"A tale with all the twists, turns and action sequences of a Bourne film. New York Post
"Trained to Kill is not another tinfoil hat Kennedy-conspiracy bookdeclassified CIA cables confirm Vecianas working relationship with the agency and even his code name, AMSHALE-1. The book is a soldiers story about what he saw on the front lines of the Cuban-American struggle for power." Newsweek
"Astonishing." Daily Mail
Trained to Kill is one of those essential books that our free press is all too likely to ignore, because of all the awful truth between its coversespecially its shattering confirmation that David Attlee Phillips of the CIA did introduce the author to Lee Harvey Oswald just weeks before the assassination of John Kennedy. While thus exploding the old myth of Oswald as lone gunman, this chilling memoir also sheds new light on Che Guevaras murder, Operation Condor, and the fanatic amorality behind the management of US covert operations. Mark Crispin Miller, professor of media, culture, and communication at New York University and author of Fooled Again: The Real Case for Electoral Reform
Antonio Vecianas Trained to Kill is one of the most important historical documents to have emerged in the U.S. in the past decade. This inside story of the CIA plots to kill Fidel Castro, President John F. Kennedy and Che Guevara not only makes for riveting reading, it also shines a stark light on the darkest corners of U.S. covert operations in the 1960s and 70s. In one of the most dramatic episodes in a book filled with them, Veciana confirms that his CIA handlera smooth and ruthless rising star at the agency named David Atlee Phillipswas also running Lee Harvey Oswald. This is a real history of American power, one that is destined to disturb and enlighten any citizen who can handle the truth. David Talbot, founder of Salon and New York Times bestselling author of The Devils Chessboard: Allen Dulles, the CIA, and the Rise of Americas Secret Government
"Antonio Veciana is a witness to history who cannot be ignored. Laconic and lucid, this crafty accountant tells the story of his deadly operations against Fidel Castro and Che Guevara. He details the intimate dealings he had with top CIA officers. And his story culminates in a perilous series of events that exposed a dangerous truth and changed Vecianas way of thinking: his suave CIA handler, David Phillips, had played a role in the ambush of President Kennedy in Dallas. In telling his story with candor and humility, Veciana demonstrates the courage of a now-peaceful warrior.Jefferson Morley, author of The Ghost: The Secret Life of CIA Spymaster James Jesus Angleton
"At long last, the primary leader of the CIA-backed, anti-Castro group of Cuban exiles has come forward to shatter the Warren Commission's finding that the assassination of President Kennedy was the work of a 'lone nut.' Antonio Veciana's story should revise the history books." Dick Russell, New York Times bestselling author of The Man Who Knew Too Much
"From Havana to Santiago to New York, Antonio Veciana plotted to kill Castro. This book describes those plots and his other attempts to reverse Cubas Marxist revolution. His was a true terrorist campaign before the phrase became a commonplace of journalism. But Veciana planned his acts of murder and mayhem as an agent of the American government, more specifically the CIA. This well-written, candid, and exciting book describes his Agency career and provides a memorable portrait of his recruiter and manager. The legendary David Phillipsthe man who likely had a role in the conspiracy to kill JFKcomes alive and inhabits these pages as he does in no other book you will read." James DiEugenio, author of Reclaiming Parkland
As was once said about him and the words in these pages confirm, Antonio Veciana is one of historys most important individuals. Whether as the CIAs point man in Havana in post-revolutionary Cuba, the mastermind behind the legendary anti-Castro exile group Alpha 66, or the unwitting witness to Lee Harvey Oswalds meeting with his CIA handler at an office building in Dallas days before the JFK assassination, Mr. Vecianas unflinching and courageous confessional memoir definitively answers so many of the baffling questions raised by CIAs operations in the twentieth centuryand his answers both illuminate and disturb. Fernand R. Amandi, Bendixen & Amandi International
Antonio Veciana had a compelling mission in life, to help free his countrymen from a ruthless dictator. His long, painful path towards freedom intersected with my husbands passion to help solve the mystery of the death of President Kennedy. Vecianas startling revelation that he saw his CIA mentor, Maurice Bishop, with Lee Harvey Oswald, led my husband on his own mission to identify Bishop. Marie Fonzi
"A tale with all the twists, turns and action sequences of a Bourne film. New York Post
"Trained to Kill is not another tinfoil hat Kennedy-conspiracy bookdeclassified CIA cables confirm Vecianas working relationship with the agency and even his code name, AMSHALE-1. The book is a soldiers story about what he saw on the front lines of the Cuban-American struggle for power." Newsweek
"Astonishing." Daily Mail
Trained to Kill is one of those essential books that our free press is all too likely to ignore, because of all the awful truth between its coversespecially its shattering confirmation that David Attlee Phillips of the CIA did introduce the author to Lee Harvey Oswald just weeks before the assassination of John Kennedy. While thus exploding the old myth of Oswald as lone gunman, this chilling memoir also sheds new light on Che Guevaras murder, Operation Condor, and the fanatic amorality behind the management of US covert operations. Mark Crispin Miller, professor of media, culture, and communication at New York University and author of Fooled Again: The Real Case for Electoral Reform
Antonio Vecianas Trained to Kill is one of the most important historical documents to have emerged in the U.S. in the past decade. This inside story of the CIA plots to kill Fidel Castro, President John F. Kennedy and Che Guevara not only makes for riveting reading, it also shines a stark light on the darkest corners of U.S. covert operations in the 1960s and 70s. In one of the most dramatic episodes in a book filled with them, Veciana confirms that his CIA handlera smooth and ruthless rising star at the agency named David Atlee Phillipswas also running Lee Harvey Oswald. This is a real history of American power, one that is destined to disturb and enlighten any citizen who can handle the truth. David Talbot, founder of Salon and New York Times bestselling author of The Devils Chessboard: Allen Dulles, the CIA, and the Rise of Americas Secret Government
"Antonio Veciana is a witness to history who cannot be ignored. Laconic and lucid, this crafty accountant tells the story of his deadly operations against Fidel Castro and Che Guevara. He details the intimate dealings he had with top CIA officers. And his story culminates in a perilous series of events that exposed a dangerous truth and changed Vecianas way of thinking: his suave CIA handler, David Phillips, had played a role in the ambush of President Kennedy in Dallas. In telling his story with candor and humility, Veciana demonstrates the courage of a now-peaceful warrior.Jefferson Morley, author of The Ghost: The Secret Life of CIA Spymaster James Jesus Angleton
"At long last, the primary leader of the CIA-backed, anti-Castro group of Cuban exiles has come forward to shatter the Warren Commission's finding that the assassination of President Kennedy was the work of a 'lone nut.' Antonio Veciana's story should revise the history books." Dick Russell, New York Times bestselling author of The Man Who Knew Too Much
"From Havana to Santiago to New York, Antonio Veciana plotted to kill Castro. This book describes those plots and his other attempts to reverse Cubas Marxist revolution. His was a true terrorist campaign before the phrase became a commonplace of journalism. But Veciana planned his acts of murder and mayhem as an agent of the American government, more specifically the CIA. This well-written, candid, and exciting book describes his Agency career and provides a memorable portrait of his recruiter and manager. The legendary David Phillipsthe man who likely had a role in the conspiracy to kill JFKcomes alive and inhabits these pages as he does in no other book you will read." James DiEugenio, author of Reclaiming Parkland
As was once said about him and the words in these pages confirm, Antonio Veciana is one of historys most important individuals. Whether as the CIAs point man in Havana in post-revolutionary Cuba, the mastermind behind the legendary anti-Castro exile group Alpha 66, or the unwitting witness to Lee Harvey Oswalds meeting with his CIA handler at an office building in Dallas days before the JFK assassination, Mr. Vecianas unflinching and courageous confessional memoir definitively answers so many of the baffling questions raised by CIAs operations in the twentieth centuryand his answers both illuminate and disturb. Fernand R. Amandi, Bendixen & Amandi International
Antonio Veciana had a compelling mission in life, to help free his countrymen from a ruthless dictator. His long, painful path towards freedom intersected with my husbands passion to help solve the mystery of the death of President Kennedy. Vecianas startling revelation that he saw his CIA mentor, Maurice Bishop, with Lee Harvey Oswald, led my husband on his own mission to identify Bishop. Marie Fonzi