 Initially a member of the 26th of July Movement and a close supporter of Fidel Castro, Cuesta in 1960 defected to the United States, and in 1961 was one of the founders of the anti-Communist paramilitary organization Alpha 66.He later set up the guerilla group "Comandos L" (the L standing for "Libertad") which operated out of Anguilla and, under his command, in 1963 sank the Soviet freighter "Baku" in Caibarién Harbour.In 1966 Cuesta was captured in Cuba, in a skirmish that cost him a hand and his eyesight.