Editing Manuel Piñeiro (section)

==Biography==
Manuel Piñeiro Losada was born on 14 March 1933 in [[Matanzas]], [[Cuba]]. His family, who had immigrated to Cuba from the Spanish region of [[Galicia (Spain)|Galicia]], was relatively prosperous—his father was a [[Bacardi]] executive.<ref name="burdsall2">{{cite web |last1=Tsiuolcas |first1=Anastasia |title=Stranger Than Fiction: Cuba, Spies, Bombs And Dance |url=https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2016/03/18/469634824/dance-dance-revolution-when-an-american-fell-in-love-with-castros-spy-chief |website=NPR.org |publisher=NPR |access-date=22 April 2022 |language=en}}</ref> After participating in the student protests against the 10 March 1952 ''coup d'état'' which brought dictator [[Fulgencio Batista]] to power, Piñeiro's family sent him to study business management at [[Columbia University]] in [[New York City|New York]]. There, he met his first wife, [[Lorna Burdsall]], whom he married in 1955.<ref name="burdsall2" /> While studying in the United States, Piñeiro began to oppose the social, racial, and political discrimination he saw there and felt the need to return to Cuba. He returned in 1955 and became a founder of the [[26th of July Movement]].

Soon after returning to Cuba, Piñiero was arrested by Batista's security agencies because of his underground political activities. After his release, he continued his clandestine activities in Havana. He discovered that he was under police surveillance, and decided that it was better to leave for the Eastern [[Sierra Maestra]] mountain range and join the [[Guerrilla warfare|guerrilla]]s headed by Fidel Castro. After the Cuban Revolution, Piñiero was appointed Deputy Minister of the Interior and the head of the ''Technical Viceministerio'', the body that would be later responsible for gathering intelligence and developing strategies to expand [[communism]] in [[Latin America]]. In 1997, Piñeiro announced his retirement, resigning from all active government positions. He began to write and edit books about his experience in the Cuban Revolution.

Piñeiro died in a car accident on March 11, 1998. He was on his way home after receiving a tribute commemorating the creation of the Eastern Front.