz; every piece of information he transmitted represented a blow to the enemy.
Regarding the failed infiltration in Baracoa, he recounted that he was smuggled in from the Dominican Republic along with Eloy Gutiérrez Menoyo and other counterrevolutionaries.
He left clues along the way so that State Security could identify him, and he was eventually captured; he received a 25-year prison sentence, of which he served 13 years and seven months; in prison, he continued acting as an agent, extracting information and dismantling cells, a period he described as difficult but worthwhile.
His face lit up as he recalled the day his identity was revealed in Placetas, with Commander of the Revolution Ramiro Valdés present. His true story was made public, and he received the rank of lieutenant colonel in the Ministry of the Interior (Minint), an event he described as a rebirth and confirmation that all his sacrifice had been worthwhile.
In his closing remarks, he urged the new generations, noting that they now have better working conditions.
He added that in his day, they had to do much less and emphasized that the Revolution always needs agents, even after their names are public, because one never stops serving Cuba.
Today, the sun in Placetas illuminated the funeral home where his comrades paid him tribute; the cold turned the sky gray, as if nature itself understood that a hero to whom Cuba owes so much had died.
IMAGE CREDIT: Henry Omar Pérez | Photo: Arelys María Echeverría Rodríguez
[ SOURCE: AGENCIA CUBANA DE NOTICIAS ]
