peace." However, as the war turned in favor of the Falangists, the Republican forces tasked Agostini, now with the rank of colonel, as among the chiefs responsible for the transfer of the International Brigades to Barcelona and ultimately out of Spain later that year. Upon reaching France through the Pyrenees with other ex-combatants as well as refugees, Agostini was detained by French forces in camps for processing for an extended period before finally being released to Cuba in 1940. Return to Cuba After returning to Cuba, Agostini would travel to the United States now as an economic rather than political emigrant. He resided on the small merchant cargo ship Mambí, of which he was appointed captain. On 19 February 1941, he was reinstated in the Cuban Navy with his former rank and subsequently appointed professor of artillery at his alma mater, the Mariel naval school, and later as head of the Boca de Mariel post. After the outbreak of World War II, Agostini would once again ascend rapidly through various posts. He was promoted to the rank of lieutenant in February 1942 and was assigned to the US naval flotilla that operated within Cuban ports. The following year he was sent to undergo a tactical course in anti-submarine warfare at the Training Center in Miami, Florida. In 1944 he became chief of several surface units of the Cuban navy as well as chief of the Boca de Camarioca naval post and, as an officer, he was transferred to the Directorate Department of the General Staff. The June 1944 election of Ramón Grau San Martín as President of the Republic proved to be pivotal for Agostini's career as he became close to Grau's inner circle. He was first transferred to the Directorate Department of the General Staff of the Navy shortly after the election. In March 1945 he was appointed Assistant to the Chief of the Army and a month later was assigned to the Commission of the Military House within the Palatine Mansion. Finally, on 17 May Agostini was appointed Grau's Head of the Secret Service of the Presidential Palace. In 1947 he joined the "Cayo Confites" plan to depose neighboring Dominican dictator Rafael Leónidas Trujillo. Aboard the Cinco Hermanas he was transporting a shipment of explosives when he received urgent instructions to anchor in Cárdenas Bay and go to the Presidential Palace, where he was informed that President Grau