Editing Michael Townley (section)

==Early Life and Background==
Michael Vernon Townley was born on December 5, 1942, in Waterloo, Iowa, to John Vernon Townley, a U.S. businessman, and an unnamed mother. His father, who later became general manager of the Ford Motor Company in Chile, had ties to the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) from his work in the Philippines, which influenced Michael’s eventual path. The CIA used Ford Motor Company, with their knowledge, as a front for intelligence gathering efforts in foreign countries as did many other multi-national US corporations.

In 1957, at age 14, Townley moved with his family to Santiago, Chile, where his father’s role immersed him in the American expatriate community. He briefly attended Saint George’s College in Santiago but struggled with Spanish and left the school. Active in the Methodist Church’s youth group, Townley’s early years in Chile were marked by privilege but also isolation due to language barriers.

In the early 1960s, Townley married Mariana Inés Callejas, a Chilean woman who infiltrated the Socialist Party of Chile while secretly informing for Chilean military intelligence. The couple moved to Miami in 1967, where Townley worked as a mutual fund salesman and later as a mechanic among CIA funded and support Cuban exile population.

According to Death in Washington by Donald Freed, Townley received training in electronics and explosives from former CIA operatives in Fort Lauderdale, associating with CIA sponsored anti-Castro groups like the Chicago Junta, including [[Frank Sturgis]], [[Orlando Bosc]]h, and [[Antonio Veciana]]. He also worked for [[Investors Overseas Services]], a CIA front company linked to financial scandals involving [[Bernard Cornfeld]] and [[Robert Vesco]].