markedly improving the preparation of the militias. As a senior advisor for the Comintern in Spain, Vidali headed the 5th Regiment (Quinto Regimiento). It was responsible for the political formation of MAOC's regiments. In the 1937 pro-Republican propaganda film The Spanish Earth, Vidali was shown addressing an assembly of military personnel. In Mexico and Italy Vidali returned to Mexico. He was identified as involved in the May 24, 1940 attack on Leon Trotsky's residence in Mexico City, a failed assassination attempt. Iosif Grigulevich, a Soviet NKVD operative, and Mexican painter David Alfaro Siqueiros were also involved in the assault. Vidali is also thought to have been closely involved with the successful infiltration of fellow NKVD operative Ramón Mercader into Trotsky's inner circle. This resulted in Mercader's murder of Trotsky later that year. Vittorio Vidali returned to Trieste in 1947 after World War II, when the Free Territory of Trieste was established. He soon became one of the most powerful members of the Communist Party there. In 1948, after the Tito–Stalin split, Vidali became the leader of the party, and conducted a thorough purge of alleged Tito in Trieste's Communist organizations. He also worked to reduce the influence of the Yugoslavian Party on the Communist Party of the Free Territory of Trieste. He strengthened connections with Pro-Soviet Italian Communists. During this period, he also clashed with the local Slovene minority that had been influential among Trieste's Communist before his arrival. After 1954, when Trieste became part of Italy again, Vidali was elected to and served as Communist Member of the Italian Parliament from the area. Reputation Reportedly Tina Modotti said to Valentín González in Spain, after he had decided not to kill Vidali, words to the effect: "You should have shot him, I hate him". But she continued: "I have to follow him until I die" (which she did). The exploits of Vidali in carrying out Trotsky's assassination, and lethal purges of agents in the Soviet Union and Fulgencio Batista's Cuba (such as Sandalio Junco in the latter) ) gained him attention. Julián Gorkin likened Vidali's activities, including known travels through Cuba before and after Fidel Castro's coming to power, and his presence in Turkey, Mexico, and Spain in relation to Soviet Communist activities to the farflung exploits of British writer Ian Fleming's well-known MI-6 character in his James Bond series of novels. Bibliography Ritratto di donna : Tina Modotti –