The 'Conga' hitmaker says she only found out that her father Jose Fajardo was a top secret agent for Central Intelligence Agency years after his passing.
- Oct 2, 2020
AceShowbiz - Latin superstar Gloria Estefan discovered her father had been a top secret agent for the American government's Central Intelligence Agency years after he passed.
Jose Fajardo had worked as a police officer in the family's native Cuba under Dictator Fulgencio Batista, but relocated to the U.S. following the Cuban Revolution and joined the U.S. military.
He went on to fight in the Vietnam War, but hid the exact nature of his work from his loved ones, and it was only long after he passed away in 1980 that Estefan uncovered the truth about her dad's heroics.
Fajardo, who had battled multiple sclerosis following his return from the war, was buried with a number of his military medals, but Estefan later learned he had received many, many more for his undercover work as a Black Ops agent.
The information surfaced after the singer turned to a military contact to help her obtain replicas of her dad's medals as keepsakes, and the news of his secret past blew the whole family away.
"My mum, when my father passed, she actually buried him with his medals, so she (later) asked me if I could get a duplicate (of each honour)," Estefan explained.
"I met an incredible general that was very kind, and I asked him if he could possibly get me copies (of his medals)."
"It turns out that he had twice the (number of) medals that any of us thought and we found out that my dad had been in the Black Ops for the CIA during Vietnam...," Estefan said.
The general had the duplicates placed in special display frames for the "Conga" hitmaker and her younger sister, Becky, and it's a gift Estefan treasures to this day.
"The general came personally, he presented a copy of the medals for me and one for my sister," she shared.
"My father never found out all the incredible things he earned because he was so ill when he came back from 'Nam, so now (the general) had them proudly put in a case for us, and it's one of the best gifts I've ever gotten in my entire life."
