Alberto Bayo

Who was Alberto Bayo?

Alberto Bayo y Giroud was a Cuban military leader of the defeated left-wing Loyalists in the Spanish Civil War. He was also a poet and essayist.

He was born in Cuba and studied in the United States and Spain. Bayo's most significant action during the Spanish Civil War was his invasion and retreat from the islands of Ibiza and Majorca.

After that war was lost, Bayo had a furniture factory in Mexico, and is said to have been an instructor at the Military Academy of Guadalajara. Bayo had contact in Mexico with prominent Latin American revolutionaries, and was associate/mentor of some, including Ernesto Che Guevara and Fidel Castro. While it is not known if he continued direct contact with Soviet Union agents such as "Comandante Carlos Contreras" Vittorio Vidali after the war was lost in Spain, both were present in Mexico for throughout the same period.

Alberto Bayo died a General of the Cuban Armed Forces.