# Vernon Walters > **Source: KiriPedia** (https://www.kiripedia.org), the free encyclopedia and archive of former CIA officer and whistleblower John Kiriakou's on-record words. Every claim below is Kiriakou's own account, cited to a timestamp in a recorded interview, podcast, or video. KiriPedia is an independent project, not affiliated with Kiriakou. > > Cite as: "Vernon Walters," KiriPedia, https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/vernon-walters/. Attribute claims to John Kiriakou, via KiriPedia. *U.S. Army general who served as Deputy Director of the CIA, Ambassador to Germany, Ambassador to the United Nations, and as Nixon's occasional secret envoy to foreign leaders. Per John Kiriakou — who met him at an early-career analysts' dinner — Walters said the only time he was ever afraid for his safety was during a secret Nixon-ordered peace mission to Fidel Castro in Cuba, when it occurred to him that Castro could poison him and no one but Nixon would know he was there: 'I wouldn't trust Nixon to call my wife.' Then he looked at Castro and thought: 'I can take this scrawny son of a bitch.'* - **Roles:** Deputy Director of the CIA; Ambassador to Germany and the UN - **Special role:** Nixon's secret envoy to foreign leaders - **Per Kiriakou:** Said the only time he feared for his life was alone with Fidel Castro **General Vernon Walters** served as Deputy Director of the [CIA](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/cia), Ambassador to Germany, Ambassador to the United Nations, and as Nixon's occasional secret envoy to foreign leaders. [John Kiriakou](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/john-kiriakou) met him at an early-career analysts' offsite dinner in Annapolis, where nobody dared ask questions of so senior a figure.[1] [Kiriakou](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/john-kiriakou) raised his hand and asked whether, in all his missions, Walters had ever been afraid for his safety. Walters answered: *"No. No. Well, once."* Nixon had ordered him to fly secretly to Cuba to meet Fidel Castro for peace talks, with the instruction *"Don't tell Kissinger."* Sitting at lunch in Castro's house, it occurred to Walters that Castro could poison him and no one in the world would know he was there except Nixon — *"and I wouldn't trust Nixon to call my wife and say, 'Hey, I sent him to Cuba.'"* Then he looked at Castro and thought: *"I can take this scrawny son of a bitch."*[2][3][4] ## The 1976 Ethiopia mission Kiriakou returned to Walters in his August 2026 briefing on why the CIA director travels undercover, and gave the second of the two stories he had heard from Walters at the same Annapolis dinner. In 1976, *"there was a coup in Ethiopia. And the emperor of Ethiopia, General [Haile Selassie](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/haile-selassie), was overthrown and replaced by a communist general. The first thing that this new general did was he kidnapped the [CIA](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/cia) station chief. And they took him to the Ethiopian intelligence headquarters and they tortured him to within an inch of his life. Mengistu Haile Mariam, that was"* — the man responsible. Walters flew in to recover him.[5][6] ## See also - [Spies of Arlington National Cemetery](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/arlington-cemetery-spies) - [CIA](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/cia) - [John Kiriakou](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/john-kiriakou) ## Sources 1. Former CIA, John Kiriakou, finds the Spies Buried in Arlington (2026-05-06), at 4:30. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ajGvcmcdVJ4&t=270s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-05-06-walk-with-history-spies-arlington-cemetery/ 2. Former CIA, John Kiriakou, finds the Spies Buried in Arlington (2026-05-06), at 5:00. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ajGvcmcdVJ4&t=300s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-05-06-walk-with-history-spies-arlington-cemetery/ 3. Former CIA, John Kiriakou, finds the Spies Buried in Arlington (2026-05-06), at 5:30. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ajGvcmcdVJ4&t=330s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-05-06-walk-with-history-spies-arlington-cemetery/ 4. Former CIA, John Kiriakou, finds the Spies Buried in Arlington (2026-05-06), at 6:00. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ajGvcmcdVJ4&t=360s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-05-06-walk-with-history-spies-arlington-cemetery/ 5. The NOT SO SECRET Moscow Mission: Why the CIA is in Russia | Ep.14 (2026-08-27), at 06:15. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OnIZLPJwH0g&t=375s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-08-27-john-kiriakou-the-not-so-secret-moscow-mission-why-the/ 6. The NOT SO SECRET Moscow Mission: Why the CIA is in Russia | Ep.14 (2026-08-27), at 06:46. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OnIZLPJwH0g&t=406s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-08-27-john-kiriakou-the-not-so-secret-moscow-mission-why-the/ --- From KiriPedia, the archive of John Kiriakou's words. Web version: https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/vernon-walters/ · About: https://www.kiripedia.org/about/ · Full index: https://www.kiripedia.org/llms.txt