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Inside the Company: CIA Diary
Book written in diary format depicting the details of the business of the CIA.
660 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 16, 1975
91 people are currently reading
1840 people want to read
About the author
Philip Agee
16 books17 followersPhilip Burnett Franklin Agee was a Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) case officer and writer, best known as author of the 1975 book, 'Inside the Company: CIA Diary', detailing his experiences in the CIA.
Agee joined the CIA in 1957, and over the following decade had postings in Washington, D.C., Ecuador, Uruguay and Mexico. After resigning from the Agency in 1968, he became a leading opponent of CIA practices. A co-founder of CovertAction Quarterly, he died in Cuba in January 2008.
Agee joined the CIA in 1957, and over the following decade had postings in Washington, D.C., Ecuador, Uruguay and Mexico. After resigning from the Agency in 1968, he became a leading opponent of CIA practices. A co-founder of CovertAction Quarterly, he died in Cuba in January 2008.
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Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews
March 22, 2016
Like many a thriller, this reconstructed diary begins with the audience knowing that something terrible has happened. We are then transported back in time to the narrator's youth, when a clean-cut, idealistic, all-American, anti-Communist Phillip Agee first joins the CIA. Like Bolero, the books starts off with an almost boring dum-did-dee-dum-dum day-by-day chronicling of the training of a case officer.
As the book progresses, however, you gradually realize you are being sucked into a parallel universe. Agee's brilliance lies in letting the facts speak for themselves. Read this book, then tell your friends to read it. If you do, you will learn history as it has never been taught in US schools and universities. You will come to understand why the 99% of Latin America hates the United States.
Inside the Company becomes a page-turner, as it dawns on you that the real protagonist is the people and movements Agee, his fellow case officers and their hired agents are victimizing. Soon you find yourself silently screaming, "Wake up, Phil! Don't you see that what you are doing is WRONG?"
Eventually, of course, he does. But "the beat goes on," and you know it.
As the book progresses, however, you gradually realize you are being sucked into a parallel universe. Agee's brilliance lies in letting the facts speak for themselves. Read this book, then tell your friends to read it. If you do, you will learn history as it has never been taught in US schools and universities. You will come to understand why the 99% of Latin America hates the United States.
Inside the Company becomes a page-turner, as it dawns on you that the real protagonist is the people and movements Agee, his fellow case officers and their hired agents are victimizing. Soon you find yourself silently screaming, "Wake up, Phil! Don't you see that what you are doing is WRONG?"
Eventually, of course, he does. But "the beat goes on," and you know it.
December 25, 2018
CIA Diary is a very diligent and thorough look at CIA meddlings in Latin America from within, related by its ex-agent author who lost their belief in the western right to intervene and the wholesome nature of capitalism. The majority of the book is taken up by curt businesslike observations and plans pertaining to the political scenes of Ecuador and Uruguay (in extension to Mexico), in which the CIA appears more as super-powered but invisible politicians than silent black-clad killers. While fake incriminating documents are planted on innocent socialists and the recruitment of embassy personnel is a daily task, the most visible impact is much more mundane: the CIA funnel millions of dollars into the political campaigns of unscrupulous businessmen and comprador cronies, fund the strikes of anti-communist trade unions and peddle massive amounts of propaganda, nationally and internationally, through any number of infiltrated or compromised news outlets. Facts are embellished, especially any ties with Cuba or other nations in the communist bloc, and wailing appeals to national sovereignty in the face of godless soviets pervade all CIA-sponsored pages. Interestingly, at one point ultra-left (maoist) documents are planted on a communist to foment division in their ranks.
Agee comes off as slightly gullible, initially - communism is simply synonymous with utmost tyranny, and hence all means to prevent its spread are warranted. His hope is that liberal governments would enact the reforms and economic redistribution which would peacefully curb the natural inclination of third-world neocolonies towards socialism. However, as time progresses and he witnesses more often the open violence that their meddling necessitates (torture of opposition politicians, union members and students), he starts to understand that 'their' preferred governments don't just fail to reform the economy; they benefit structurally from its violence and large-scale theft, and, in the final instance, so does the American economy. From there, the path to disillusionment and defection is short. What struck me is how Agee was taught to see communism as an extension of soviet power, and hence always externally-imposed, and not as a grassroots reaction to local circumstances; it is via this mental detour that he could justify intervention. Only after years of working to subvert democracy and autonomy does he realize that the real targets of the CIA aren't so much Soviet communists but any movement that opposes the free flow of capital from the periphery to the star-spangled core, no matter whether they are communist, bourgeois-nationalist or social-democratic.
The real value of CIA Diary isn't so much the detailled description of wiretaps and constant hidden surveillance, but the understanding that the US can cloak its meddling in seemingly 'indigenous' camouflage: through countless cardboard front-organizations, comprador-bourgeois parties, business concerns and police forces, the CIA feeds its preferred tendencies and groups vast quantities of cash that can simulate popular movements where they don't exist.
Agee comes off as slightly gullible, initially - communism is simply synonymous with utmost tyranny, and hence all means to prevent its spread are warranted. His hope is that liberal governments would enact the reforms and economic redistribution which would peacefully curb the natural inclination of third-world neocolonies towards socialism. However, as time progresses and he witnesses more often the open violence that their meddling necessitates (torture of opposition politicians, union members and students), he starts to understand that 'their' preferred governments don't just fail to reform the economy; they benefit structurally from its violence and large-scale theft, and, in the final instance, so does the American economy. From there, the path to disillusionment and defection is short. What struck me is how Agee was taught to see communism as an extension of soviet power, and hence always externally-imposed, and not as a grassroots reaction to local circumstances; it is via this mental detour that he could justify intervention. Only after years of working to subvert democracy and autonomy does he realize that the real targets of the CIA aren't so much Soviet communists but any movement that opposes the free flow of capital from the periphery to the star-spangled core, no matter whether they are communist, bourgeois-nationalist or social-democratic.
The real value of CIA Diary isn't so much the detailled description of wiretaps and constant hidden surveillance, but the understanding that the US can cloak its meddling in seemingly 'indigenous' camouflage: through countless cardboard front-organizations, comprador-bourgeois parties, business concerns and police forces, the CIA feeds its preferred tendencies and groups vast quantities of cash that can simulate popular movements where they don't exist.
American capitalism, based as it is on exploitation of the poor, with its fundamental motivation in personal greed, simply cannot survive without force - without a secret police force. The argument is with capitalism and it is capitalism that must be opposed, with its CIA, FBI and other security agencies understood as logical, necessary manifestations of a ruling class's determination to retain power and privilege. (597)
June 20, 2014
I read this book in the early 1990s because I was intrigued to learn about a former CIA agent who resigned from the Agency in 1968 and went on to make a life for himself in Cuba.
Agee, a Roman Catholic and graduate of the University of Notre Dame, was recruited into the CIA in 1957, seeing himself as part of the great crusade against world Communism. He goes to some length to detail his experiences in Washington, Equador, Uruguay, and Mexico -- in addition to disclosing some of the CIA's espionage practices. Eventually, Agee becomes disenchanted with his work. Whether or not his post-CIA activities make him a turncoat or truth-teller I leave to the reader to determine. For me, this was one of the best books about the CIA that I've yet read.
Agee, a Roman Catholic and graduate of the University of Notre Dame, was recruited into the CIA in 1957, seeing himself as part of the great crusade against world Communism. He goes to some length to detail his experiences in Washington, Equador, Uruguay, and Mexico -- in addition to disclosing some of the CIA's espionage practices. Eventually, Agee becomes disenchanted with his work. Whether or not his post-CIA activities make him a turncoat or truth-teller I leave to the reader to determine. For me, this was one of the best books about the CIA that I've yet read.
July 27, 2011
Philp Agee died the other day. His last story is published here: http://www.counterpunch.org/agee03142...
RIP mate
RIP mate
Read
April 29, 2015In 1974 the US government, for the first time in American history, went to court to censor a book prior to publication. That book was "The CIA and the Cult of Intelligence," which was published with very clear indications of where the 168 cuts were.
If you browse bookshops in the UK you'll commonly find books that are labeled "For copyright reasons this book is not for sale in the United States [also in Canada in some cases]." Philip Agee was a CIA agent in South Anerica in the late 1950s and early 1960s. He became extremely disaffected with the agency's covert operations and resigned. In writing about his experiences he endured ostracism and vilification. He wrote most of the book in London, and it was published by Penguin Books in one of those editions not marketed in the US, thereby rendering futile any attempts by the US government to suppress it. When I found out about the book, I had a friend in Vancouver, BC buy a copy and mail it to me. What I read in the book angered but did not surprise me. I was feeling very cool for having circumvented an obstacle to reading the book, when one day I walked by a bookstore in my home town and saw the book prominently displayed in the window. I never read the American edition, which was slightly emended from the original.
Agee was not a professional writer and the narrative is rather plodding, but this is not a book to be read for excitement. It laid bare the machinations of the vast, sleazy organization that was the CIA. How much of the book is still accurate, I have no idea. But if you read this book you'll never trust ANY government, let alone our federal government.
If you browse bookshops in the UK you'll commonly find books that are labeled "For copyright reasons this book is not for sale in the United States [also in Canada in some cases]." Philip Agee was a CIA agent in South Anerica in the late 1950s and early 1960s. He became extremely disaffected with the agency's covert operations and resigned. In writing about his experiences he endured ostracism and vilification. He wrote most of the book in London, and it was published by Penguin Books in one of those editions not marketed in the US, thereby rendering futile any attempts by the US government to suppress it. When I found out about the book, I had a friend in Vancouver, BC buy a copy and mail it to me. What I read in the book angered but did not surprise me. I was feeling very cool for having circumvented an obstacle to reading the book, when one day I walked by a bookstore in my home town and saw the book prominently displayed in the window. I never read the American edition, which was slightly emended from the original.
Agee was not a professional writer and the narrative is rather plodding, but this is not a book to be read for excitement. It laid bare the machinations of the vast, sleazy organization that was the CIA. How much of the book is still accurate, I have no idea. But if you read this book you'll never trust ANY government, let alone our federal government.
October 15, 2018
Here goes the most disgruntled employee, if there ever was one!
Q:
We spent the next half-hour discussing why a philosophy graduate wanted to enlist for five years in the Air Force in order to learn to be a radar mechanic. (c)
Q:
I'm beginning to feel a kind of satisfaction in having a secret and of being on the threshold of an exclusive club with a very select membership. I am going to be my own kind of snob. Inside the Agency I'll be a real and honest person. To everyone outside I'll have a secret lie about who and what I am. My secret life has begun. (c)
Q:
We spent the next half-hour discussing why a philosophy graduate wanted to enlist for five years in the Air Force in order to learn to be a radar mechanic. (c)
Q:
I'm beginning to feel a kind of satisfaction in having a secret and of being on the threshold of an exclusive club with a very select membership. I am going to be my own kind of snob. Inside the Agency I'll be a real and honest person. To everyone outside I'll have a secret lie about who and what I am. My secret life has begun. (c)
August 27, 2008
This book was interesting to say the least. It's crazy how much our government has meddled in other countries affairs.
July 26, 2016
More about political history of Latin America than of CIA operations.
September 21, 2025
Mein Bullshitf
I don't see what good my reviewing this thing would do.
1. If you're the kind of sucker who'd read this credulously, there's nothing I could say that would talk you down.
2. If you're the kind of innocent who's never seen this kind of writing, you probably have seen this kind of writing, but just never noticed anything wrong with it. Nothing I'd say could wise you up, you'd have no idea what I was talking about because you're just not wired very well.
3. If you're the enemy, you'll just say it's great even if you were astute enough to know how shitty it is.
In short, if you're a hippie you'd like it: you'd nod in agreement every few pages, man; but your attention span would be too short to read it to the end, man; and you'd light up a joint every few pages and chill, man.
This stuff had a purpose - that purpose was the advancement of the Soviet Union. The same thing is done today - but to advance things much, much, much worse than the Soviet Union - and done in a very different manner, and done by native English speakers. You see and hear it every single day, but, I know you, it would pass right by, like the music on an elevator.
I don't see what good my reviewing this thing would do.
1. If you're the kind of sucker who'd read this credulously, there's nothing I could say that would talk you down.
2. If you're the kind of innocent who's never seen this kind of writing, you probably have seen this kind of writing, but just never noticed anything wrong with it. Nothing I'd say could wise you up, you'd have no idea what I was talking about because you're just not wired very well.
3. If you're the enemy, you'll just say it's great even if you were astute enough to know how shitty it is.
In short, if you're a hippie you'd like it: you'd nod in agreement every few pages, man; but your attention span would be too short to read it to the end, man; and you'd light up a joint every few pages and chill, man.
This stuff had a purpose - that purpose was the advancement of the Soviet Union. The same thing is done today - but to advance things much, much, much worse than the Soviet Union - and done in a very different manner, and done by native English speakers. You see and hear it every single day, but, I know you, it would pass right by, like the music on an elevator.
July 3, 2019
This was the very very first book in English I have ever read. I have not the slightiest idea how and why. To writte that to read tis book was difficult was an understatement of the year. It took me about two years to read it. During my reading I have learn gargantuian amount of new words. Very hush hush technical lingo of the book describing things wich are difficult to comprehend even for an average US citizen, missing text (with pages with deleted by the C.I.A ) What was it about? Bay of the pig cover ops. Provocation action against severall ambassies mostly eastern europian mostly in South America states. Later chapters that have been written in Paris... It was very interesting. Philip Agee is some kind of deflecting agent / rouge agent and was interesting how he was describing some of methods and practices back day common in the Company. But a real good overwieuw of what was it about I did not got because for example all those missing / omitted pages.
So my impression from this interesting book is kind of bittersweet.
So my impression from this interesting book is kind of bittersweet.
June 24, 2007
I've been dipping into this one for over a year now. The author is somewhat handsome.
October 31, 2013
I didn't think it was possible but someone has written a boring book about the CIA. It's informative (I love non-fiction books) but it was hard to get through.
February 5, 2016
Interesting thoughts of the way CIA operates and manipulates society.
Makes you wonder wether their ways of working are applied today as well.
Makes you wonder wether their ways of working are applied today as well.
June 26, 2023
This book, written by an ex-CIA agent in the mid-1970s is both an autobiographical account of around 20 years of the author's life, from recruitment and training by the CIA to exit from the Agency and disillusionment with a number of aspects of US foreign policy, as well as a stunning expose of the ways the CIA influences politics and public affairs throughout the WH, and the world. The book was both fascinating and boring in that it was difficult to keep up with the unending parade of names and actions, which were mostly repetitive behind the scenes public opinion manipulation, information collection and dissemination to HQ and other CIA stations in Latin America, rather than the cloak-and-dagger operations portrayed in movies or spy novels. The effectiveness of the Agency depends on recruiting agents in the countries in which they operate, especially countries with Cuban, North Korean, Chinese, and at that time, Soviet embassies, consulates and so forth, in order to get these countries to expel the communist country representatives and hopefully even break off diplomatic relations with said countries. The local agents are usually in the country's military or police force, but also can be in student or labor union groups. Once they are recruited, they are expected to report back with information, and eventually they are put on the Agency payroll. Information developed by the CIA may be shared with sympathetic members of the country's political leadership, the military, especially military intelligence, and the police. The important thing is to continue to guarantee that governments that are friendly to the US and US business interests remain in power - and at least in the decades of the 1960s-1970s, nothing was really off the table with respect to accomplishing that goal. Many military coups were orchestrated or helped in some way by the CIA, such as the one in Chile that overthrew democratically-elected Allende; otherwise, there may be US military invasions such as the invasion of the Dominican Republic. The US may give Latin American countries millions of dollars for police and military members to attend training programs in the US or Mexico. In those days, as well, the AFL-CIO cooperated with the CIA in setting up alternative "democratic" unions in hopes of luring away workers who had become members of leftist-oriented unions. Money was poured into CIA stations in Latin American countries to pay local agents salaries. The local agents in turn might form their own sub-networks, and so forth. There were also extensive phone-tapping, letter-opening, surveillance, and bugging efforts. Not only are the activities described in detail, but the names of numerous CIA agents and the local recruits, as well as the names of CIA-influenced local organizations (student and union groups) are revealed. Later in the book, once the author's evolution from cold warrior to leftist has occurred, the author states that he hopes the revelations will help revolutionary groups throughout Latin America. It was after the book was published that Mr. Agee was expelled from several European countries and eventually found a safe haven in Cuba although he did manage to travel abroad once in settled in Cuba. He has complimentary things to say about Cuba in the final pages of the book. Although I must admit I have not kept up with Latin American current events, the economic situation he describes that was in place then in most of Latin America, with extreme income inequality and more money flowing to the US rather than from the US because of the economic system which was based on the US buying their goods (such as bananas, coffee, and cacao) at the cheapest possible price, while we sell them high-priced value-added goods such as machinery, which means that these countries remain perpetually mired in deep debt and underdevelopment, this system of exploitation probably is still is place in most of Latin America, and the dreadful conditions of poverty that result must explain the unending flood of Latino migrants heading to the Southern border, year in and year out. Had there been a fairer system in place, had there been better educational and health facilities, better housing, better pay, most of the migrants probably would have never undertaken the journey to the Rio Grande and the US border. The author's critique is based on an economic analysis: He states that the repression in Latin America is needed to sustain an exploitative system that sustains a wealthy minority both in Latin America and the US, so that the system is mutually reinforcing, transcends national borders, but is instead based on trans national ruling class "solidarity."
You have to wonder what Agee would have said about the collapse of communism in Eastern Europe around 15 years after he wrote his book, as well as the pro-capitalist reform undertaken in China after Mao passed away and his radical faction was defeated by the pragmatists headed by Deng. At least in China, the result has been an economic transformation, much more development than that achieved under communism during the roughly 30 years Mao ruled China. China is unique in that the Chinese Communist Party is still in control despite the capitalist economic system in place. What the developments of the past 30 or 40 years seem to show is that capitalism, despite its flaws, at least potentially can deliver a higher standard of living, generate wealth and so forth, much more so than communism. There is definitely income inequality under capitalism - which can lead to social stress.
The US now has an extreme level of income inequality, and the rise of Donald Trump is one result, as people turn to demagogues if they lose social status or income, which is what happened with the economic collapse of 2008. I do not think Trump would have been as successful had the 2008 recession not occurred, with its millions of layoffs, foreclosures and so forth. The world that emerged afterwards was one where those that allowed the collapse to happen never were held accountable for the massive damage the collapse caused, while the ordinary people who were victims of their actions, paid the price. The new jobs afterwards were mostly precarious, and millions slipped out of middle class security into an economically precarious existence. Trump was pie-in-the-sky in his promises but was able to capitalize on the angst of large sections of the electorate fed up with the way the political class - of both political parties - had evidently sold them out. Unfortunately, although Trump's economic policies did lead to an upturn by 2019, the pandemic led to another downturn from which the economy has mostly recovered, but again, things are not exactly as they were before, which explains why Trump, despite the indictments, remains as popular if not even more popular than before, among working-class voters. Trump very effectively enunciates the socio-economic stress of the displaced working class, for whom a permanent, well-paying job was all. This is why he remains popular, despite his clownishness, bigotry and outbursts; the underlying message is working-class rage at the system that let them down. Trump is no revolutionary of course - so his solution is more of the same system that led to the debacle of 2008, which is why his message is akin to fool's gold. It is too good to be true, because it isn't true. Trump is as much a globalist as the rest of the political class in the US and around the world. A billionaire, he never discusses why he is a billionaire, how he became rich, why most people are not rich, and the fact that most of his followers are displaced working-class people, victims, really of the very system that made him rich and keeps them struggling or even, poor. His many supporters must simply sense that he will fight for them, and that that is enough - because he is the only politician that seems to understand their plight. Unfortunately, the system is based on greed rather than morality or fairness; communism on the other hand was based on coercion, with social pressure to conform and support the system. It therefore also lacked morality or fairness. Each system is flawed.
But, back to the review of Philip Agee's "Inside the Company: CIA Diary." I would say that all in all, it is a fascinating book, but also rather boring in that the projects are always the same, with few exceptions. A very sad passage described how he gave the name of a leftist to a government official in Uruguay and when he was visiting the official, heard screaming from a nearby room. He later found out it was the man whose name he had given to the police, thinking they would only keep him under surveillance or only question him, rather than torture him. Mr. Agee was involved in campaigns that were designed to ruin lives of leftists, or even bring down governments, through the fabrication of endless propaganda, articles, and actual forgeries of documents. The objective was to keep communism out of Latin America, so that the pro-American, pro-capitalist system could continue. Although this book is almost 50 years old, I would recommend it to anyone who wants to find out how the CIA operated in those decades of the Vietnam War, Watergate etc.
Here are the quotes:
"Operations designed to promote the adoption by a foreign government of a particular policy vis-a-vis communism are termed political-action operations." "...the ...LYNX List ...is a list of about 100 communists and other activists of the extreme left whom the station considers the most dangerous. The LYNX List is a requirement for all Western Hemisphere stations, to be maintained in case a local government in time of crisis should ask (or be asked by the U.S. government) for assistance in the emergency preventive detention of dangerous persons." "[In June 1961, the President of Ecuador Velasco] ...said that communism should be attacked not by police repression but through the elimination of misery, hunger, sickness and ignorance." "The main public security force in Uruguay is the Montevideo Police Department...with which liaison relations date to just before World War II when the FBI was monitoring the considerable pro-Nazi tendencies in Uruguay and Argentina." "...April 1964: It's all over for Goulart in Brazil much faster and easier than most expected." "U.S. recognition of the new military government is practically immediate...indicative, I suppose, of the euphoria in Washington now that two and a half years of operations to prevent Brazil's slide to the left under Goulart have suddenly bloomed." "...the Rio station and its larger bases were financing the mass urban demonstrates against the Goulart government, proving the old themes of God, country, family and liberty to be effective as ever." "The military takeover...has been rather badly received here in Uruguay because Goulart was popularly elected..." "It's clear that the Rio station is going all out to support the military government..." "Headquarters has begun to generate hemisphere-wide propaganda in support of the new Brazilian government and to discredit Goulart." "...President Johnson [decided] ...that an all-out effort must be made not only to prevent a counter-coup and insurgency in the short run in Brazil, but also to build up their security forces as fast and as effectively as possible for the long run. Never again an Brazil be permitted to slide off to the left..." "The political currents here [in Uruguay] are running against the new military government in Brazil..." "The Brazilian government...has begun to pressure the Uruguayans in different ways so that Goulart and his supporters in exile here will be forbidden to engage in political activities." "Leonel Brizola, leader of the far-left in the Goulart government and Goulart's brother-in-law, arrived here in exile and the Brazilian government has asked that both he and Goulart be interned. If interned they will have to live in an interior city without freedom of movement around the country which would make control much easier." "The Santiago station has a really big operation going to keep Salvador Allende from being elected President. He was almost elected at the last elections in 1958, and this time nobody's taking any chances." "...July 1964:...we are spending money in the Chilean election practically like we did in Brazil two years ago." "June 1965:...it's the immense scale of this invasion [of the Dominican Republic] that shocks. On the other hand, full-scale military invasion is the logical final step when all other tools of counter-insurgency fail." "...the stabilization programs imposed by the International Monetary Fund...hurt the low-and middle-income groups harder than the rich." "...September 1965: The 20 September resolution by the House of Representatives in Washington is causing an outrage here [in Uruguay] and in other parts of Lain America. The resolution attributes to the U.S. or any other American state the right to unilateral military intervention in other American states if necessary to keep communism out of the Western Hemisphere." "The Dominican invasion started me thinking about what we are really doing here in Latin America. On the one hand the spread of the Cuban revolution has been stopped and the counter-insurgency programs are successful in most places. Communist subversion at least is being controlled. But the other side, the positive side of reforming the injustices that make communism attractive, just isn't making progress." "The more I think about the Dominican invasion the more I wonder whether the politicians in Washington really want to see reforms in Latin America." "What's the benefit in eliminating subversion if the injustices continue?" "If we...seek to strengthen this and other similarly clique-serving governments only because they are anti-communists, then we're reduced to promoting one type of injustice in order to avoid another." "Six years in Lain America have taught me that the injustices forced by small ruling minorities on the mass of the people cannot be eased sufficiently by reform movements such as the Alliance for Progress. The ruling class will never willingly give up its special privileges and comforts. This is class warfare and is the reason why communism appeals to the masses in the first place. We call this the "fee world," but the only freedom under these circumstances is the rich people's freedom to exploit the poor." "...conventional reform does not work, and to me it is clear that the only real solutions are those advocated by the communists and other of the extreme left." "The only real alternative to injustice in Latin America is socialism..." "...the two main forces in the 1910-20 [Mexican] Revolution were agrarian reform and economic nationalism, the latter of increasing importance after U.S. military occupation of Veracruz in support of the side seeking a return to pre-1910 conditions. However, struggles over the degree and immediacy of implementing the Revolution's goals produced a civil war that claimed over a million lives, perhaps two million, by the time it ended in the 1920s. Many of the Revolution's leaders were among its victims." "...the [Lazaro] Cardenas regime [1934-40] is ...considered to be the culmination of the Revolution's goal to recover industry and natural resources from foreign control." "...the original goals of social justice and equitable distribution of income disappeared following the Cardenas regime." "...is not the PRI--and the revolutionary process earlier--simply the instrument of the industrial, professional and business communities and the servant of the top 5 per cent? Why...are the supposed beneficiaries of the Mexican Revolution still the most deprived some fifty years after the fighting ended in victory?" "Because of the strategic importance of Mexico to the U.S., its size and proximity, and the abundance of enemy activities, the Mexico City station is the largest in the hemisphere." "Mexico City - 19 September 1968: Last night...the government seized the National University in violation of the University's traditional autonomy. [Minister of Government Luis] Echeverria justified this invasion by saying that the University has been used for political rather than for educational purposes." "Mexico City - 28 October 1968: Suddenly [the Olympics are]... all over--capped by the gushing of color and sound from what must have been history's most spectacular display of fireworks. As of today we can all begin again to weigh whether this two-week circus was really worth all the bloodshed, and whether Mexico lost more prestige by killing protesters than it gained by putting on the Games." "The CIA ...is nothing more than the secret police of American capitalism, plugging up leaks in the political dam night and day so that shareholders of U.S. companies operating in poor countries can continue enjoying the rip-off." "A book on the CIA could also illustrate how the interests of the privileged minorities in poor counties lead back to, and are identified with, the interests of the rich and powerful who control the U.S." "I have also decided to seek ways of getting useful information on the CIA to revolutionary organizations that could use it to defend themselves better." "...the liberal concept of society...attempts to pain out the irreconcilable class conflicts..." "The result of this class conception, of seeing that class identity comes before nationality, leads to rejection of liberal reform as the continuous renovating process leading step by step to the better society. Reform...is fundamentally a maneuver by the ruling class in capitalist society, the capitalists, to allow exploitation to continue, to give a little in order to avoid losing everything." "Flight to cities by rural unemployed continued with the cities unable to absorb them productively." "Since the 1960s...as the psychological appeal of peaceful reform diminished in the face of failure, compensatory measures have been increasingly needed: repression and special programs, as in the field of organized labor, to divide the victims and neutralize their leaders." "...these are the crutches given by the capitalist rulers of the U.S. to their counterparts in Latin America in order to obtain reciprocal support against threats to American capitalism." "Reforms are temporary palliatives that can never eliminate the exploitative relationship on which capitalism is based." "...in Havana I could arrange to get information on the CIA to interested Latin American revolutionary organizations through their representatives..."
You have to wonder what Agee would have said about the collapse of communism in Eastern Europe around 15 years after he wrote his book, as well as the pro-capitalist reform undertaken in China after Mao passed away and his radical faction was defeated by the pragmatists headed by Deng. At least in China, the result has been an economic transformation, much more development than that achieved under communism during the roughly 30 years Mao ruled China. China is unique in that the Chinese Communist Party is still in control despite the capitalist economic system in place. What the developments of the past 30 or 40 years seem to show is that capitalism, despite its flaws, at least potentially can deliver a higher standard of living, generate wealth and so forth, much more so than communism. There is definitely income inequality under capitalism - which can lead to social stress.
The US now has an extreme level of income inequality, and the rise of Donald Trump is one result, as people turn to demagogues if they lose social status or income, which is what happened with the economic collapse of 2008. I do not think Trump would have been as successful had the 2008 recession not occurred, with its millions of layoffs, foreclosures and so forth. The world that emerged afterwards was one where those that allowed the collapse to happen never were held accountable for the massive damage the collapse caused, while the ordinary people who were victims of their actions, paid the price. The new jobs afterwards were mostly precarious, and millions slipped out of middle class security into an economically precarious existence. Trump was pie-in-the-sky in his promises but was able to capitalize on the angst of large sections of the electorate fed up with the way the political class - of both political parties - had evidently sold them out. Unfortunately, although Trump's economic policies did lead to an upturn by 2019, the pandemic led to another downturn from which the economy has mostly recovered, but again, things are not exactly as they were before, which explains why Trump, despite the indictments, remains as popular if not even more popular than before, among working-class voters. Trump very effectively enunciates the socio-economic stress of the displaced working class, for whom a permanent, well-paying job was all. This is why he remains popular, despite his clownishness, bigotry and outbursts; the underlying message is working-class rage at the system that let them down. Trump is no revolutionary of course - so his solution is more of the same system that led to the debacle of 2008, which is why his message is akin to fool's gold. It is too good to be true, because it isn't true. Trump is as much a globalist as the rest of the political class in the US and around the world. A billionaire, he never discusses why he is a billionaire, how he became rich, why most people are not rich, and the fact that most of his followers are displaced working-class people, victims, really of the very system that made him rich and keeps them struggling or even, poor. His many supporters must simply sense that he will fight for them, and that that is enough - because he is the only politician that seems to understand their plight. Unfortunately, the system is based on greed rather than morality or fairness; communism on the other hand was based on coercion, with social pressure to conform and support the system. It therefore also lacked morality or fairness. Each system is flawed.
But, back to the review of Philip Agee's "Inside the Company: CIA Diary." I would say that all in all, it is a fascinating book, but also rather boring in that the projects are always the same, with few exceptions. A very sad passage described how he gave the name of a leftist to a government official in Uruguay and when he was visiting the official, heard screaming from a nearby room. He later found out it was the man whose name he had given to the police, thinking they would only keep him under surveillance or only question him, rather than torture him. Mr. Agee was involved in campaigns that were designed to ruin lives of leftists, or even bring down governments, through the fabrication of endless propaganda, articles, and actual forgeries of documents. The objective was to keep communism out of Latin America, so that the pro-American, pro-capitalist system could continue. Although this book is almost 50 years old, I would recommend it to anyone who wants to find out how the CIA operated in those decades of the Vietnam War, Watergate etc.
Here are the quotes:
"Operations designed to promote the adoption by a foreign government of a particular policy vis-a-vis communism are termed political-action operations." "...the ...LYNX List ...is a list of about 100 communists and other activists of the extreme left whom the station considers the most dangerous. The LYNX List is a requirement for all Western Hemisphere stations, to be maintained in case a local government in time of crisis should ask (or be asked by the U.S. government) for assistance in the emergency preventive detention of dangerous persons." "[In June 1961, the President of Ecuador Velasco] ...said that communism should be attacked not by police repression but through the elimination of misery, hunger, sickness and ignorance." "The main public security force in Uruguay is the Montevideo Police Department...with which liaison relations date to just before World War II when the FBI was monitoring the considerable pro-Nazi tendencies in Uruguay and Argentina." "...April 1964: It's all over for Goulart in Brazil much faster and easier than most expected." "U.S. recognition of the new military government is practically immediate...indicative, I suppose, of the euphoria in Washington now that two and a half years of operations to prevent Brazil's slide to the left under Goulart have suddenly bloomed." "...the Rio station and its larger bases were financing the mass urban demonstrates against the Goulart government, proving the old themes of God, country, family and liberty to be effective as ever." "The military takeover...has been rather badly received here in Uruguay because Goulart was popularly elected..." "It's clear that the Rio station is going all out to support the military government..." "Headquarters has begun to generate hemisphere-wide propaganda in support of the new Brazilian government and to discredit Goulart." "...President Johnson [decided] ...that an all-out effort must be made not only to prevent a counter-coup and insurgency in the short run in Brazil, but also to build up their security forces as fast and as effectively as possible for the long run. Never again an Brazil be permitted to slide off to the left..." "The political currents here [in Uruguay] are running against the new military government in Brazil..." "The Brazilian government...has begun to pressure the Uruguayans in different ways so that Goulart and his supporters in exile here will be forbidden to engage in political activities." "Leonel Brizola, leader of the far-left in the Goulart government and Goulart's brother-in-law, arrived here in exile and the Brazilian government has asked that both he and Goulart be interned. If interned they will have to live in an interior city without freedom of movement around the country which would make control much easier." "The Santiago station has a really big operation going to keep Salvador Allende from being elected President. He was almost elected at the last elections in 1958, and this time nobody's taking any chances." "...July 1964:...we are spending money in the Chilean election practically like we did in Brazil two years ago." "June 1965:...it's the immense scale of this invasion [of the Dominican Republic] that shocks. On the other hand, full-scale military invasion is the logical final step when all other tools of counter-insurgency fail." "...the stabilization programs imposed by the International Monetary Fund...hurt the low-and middle-income groups harder than the rich." "...September 1965: The 20 September resolution by the House of Representatives in Washington is causing an outrage here [in Uruguay] and in other parts of Lain America. The resolution attributes to the U.S. or any other American state the right to unilateral military intervention in other American states if necessary to keep communism out of the Western Hemisphere." "The Dominican invasion started me thinking about what we are really doing here in Latin America. On the one hand the spread of the Cuban revolution has been stopped and the counter-insurgency programs are successful in most places. Communist subversion at least is being controlled. But the other side, the positive side of reforming the injustices that make communism attractive, just isn't making progress." "The more I think about the Dominican invasion the more I wonder whether the politicians in Washington really want to see reforms in Latin America." "What's the benefit in eliminating subversion if the injustices continue?" "If we...seek to strengthen this and other similarly clique-serving governments only because they are anti-communists, then we're reduced to promoting one type of injustice in order to avoid another." "Six years in Lain America have taught me that the injustices forced by small ruling minorities on the mass of the people cannot be eased sufficiently by reform movements such as the Alliance for Progress. The ruling class will never willingly give up its special privileges and comforts. This is class warfare and is the reason why communism appeals to the masses in the first place. We call this the "fee world," but the only freedom under these circumstances is the rich people's freedom to exploit the poor." "...conventional reform does not work, and to me it is clear that the only real solutions are those advocated by the communists and other of the extreme left." "The only real alternative to injustice in Latin America is socialism..." "...the two main forces in the 1910-20 [Mexican] Revolution were agrarian reform and economic nationalism, the latter of increasing importance after U.S. military occupation of Veracruz in support of the side seeking a return to pre-1910 conditions. However, struggles over the degree and immediacy of implementing the Revolution's goals produced a civil war that claimed over a million lives, perhaps two million, by the time it ended in the 1920s. Many of the Revolution's leaders were among its victims." "...the [Lazaro] Cardenas regime [1934-40] is ...considered to be the culmination of the Revolution's goal to recover industry and natural resources from foreign control." "...the original goals of social justice and equitable distribution of income disappeared following the Cardenas regime." "...is not the PRI--and the revolutionary process earlier--simply the instrument of the industrial, professional and business communities and the servant of the top 5 per cent? Why...are the supposed beneficiaries of the Mexican Revolution still the most deprived some fifty years after the fighting ended in victory?" "Because of the strategic importance of Mexico to the U.S., its size and proximity, and the abundance of enemy activities, the Mexico City station is the largest in the hemisphere." "Mexico City - 19 September 1968: Last night...the government seized the National University in violation of the University's traditional autonomy. [Minister of Government Luis] Echeverria justified this invasion by saying that the University has been used for political rather than for educational purposes." "Mexico City - 28 October 1968: Suddenly [the Olympics are]... all over--capped by the gushing of color and sound from what must have been history's most spectacular display of fireworks. As of today we can all begin again to weigh whether this two-week circus was really worth all the bloodshed, and whether Mexico lost more prestige by killing protesters than it gained by putting on the Games." "The CIA ...is nothing more than the secret police of American capitalism, plugging up leaks in the political dam night and day so that shareholders of U.S. companies operating in poor countries can continue enjoying the rip-off." "A book on the CIA could also illustrate how the interests of the privileged minorities in poor counties lead back to, and are identified with, the interests of the rich and powerful who control the U.S." "I have also decided to seek ways of getting useful information on the CIA to revolutionary organizations that could use it to defend themselves better." "...the liberal concept of society...attempts to pain out the irreconcilable class conflicts..." "The result of this class conception, of seeing that class identity comes before nationality, leads to rejection of liberal reform as the continuous renovating process leading step by step to the better society. Reform...is fundamentally a maneuver by the ruling class in capitalist society, the capitalists, to allow exploitation to continue, to give a little in order to avoid losing everything." "Flight to cities by rural unemployed continued with the cities unable to absorb them productively." "Since the 1960s...as the psychological appeal of peaceful reform diminished in the face of failure, compensatory measures have been increasingly needed: repression and special programs, as in the field of organized labor, to divide the victims and neutralize their leaders." "...these are the crutches given by the capitalist rulers of the U.S. to their counterparts in Latin America in order to obtain reciprocal support against threats to American capitalism." "Reforms are temporary palliatives that can never eliminate the exploitative relationship on which capitalism is based." "...in Havana I could arrange to get information on the CIA to interested Latin American revolutionary organizations through their representatives..."
July 12, 2021
El hecho de que Estados Unidos, a través de la CIA y otras organizaciones, ha intervenido ilegalmente para cuidar sus intereses económicos y políticos en todo el mundo, y particularmente en América Latina, no es nada nuevo. Hasta mediados de los 70's, esto era sólo un secreto a voces, pero este libro vino a cambiarlo todo.
El autor fue un agente de la CIA por más de una década, realizando trabajos de espionaje, propaganda y ayudando a gobiernos autoritarios a destruir cualquier intento de grupos de izquierda (ya fueran progresistas, socialistas o comunistas) en Ecuador, Uruguay y México. Con detalle explica códigos, operaciones, revela nombres de agentes y contactos, dejando muy claro que EU buscaba proteger sus intereses y los de corporaciones de su país, incluso si eso significaba llevar al país en cuestión a dictaduras militares que, naturalmente, coartaban libertades, violaban derechos humanos y asesinaban a sus propios ciudadanos (como en los casos de Chile, Brasil, Bolivia, etc.)
Con el paso de los años, el autor se desencantó, dejó la CIA y escribió este libro, que ofrece una mirada profunda y reveladora de lo que EU estaba dispuesto a hacer para impedir la "expansión del comunismo".
El autor fue un agente de la CIA por más de una década, realizando trabajos de espionaje, propaganda y ayudando a gobiernos autoritarios a destruir cualquier intento de grupos de izquierda (ya fueran progresistas, socialistas o comunistas) en Ecuador, Uruguay y México. Con detalle explica códigos, operaciones, revela nombres de agentes y contactos, dejando muy claro que EU buscaba proteger sus intereses y los de corporaciones de su país, incluso si eso significaba llevar al país en cuestión a dictaduras militares que, naturalmente, coartaban libertades, violaban derechos humanos y asesinaban a sus propios ciudadanos (como en los casos de Chile, Brasil, Bolivia, etc.)
Con el paso de los años, el autor se desencantó, dejó la CIA y escribió este libro, que ofrece una mirada profunda y reveladora de lo que EU estaba dispuesto a hacer para impedir la "expansión del comunismo".
August 13, 2021
In one way this is a difficult book to read, since it is a long string of diary entries, full of facts and with few elements of reflection, at least at the beginning. However, they convey the alarming scope of the CIA's activities in that period, the 1960s, and the enormous resources at its disposal, to interfere in the domestic affiars of foreign governments, principally in the struggle to destroy the Cuban revolution. It is extraordinary how the diary conveys little of Agee's growing revulsion at what he is asked to do, and it is not really until he is stationed in Mexico that we learn about his volte face. We go on to hear about his struggles to write and publish the book and the intimidation to which he was subjected.
This and subsequent stories from CIA insiders may now seem to be of another time, the period of the Cold War, but of course we must presume that the CIA and other agencies are just as active now, even if their methods might be much more sophisticated. Agee's work lives on, incidentally, via his son (who features in the diaries) and in the magazine, Covert Action.
This and subsequent stories from CIA insiders may now seem to be of another time, the period of the Cold War, but of course we must presume that the CIA and other agencies are just as active now, even if their methods might be much more sophisticated. Agee's work lives on, incidentally, via his son (who features in the diaries) and in the magazine, Covert Action.
January 20, 2021
Great book, but have to admit that I couldn't finish it.
For anybody who thought the CIA was too secretive, this book essentially lays out how the CIA works, what it means to be an agent, and how their actions play out in other countries. It's all kind of right there in plain english.
The one part that sticks out to me was just that what seems like the prime directive of the agency (at least at that time) was to fight communism. Nothing else really seems important. Not ensure stability, protect allies, or even protect U.S. interests. It's just follow communists, fight communism. So once the book gets going and Agee is on his first assignment in Ecuador, and the plot gets incredibly complicated with all of the various political factions struggling for control and all of the complex details of spycraft and who can you trust and what is real, and you try and step back and understand what the point of all this cloak and dagger nonsense is you realize that none of it really makes any sense. And that's when I gave up.
For anybody who thought the CIA was too secretive, this book essentially lays out how the CIA works, what it means to be an agent, and how their actions play out in other countries. It's all kind of right there in plain english.
The one part that sticks out to me was just that what seems like the prime directive of the agency (at least at that time) was to fight communism. Nothing else really seems important. Not ensure stability, protect allies, or even protect U.S. interests. It's just follow communists, fight communism. So once the book gets going and Agee is on his first assignment in Ecuador, and the plot gets incredibly complicated with all of the various political factions struggling for control and all of the complex details of spycraft and who can you trust and what is real, and you try and step back and understand what the point of all this cloak and dagger nonsense is you realize that none of it really makes any sense. And that's when I gave up.
January 13, 2023
Šitą knygą sunku įvertinti, nes ji naudinga ir žalinga tuo pat metu. Jos autorius yra išdavikas pačia objektyviausia ir neutraliausia prasme: jam buvo patikėtos svarbios paslaptys, kurias jis turėjo saugoti, bet iš pykčio (ar politinio pasipiktinimo) nusprendė atskleisti. Nenuostabu, kad jo buvę bendražygiai iš CŽA negalvoja apie jį nieko gero.
Kita vertus, man turbūt artimesnė kito išeivio iš CŽA Miles Copeland prieiga (labai rekomenduoju perskaityti ir jo recenziją: http://archive.spectator.co.uk/articl...). Copeland sako, kad net ir nešina išdavystės šleifu knyga įdomi tiems, kas nori sužinoti, ką ir kaip iš tikrųjų dirba normalus eilinis CŽA žvalgas. Dabar, kai visi, kas galėjo nukentėti dėl Agee išdavystės, jau nukentėjo arba išsigelbėjo, šita tiksli ir paradoksaliai sąžininga normalaus žvalgo perspektyva tampa vis svarbesnė.
Kam įdomi globalios žvalgybos tarnybos kasdienybė Šaltajame kare, tiems galiu net labai rekomenduoti. O kaip dienoraštis - nei nuoširdus, nei tikras, nei įdomus.
Kita vertus, man turbūt artimesnė kito išeivio iš CŽA Miles Copeland prieiga (labai rekomenduoju perskaityti ir jo recenziją: http://archive.spectator.co.uk/articl...). Copeland sako, kad net ir nešina išdavystės šleifu knyga įdomi tiems, kas nori sužinoti, ką ir kaip iš tikrųjų dirba normalus eilinis CŽA žvalgas. Dabar, kai visi, kas galėjo nukentėti dėl Agee išdavystės, jau nukentėjo arba išsigelbėjo, šita tiksli ir paradoksaliai sąžininga normalaus žvalgo perspektyva tampa vis svarbesnė.
Kam įdomi globalios žvalgybos tarnybos kasdienybė Šaltajame kare, tiems galiu net labai rekomenduoti. O kaip dienoraštis - nei nuoširdus, nei tikras, nei įdomus.
January 24, 2025
Man, I picked this book up and said, this should be a quick read…nope. While it was fascinating, and the connections and secrets divulged are upsetting and unsurprising, it was a slog to get through this one. He spends about 150 pages explaining the code system he’s gonna use a shorthand for throughout the book. I didn’t remember any of it as I continued reading.
I think for me, with everything happening in the world today, in the year of someone’s lord, 2025, it is mind boggling how much money the CIA must piss away on bogus leads and people who won’t turn traitor on their country, and for what? To stop leftist movements around the world. So capitalists can exploit the system. A lot of what the author says in his book, published before I was born, is somehow even more true today. And it has gotten worse. Towards the end of the book, he says something that kinda stuck out to me, about how the CIA is just a bunch of cops running around the globe protecting capitalist interests. They aren’t protecting democracy, or freedom, just access to ways to make more money.
I think for me, with everything happening in the world today, in the year of someone’s lord, 2025, it is mind boggling how much money the CIA must piss away on bogus leads and people who won’t turn traitor on their country, and for what? To stop leftist movements around the world. So capitalists can exploit the system. A lot of what the author says in his book, published before I was born, is somehow even more true today. And it has gotten worse. Towards the end of the book, he says something that kinda stuck out to me, about how the CIA is just a bunch of cops running around the globe protecting capitalist interests. They aren’t protecting democracy, or freedom, just access to ways to make more money.
July 1, 2024
It was fascinating and not a little disturbing to read about the almost casual way in which the US government interfere in and direct politics in other countries, via the CIA. From creating and spreading propaganda and misinformation to fomenting rebellions and military coups, this country and their intelligence agency has a lot of blood on its hands. However, the diary format became increasingly dull over 600 plus pages.
February 24, 2023
It is a good book but i guess one has to take it with a pinch of salt. The accounts are good reconstruction and i don‘t doubt what he narrates to be truth, but on the other hand, he sees a very dichotomy world and he feels obliged to take a side, where both sides were equally corrupt and looking for their own benefits.
May 7, 2020
More about Latin America than the CIA, once I got what I opened it for, I put it away.
June 3, 2022
A little too close to home for some.
December 25, 2012
written by a disaffected cia officer who worked in ecuador, uruguay and mexico during the sixties. its very non-sensational and documents their tampering, bribing, harassing, invasion of privacy, slandering, blackmailing and framing (all mostly in the name of insanely rabid anti-communism) in a workday manner that makes it almost start to seem routine. its very interesting to see the way they coordinate different fronts (media, politicians, etc) to antagonize and repress. it seems likely that a similar strategy was and is used domestically as well.toward the end the author switches to a kind of rabid anti-capitalism with the same amount of slightly creepy zeal that the anti-communism started with. it turned out to be very readable and full of interesting latin american history, although kind of long.
October 20, 2014
stormtrooper blows whistle on empire, detailing both general CIA processes but also specific operations in asia and latin america.
douches object to the text because author received asylum in cuba during the cold war. considering that the allegations are substantially corroborated by rightwinger marchetti, as well as by stockwell and mcgehee, all former stormtroopers, it's hard to credit the objection.
same douches no doubt hang on every word uttered by soviet defectors. but that's nature of the douche.
douches object to the text because author received asylum in cuba during the cold war. considering that the allegations are substantially corroborated by rightwinger marchetti, as well as by stockwell and mcgehee, all former stormtroopers, it's hard to credit the objection.
same douches no doubt hang on every word uttered by soviet defectors. but that's nature of the douche.
October 27, 2009
While this account of Agee's work for the CIA in Central America during the 1960s, and his gradual alienation from that work and from the unjust capitalist order it strove to maintain, contains valuable information, the clunky writing and the diary-style format really detract from its clarity and readability. Still useful as a historic document.
May 13, 2023
I tried to read this several years ago and DNF. South American politics in the 1960s is not one of my points of interest, so in the spirit of reducing the number of books I don't have room for, this is going to a charity shop in the hope someone else will find it more interesting, and get it at a bargain price.
July 2, 2023
Read this book and then you know why everything you hear on the news is mist likely fake news. There is a covert world at work that lays behind all the popular news.
June 30, 2018
He's a spy, traitor and a narcissist .
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