[5] As part of Fidel and Raúl Castro's[6] inner circle, Delfín Fernández asserts that he learnt everything from why the Cuban leader incinerates his dirty underwear to his cravings for pricey Spanish ham.
[3] Fernández claims that he was once sent to Spain to bring $2,500 worth of the pata negra delicacy back to Cuba[3] because Fidel Castro had a penchant for imported cured Spanish hams and a paranoia about assassination.
[5] Fernández said that chief bodyguard, Bienvenido "Chicho" Pérez, had told him that Castro had his underwear burned to foil any assassination plots with chemicals during laundering.
There he acted as a spy under the cover of his official title as Operations Manager for the Guitart hotel chain, where he claimed that guests could be open to blackmail.
[3] Fernández said he defected in Spain in 1999 on a trip to Europe to drop off Raúl's daughter, Mariela Castro Espín, in Italy to visit her father-in-law and pick up a Rottweiler in Germany for Fidel.
Among his clients in Spain: actors Antonio Banderas and his wife, Melanie Griffith, soccer star David Beckham, Spanish actresses Ana Obregón and Esther Cañadas, former Spice Girl Emma Bunton, bullfighter Francisco Rivera Ordóñez and several high-profile businessmen.
[3] Before his defection, Fernández claims that one of his key tasks was to spy on wealthy visitors to the island, including film stars Leonardo DiCaprio and Jack Nicholson.
The ratings were so strong that Channel 41 offered to let Fernández be a permanent guest on a new daily weekday show, Arrebatados, at 6 p.m., hosted by Maria Laria.