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Philip Agee: US Spy Turned Good
Via NY Transfer News Collective * All the News that Doesn't Fit
Philip Agee (RIP): U.S. spy turned good
"He helped me become an American revolutionary."
by Marcel Hatch,
Vancouver Canada
11 January 2008
Earlier this week I learned of the death of former CIA agent Philip
Agee. Born in 1935, Agee joined the agency as a youth to help "save"
the United States from global "bad guys." Over time he came to the
conclusion that the real bad guys were the CIA, Wa****ngton D.C. and the
NY Stock Exchange. In fact, he decided they were the forces behind most
of the real bad guys in Latin America and thus shamelessly outed CIA
criminal activities. Having made this discovery as a CIA agent, Agee
went on to become the most prominent anti-imperialist whistleblower of
the last quarter of the 20th century. His bravery and audacity set the
stage for many debunkers and critics to come.
In the mid-1970s, my bevy of progressive aunts and uncles became
enamored with Agee's expos(c)s, especially "Inside the Company: CIA
Diary." They introduced me to this courageous man's writings. (Thank
goodness for a liberal upbringing!)
At that point in my life, I didn't understand the vast scope of U.S.
financing and military backing for Latin American henchmen, dictators
and killers put in power for the greater glory and profits of U.S.
cor****ations. But Agee and my aunts launched me on a lifelong search
for answers. Thirty years later, Agee's books are still in my library
just a few feet away from where I work today.
My family used Agee's expos(c)s of imperial excess to inspire me as a
teenager to "get involved" in order to try and improve the reputation
of the United States for decency and honor. They held Agee up to me as
a model American in the spirit of Thomas Paine, the 18th century
revolutionary and author of "Common Sense" and Martin Luther King, Jr.
Two preeminent U.S. radicals, both of whom Agee references.
The logical conclusion of my family's liberal education was that I
would become a revolutionary and conclude to join a party. I had a
banquet of choices and picked the U.S. Freedom Socialist Party because
they addressed my concerns as a young gay feminist in the 1970s. I
remain a sup****ter of this organization and a feminist revolutionary
more than three decades later.
Agee dedicated "Inside the Company: CIA Diary" to "Angela Camargo
Seixas and her comrades in Latin America struggling for social justice,
national dignity and peace."
Angela was a feminist and a political leader who spoke out against the
1960s military dictator****p installed in Brazil by the U.S. to ensure
Wa****ngton's economic and political hegemony over her nation's great
people, their labor and natural resources. She was ultimately
imprisoned and killed by the dictator****p for daring to challenge the
U.S.-backed generals' right to rule. "Inside the Company: CIA Diary"
remains essential background material for North American
anti-imperialist activists. Scoop it up at used bookstores now. Don't
expect to find a reprint any time soon given the U.S. ruling class'
penchant for hating those who cross the line to join the oppressed.
I don't know if Philip Agee ultimately became convinced of the need for
worldwide socialist revolution. I do know that he loved, admired and
defended his adopted Cuban homeland unconditionally. I know he
sup****ted himself while in Cuba by becoming a travel agent like me, and
that he declined to burden his Cuban hosts monetarily. I know that he
helped many thousands of U.S. residents visit Cuba despite the US
blockade resulting in many new friends for the island, thus bypassing
the travel ban. I also know that he was loved by the Cuban people and
used his every waking moment to speak out against the blockade. Since
2001, I spoke with Philip many times over the telephone. I found him to
be a supreme mensch. He remained unwaveringly principled and upright --
a stalwart defender of Cuba and, perhaps more im****tantly, an "American
freedom fighter" of the highest caliber.
How does one judge such a man as Philip Agee? It is easy: as the
ultimate internationalist. He once told me "A united hemisphere based
on the principles of Mart and Bolivar, that is what is needed, a whole
America, that ensures in our era a sharing of the fruits of labor and
resources just like the Cubans do."
For these reasons, Philip Agee should be remembered as a hero of our
Americas. He deserves a place in the pantheon of rebels who have made
the world and the United States a better place by exposing the evil
deeds and desires of its spymasters and cor****ate profiteers. May many
more cops and spies follow his example, risking their lives for freedom
from lies, repression, dictator****ps and suffering!
Long Live Philip Agee!
Marcel Hatch
Education Coordinator
Cuba Education Tours
Vancouver, BC V6B 1H7 Canada
877-687-3817 Toll Free
604-874-9048 Tel Days
604-677-2944 Tel Days
604-874-9041 Fax
778-859-1048 Cell
info@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Email
http://www.cubafriends.ca
Cuba for professionals and lay persons
http://www.hellocuba.ca
Cuba for students and educators
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