Delfin Fernandez
Encyclopedia
To see article about the drummer of Los Salvajes, go to Delfín Fernández (Los Salvajes)
.
Delfín Fernández is a former Cuba
n spy who spent 15 years working for the Cuban counterintelligence Department 11 with the codename Agent Otto. He defected from Cuba and moved to Spain
in 1999. He settled in Spain for five years, becoming one of Europe's most successful bodyguards. In 2005 Fernández moved to Miami, Florida
and as of 2006 he was waiting to get U.S. residency under the Cuban Adjustment Act.
In 2005 he became a naturalized citizen of Spain.
inner circle, Delfín Fernández asserts that he learnt everything from why the Cuban leader incinerates his dirty underwear to his cravings for pricey Spanish ham. Fernández claims that he was once sent to Spain to bring $2,500 worth of the pata negra
delicacy back to Cuba because Fidel Castro had a penchant for imported cured Spanish hams and a paranoia about assassination. Fernández said that chief bodyguard, Bienvenido "Chicho" Pérez, had told him that Castro had his underwear burned to foil any assassination plots with chemicals during laundering.
His disillusionment with the government, he said, and his ambitions for a better life compelled him to defect. Fernández made a series of allegations, including a claim that Raúl Castro had stolen millions of pounds from government coffers. He claimed that Fidel Castro and his brother, Raúl, assembled incriminating dossiers on foreign businessmen who wanted to invest in Cuba. Fernández recorded every word and movement of high-profile visitors to Cuba with a high-tech array of hidden microphones and video cameras. He worked for Cuba's Department 11, set up to infiltrate hotels and travel agencies. There he acted as a spy under the cover of his official title as Operations Manager for the Guitart hotel chain, where he claimed that guests could be open to blackmail. He also stated that he bugged the hotel rooms of foreign politicians and businessmen under orders from Raúl. Fernández said he carried suitcases with cash out of Cuba for the Castro brothers.
Fernández said he defected in Spain in 1999 on a trip to Europe to drop off Raúl's daughter, Mariela Castro Espín
, in Italy to visit her father-in-law and pick up a Rottweiler in Germany for Fidel. According to former CIA analyst Brian Latell, a senior researcher at the University of Miami's Institute for Cuban and Cuban American
Studies and someone described by the Miami Herald as "helping shape public opinion about Cuba's future", "A lot of the stories he told me were fascinating, and I found almost all of them to be highly credible." Fernández has been an outspoken critic of the Cuban government since he defected.
and his wife, Melanie Griffith
, soccer star David Beckham
, Spanish actresses Ana Obregón
and Esther Cañadas
, former Spice Girl
Emma Bunton
, bullfighter Francisco Rivera Ordóñez
and several high-profile businessmen. Before his defection, Fernández claims that one of his key tasks was to spy on wealthy visitors to the island, including film stars Leonardo DiCaprio
and Jack Nicholson
. In 2004 he worked minding Hollywood star Antonio Banderas in Spain.
for £500,000. Fernández admitted he had been approached by paparazzi, who would follow Beckham everywhere. But he insisted that he had always turned down their lucrative cash offers to spill the beans. Fernández said that he saw Beckham kissing Rebecca Loos in the back of his car and that he drove them to the Santa Mauro hotel in Madrid three times. He said, "I could see them kissing in the rear-view mirror. The car had dark tinted windows so nobody could see in from the outside. After that there were three more occasions I drove them to hotels in the early hours." Fernández said that when they had their privacy Beckham and his assistant were "all over each other like teenagers". Victoria (Posh Spice) Beckham
was said to be in tears over tabloid reports that her husband, "Becks," had been having a torrid affair with his former aide, Rebecca Loos. Beckham had been photographed clubbing with Loos who used to work for his management company.
Delfín was also implicated in the scandal surrounding Beckham and Spanish glamour model Nuria Bermúdez
, whose constant visits to Beckham's Santa Mauro hotel prompted wife Victoria to sack Delfín and ten other Cuban attendants.
After living in Spain for five years he arrived in Miami where he had a spot on a TV show on WJAN-Channel 41
. There, as a regular television guest, he caught the imagination of the Cuban community with his disclosures of Castro's habits and idiosyncrasies and the workings of his inner circle. Oscar Haza
, a popular Spanish language talk show host on Channel 41, has invited Fernández on his show, A Mano Limpia
, at least six times, firing up the ratings when he's a guest, said Channel 41 news director Miguel Cossío. The ratings were so strong that Channel 41 offered to let Fernández be a permanent guest on a new daily weekday show, Arrebatados, at 6 p.m., hosted by Maria Laria.
Delfín Fernández (Los Salvajes)
Delfín Fernández Martínez is the founding member of the Spanish rock band Los Salvajes.They were born and grow up in a neighborhood called Poble Sec, a place where he met Gaby Alegret, and Francesc Miralles, with whom he founded, in 1962 Los Salvajes, who are known as the "Spanish Rolling...
.
Delfín Fernández is a former Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
n spy who spent 15 years working for the Cuban counterintelligence Department 11 with the codename Agent Otto. He defected from Cuba and moved to Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
in 1999. He settled in Spain for five years, becoming one of Europe's most successful bodyguards. In 2005 Fernández moved to Miami, Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
and as of 2006 he was waiting to get U.S. residency under the Cuban Adjustment Act.
In 2005 he became a naturalized citizen of Spain.
Defection from Cuba
Fernández, 44 in 2006, emigrated from Cuba in 1999 after becoming disillusioned with Castro's government. As part of Fidel and Raúl Castro'sRaúl Castro
Raúl Modesto Castro Ruz is a Cuban politician and revolutionary who has been President of the Council of State of Cuba and the President of the Council of Ministers of Cuba since 2008; he previously exercised presidential powers in an acting capacity from 2006 to 2008...
inner circle, Delfín Fernández asserts that he learnt everything from why the Cuban leader incinerates his dirty underwear to his cravings for pricey Spanish ham. Fernández claims that he was once sent to Spain to bring $2,500 worth of the pata negra
Pata Negra
Pata Negra is a famous flamenco band in the history of Spanish music. Established by Raimundo Amador Fernández and Rafael Amador Fernández after the band Veneno broke up...
delicacy back to Cuba because Fidel Castro had a penchant for imported cured Spanish hams and a paranoia about assassination. Fernández said that chief bodyguard, Bienvenido "Chicho" Pérez, had told him that Castro had his underwear burned to foil any assassination plots with chemicals during laundering.
His disillusionment with the government, he said, and his ambitions for a better life compelled him to defect. Fernández made a series of allegations, including a claim that Raúl Castro had stolen millions of pounds from government coffers. He claimed that Fidel Castro and his brother, Raúl, assembled incriminating dossiers on foreign businessmen who wanted to invest in Cuba. Fernández recorded every word and movement of high-profile visitors to Cuba with a high-tech array of hidden microphones and video cameras. He worked for Cuba's Department 11, set up to infiltrate hotels and travel agencies. There he acted as a spy under the cover of his official title as Operations Manager for the Guitart hotel chain, where he claimed that guests could be open to blackmail. He also stated that he bugged the hotel rooms of foreign politicians and businessmen under orders from Raúl. Fernández said he carried suitcases with cash out of Cuba for the Castro brothers.
Fernández said he defected in Spain in 1999 on a trip to Europe to drop off Raúl's daughter, Mariela Castro Espín
Mariela Castro
Mariela Castro Espín is the director of the Cuban National Center for Sex Education in Havana and an activist for LGBT rights in Cuba....
, in Italy to visit her father-in-law and pick up a Rottweiler in Germany for Fidel. According to former CIA analyst Brian Latell, a senior researcher at the University of Miami's Institute for Cuban and Cuban American
Cuban American
A Cuban American is a United States citizen who traces his or her "national origin" to Cuba. Cuban Americans are also considered native born Americans with Cuban parents or Cuban-born persons who were raised and educated in US...
Studies and someone described by the Miami Herald as "helping shape public opinion about Cuba's future", "A lot of the stories he told me were fascinating, and I found almost all of them to be highly credible." Fernández has been an outspoken critic of the Cuban government since he defected.
Bodyguard
Fernández settled in Spain for five years, becoming one of Europe's most successful bodyguards. Among his clients in Spain: actors Antonio BanderasAntonio Banderas
José Antonio Domínguez Banderas , better known as Antonio Banderas, is a Spanish film actor, film director, film producer and singer...
and his wife, Melanie Griffith
Melanie Griffith
Melanie Richards Griffith is an American actress. She is an Academy Award nominee and Golden Globe winner for her performance in the 1988 film Working Girl...
, soccer star David Beckham
David Beckham
David Robert Joseph Beckham, OBE is an English footballer who plays midfield for Los Angeles Galaxy in Major League Soccer, having previously played for Manchester United, Preston North End, Real Madrid, and A.C...
, Spanish actresses Ana Obregón
Ana Obregón
Ana Obregón is a Spanish actress, celebrity and socialite.She obtained a Bachelor of Sciences in Biology from the Universidad Complutense de Madrid ....
and Esther Cañadas
Esther Cañadas
Esther Cañadas is a Spanish actress and model.- Biography :Originally, Cañadas wanted to pursue a career as a criminologist, but her mother persuaded her to give modeling a try....
, former Spice Girl
Spice Girls
The Spice Girls were a British pop girl group formed in 1994. The group consisted of Victoria Beckham , Melanie Brown, Emma Bunton, Melanie Chisholm and Geri Halliwell. They were signed to Virgin Records and released their debut single, "Wannabe" in 1996, which hit number-one in more than 30...
Emma Bunton
Emma Bunton
Emma Lee Bunton is an English pop singer/songwriter and TV and radio presenter. She was a member of the 1990s girl group, the Spice Girls, in which she was known as Baby Spice as she was the youngest member. In 2010, she joined the judging panel on ITV's Dancing on Ice...
, bullfighter Francisco Rivera Ordóñez
Francisco Rivera Ordóñez
Francisco de Asís Rivera Ordóñez is a Spanish bullfighter.He is the son of Francisco Rivera Paquirri and Carmen Ordóñez, and his brother is the matador Cayetano Rivera Ordóñez...
and several high-profile businessmen. Before his defection, Fernández claims that one of his key tasks was to spy on wealthy visitors to the island, including film stars Leonardo DiCaprio
Leonardo DiCaprio
Leonardo Wilhelm DiCaprio is an American actor and film producer. He has received many awards, including a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor for his performance in The Aviator , and has been nominated by the Academy Awards, Screen Actors Guild and the British Academy of Film and Television...
and Jack Nicholson
Jack Nicholson
John Joseph "Jack" Nicholson is an American actor, film director, producer and writer. He is renowned for his often dark portrayals of neurotic characters. Nicholson has been nominated for an Academy Award twelve times, and has won the Academy Award for Best Actor twice: for One Flew Over the...
. In 2004 he worked minding Hollywood star Antonio Banderas in Spain.
Sports star scandal
According to David Smith of the Observer, Fernández who worked for David Beckham for three months when he first moved to Madrid and in 2004 would sell personal information about his ex-boss's affairs with Rebecca LoosRebecca Loos
Rebecca Loos is a Spanish-born Anglo-Dutch model and media personality, who was brought to media attention following claims that she conducted an affair with the married football player David Beckham—while employed as his personal assistant...
for £500,000. Fernández admitted he had been approached by paparazzi, who would follow Beckham everywhere. But he insisted that he had always turned down their lucrative cash offers to spill the beans. Fernández said that he saw Beckham kissing Rebecca Loos in the back of his car and that he drove them to the Santa Mauro hotel in Madrid three times. He said, "I could see them kissing in the rear-view mirror. The car had dark tinted windows so nobody could see in from the outside. After that there were three more occasions I drove them to hotels in the early hours." Fernández said that when they had their privacy Beckham and his assistant were "all over each other like teenagers". Victoria (Posh Spice) Beckham
Victoria Beckham
Victoria Caroline Beckham is an English singer-songwriter, dancer, model, actress, fashion designer and businesswoman. In the late 1990s, Beckham rose to fame with the all-female pop group Spice Girls and was dubbed Posh Spice by the July 1996 issue of the British pop music magazine Top of the Pops...
was said to be in tears over tabloid reports that her husband, "Becks," had been having a torrid affair with his former aide, Rebecca Loos. Beckham had been photographed clubbing with Loos who used to work for his management company.
Delfín was also implicated in the scandal surrounding Beckham and Spanish glamour model Nuria Bermúdez
Nuria Bermúdez
Nuria Bermúdez is a Spanish FIFA-certified football agent and actress. She became famous for revealing her personal life to the public, and by appearing nude on multiple occasions in magazines and on television...
, whose constant visits to Beckham's Santa Mauro hotel prompted wife Victoria to sack Delfín and ten other Cuban attendants.
Public life
The Spanish media have embraced him, writing dozens of articles about his life as a Castro insider and bodyguard. He was also a consultant on an investigative book, Conexión Habana, by Spanish authors.After living in Spain for five years he arrived in Miami where he had a spot on a TV show on WJAN-Channel 41
WJAN-CA
WJAN-CA is a Spanish-language Independent station in Miami, Florida. The station runs news, along with other Spanish-language programming. The station mostly talks about Cuba and its regime. The station also broadcasts news programming from CNN en Español....
. There, as a regular television guest, he caught the imagination of the Cuban community with his disclosures of Castro's habits and idiosyncrasies and the workings of his inner circle. Oscar Haza
Oscar Haza
Oscar Haza is a journalist born in the Dominican Republic in 1954, who at the age of 22 moved to Miami to pursue his career in journalism. He is host of the Channel 41 news talk show A Mano Limpia which airs on America TeVe. The topics of his programming range from current cultural issues and local...
, a popular Spanish language talk show host on Channel 41, has invited Fernández on his show, A Mano Limpia
A Mano Limpia
A Mano Limpia is a local Spanish-language talk show on WJAN-CA in Miami, Florida, hosted by Oscar Haza. Numerous guests who have appeared on the show include Delfin Fernandez, Pedro Sevcec, Lech Wałęsa, Florida Governor Jeb Bush and others....
, at least six times, firing up the ratings when he's a guest, said Channel 41 news director Miguel Cossío. The ratings were so strong that Channel 41 offered to let Fernández be a permanent guest on a new daily weekday show, Arrebatados, at 6 p.m., hosted by Maria Laria.