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Serafino Romualdi (November 18, 1900 - November 1967) was the [[AFL-CIO]]'s Inter-American representative for over two decades and the founding executive director of the [[AIFLD]] (American Institute for Free Labor Development), which he built into the CIA's principal labor-movement instrument in Latin America. Born in [[Bastia Umbra]], Perugia, Italy, Romualdi fled fascism in 1923 and built his anti-communist credentials through the [[ILGWU]], wartime service in the [[CIAA]] and [[OSS]], and nearly two decades as the AFL's roving labor ambassador to the hemisphere. The CIA assigned him the pseudonym "Charles Guymers" and the cryptonym [[ZRSIGN]]; [[Philip Agee]] identified him in print as "the principal CIA agent for labor operations in Latin America." His receipt in autumn 1963 of advance information about São Paulo Governor [[Adhemar de Barros]]'s coup plans against [[Joao Goulart]] led directly to AIFLD's crash training of thirty-three Brazilian unionists whose subsequent role in the 1964 coup was publicly acknowledged by his successor, [[William Doherty Jr.]]
Serafino Romualdi (November 18, 1900 - November 1967) was the [[AFL-CIO]]'s Inter-American representative for over two decades and the founding executive director of the [[AIFLD]] (American Institute for Free Labor Development), which he built into the CIA's principal labor-movement instrument in [[Latin America]]. Born in [[Bastia Umbra]], Perugia, Italy, Romualdi fled fascism in 1923 and built his anti-communist credentials through the [[ILGWU]], wartime service in the [[CIAA]] and [[OSS]], and nearly two decades as the AFL's roving labor ambassador to the hemisphere. The CIA assigned him the pseudonym "Charles Guymers" and the cryptonym [[ZRSIGN]]; [[Philip Agee]] identified him in print as "the principal CIA agent for labor operations in Latin America." His receipt in autumn 1963 of advance information about São Paulo Governor [[Adhemar de Barros]]'s coup plans against [[Joao Goulart]] led directly to AIFLD's crash training of thirty-three Brazilian unionists whose subsequent role in the 1964 coup was publicly acknowledged by his successor, [[William Doherty Jr.]]
### Early Life and Anti-Fascist Formation
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### AIFLD and Brazil
Romualdi became AIFLD's first executive director when the organization was formally established in 1961-1962, with a board that included Meany, [[J. Peter Grace]] of W.R. Grace and Company, and executives from major corporations with Latin American interests. AIFLD received approximately 92 percent of its budget from the U.S. government through the [[Agency for International Development]] (AID).
Romualdi became AIFLD's first executive director when the organization was formally established in 1961-1962, with a board that included Meany, [[J. Peter Grace]] of [[W.R. Grace and Company]], and executives from major corporations with Latin American interests. AIFLD received approximately 92 percent of its budget from the U.S. government through the [[Agency for International Development]] (AID).
As early as 1960, Romualdi had cultivated [[Carlos Lacerda]], the right-wing governor of Guanabara (Rio de Janeiro), as a political contact against the Goulart-aligned labor confederation. In early 1962, an ORIT delegation including Romualdi met with Goulart in Brasília; in parallel, AIFLD, ORIT, and the U.S. Embassy worked to break up the left-dominated [[CGT]] (Comando Geral dos Trabalhadores), Brazil's largest progressive labor body.