Enrique Ruiz-Williams
 Enrique Ruiz-Williams    (engineer, spook) | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | 1922 |
| Died | 1996 (Age 74) |
| Nationality | Cuban |
| Alma mater | Colorado School of Mines |
| Member of | Brigade 2506 |
Exile Cuba who was taken prisoner during the Bay of Pigs invasion. | |
Enrique (Harry) Ruiz-Williams was the son of the head engineer and general manager of the largest mining company, was born in Cuba in 1922. After being educated at the Colorado School of Mines he became a successful businessman.
In 1958 Ruiz-Williams began working to overthrow Fulgencio Batista. This included providing Che Guevara with "food, dynamite, trucks, tractors, a lot of things." However, the authorities became aware of Ruiz-Williams's political sympathies and left the country in December 1958.
Ruiz-Williams returned to Cuba after Fidel Castro gained power in January 1959. According to Larmar Waldron, the author of Ultimate Sacrifice: John and Robert Kennedy, the Plan for a Coup in Cuba, and the Murder of JFK (2005) Ruiz-Williams "soon became disillusioned with the violence and repression of Castro" and moved to the United States. Ruiz-Williams joined with Manuel Artime, Tony Varona, Rafael Quintero, Aureliano Arango and Jose Cardona to establish the Movement for the Recovery of the Revolution (MRR Party).
Ruiz-Williams participated in the 1962 Bay of Pigs invasion, where he was captured by the Cubans. In April 1962 Castro released sixty of the most seriously wounded of those who took part in operation. This included Ruiz-Williams. He then worked closely with Robert Kennedy in order to negotiate the release of the rest of the prisoners. William Turner claimed that Williams was very close to Kennedy: "Harry Williams was a Kennedy kind of man, tough and liberal and ferociously anti-communist. He is burly, round-faced, and handsome; he combines the geniality of a Lions Club toastmaster with a tough-minded singleness of purpose."[1]
