ATCHO

Eduardo "Atcho" Xiquez Rodriguez de Archniega is an agent of American Intelligence.

I would love to be able to pinpoint exactly whom he worked for but it gets a little confusing.

Atcho, before we first meet him, had been the pride of Cuba in the days before Castro took over. His father had been a successful sugar plantation owner in that island nation. Young Eduardo had grown up with privilege but his father, a very down-to-earth man, had instilled in him an ethic of responsibility and service to the people. Atcho, as his father called him, used his father's connections, along with his own talents and hard work, to earn a spot at West Point and upon graduating, became an officer in the Army. Not content with just doing okay, he pushed himself and later earned a spot in the coveted Rangers. When his time of service was over, he and his bride returned to Cuba and he took his place beside his father.

Then the dictatorship of Batista fell to the communist dictatorship of Castro and Atcho's life changed drastically forever. Atcho was on the side of those fighting Castro and reluctantly took part in the disastrous Bay of Pigs fiasco. Seeing some of his family murdered and his daughter kidnapped by a KGB officer wanting Atcho's hide, he would spend many years in a couple of the worst prison hell holes Cuba had to offer.

But it is when he gets out that his life as an operative in the cloak and dagger world gets started. In an America where the hatred for all things Castor-related, coupled with the continuing wariness of the Soviet Union, having a man such as Atcho with this native understanding of the former and intimate albeit unpleasant experience with the latter is too good of an asset to pass up and American Intelligence does not.

The series covers a considerable amount of Atcho's life from the pre-Castro days of the 50's through the 60's and 70's and 80's. We get to watch as he meets the lovely and very capable Sofia, fall in love with her, and eventually marry her which is a good thing both personally and professionally. Of the two, Atcho gets thrown into more trouble but Sofia is the one who is the actual trained operative with the CIA.

Atcho's life will change a great deal but there will always be need for his services.

This is a darn fine series written with tremendous talent. I really got to like Atcho although I did more than once groan on his behalf when he is pulled back into action - I wanted to see Eduardo Xiquez do his thing as the legendary Atcho but at the same time I was growling the world should leave him alone! I mean the man has paid his dues too many times.

So has his wife, Sofia. Good thing this lady can give as good as she can take because as much as gets tossed at Atcho, that much seems to head towards her as well. Good thing she is a trained agent.