December 12, 2009

25: The Name Game

In the past, Pawley would go straight to the top to argue his position to Presidents Roosevelt, Truman or Eisenhower when he felt that his dealings with underlings were not going well. But in the new Kennedy administration, he did not have that access, so he had to take his case to Assistant Secretary of State Thomas Mann (photo), whom weeks earlier Pawley had praised as “brilliant” and no “nicer fellow” while chastising him for his friendship with Betancourt.1

Pawley in early March 1961 began sending Mann materials to make the case against Manuel “Manolo” Ray and for the use of others.2 Ray was a former professor of engineering at the University of Habana, who had been selected by the CIA to rally support. Pawley disliked him because he had served as Castro’s Minister of Public Works, although he quit the Castro cabinet position after his friend Huber Matos was arrested by Castro. Ray then defected to the U.S. and became the leader of the anti-Castro counterforce People’s Revolutionary Movement (MRP).3

In the letter to Assistant Secretary of State Thomas Mann, Pawley demonstrated his mastery of the Cuban situation while raising the possibility of a post-Castro civil war if the wrong leaders are selected. “It [is] also thought by important Cubans whom I know here that Ray and three or four of the other prominently mentioned Cubans have already made arrangements through Russian agents and that when Castro falls, Russia will still have their men in power even though they pretend to demonstrate a more friendly attitude toward the United States.” Pawley stated “that the best solution would be a ‘junta’ or ‘frente’ made up of leaders of the various political groups. At no time has this seemed more necessary than now.” He offered four names for this role: de Varona, Carillo, Artime, and Maceo.

“And reinforce it with the following leaders of political groups” from “various factions of public opinion in Cuba” who were already in the U.S. making it easy to bring them together “so they could be persuaded to function as one in the interest of the overthrow of Castro and the rebuilding of Cuba’s future.” The list, in order, was:

  • Dr. Carlos Prío Socarrás (former Constitutional President)

  • Dr. Gustavo Cuervo Rubio (former Constitutional Vice President)

  • Dr. Guillermo Alonso Pujol (former Constitutional Vice President)

  • Jose R. Andreu (top Republican leader)

  • Dr. Juan Rubio Padilla (top Catholic leader)

  • Dr. Emilio Ochoa Ochoa (top Orthodox leader)

  • Dr. Carlos Marquez Sterling (President of the Constitutional Assembly-1960)

  • Dr. Jorge Garcia Montes (former Prime Minister under Batista)

  • Mr. Jose Alvarez Diaz (very capable Economist)

  • Mr. Carlos Hevia (former candidate for President)

    Together this group has “a great deal of know-how. Some are very honorable men and I am assured that none have been communists or Marxists. Castro’s revolution is represented by some, the overthrown government, by one, who incidentally is an excellent man.” Pawley did not add a Castroite representative but offered Mann the opportunity to choose one if “you will feel that one is necessary. If so, you might determine who could best qualify as I am unable to select one whom I feel fits in with this group.”

    Pawley envisioned that the mission of the group and U.S. should be “Cuba’s rehabilitation once Castro falls” and “its main objective the avoidance of further bloodshed and disorder.” Pawley opined that “Manolo Ray or Miro Cardona” should not be “given important positions in the new government.” If they were, “my judgment is that civil war is inevitable and this I sincerely hope can be avoided.”4

Around the same time, Pawley received a biography of Jose Sarria, a Cuban who had served three years in the U.S. Air Force as an instructor for the U.S. Force’s Latin American School in the Panama Canal Zone. He was a technician in aerial radar who now wants to “liberate his Country, his family and his religion from Communists hands ... He wishes to be ‘in the line of fire’ infantry ... ready—immediate mobilization.”5

On March 3, a handwritten note in Pawley’s file advised that one of the exile leaders had been insulted because he had been referred to by Alejandro Valle as “Mister instead of Colonel” Sanchez Mosquera. The Colonel kicked Valle out of his house. “We know his [Valle’s] father well, if the boy is like him, he certainly cannot be recommended.” The note further stated that important events that are scheduled to take place in Havana on March 15th should be rescheduled because the date had been disclosed.

The note then mentioned that “General Diaz Tamayo and Major Blanco” had been contacted by “Commander Ralph Schneelock [Ralph H. Schneeloch], a veteran of World War II in the Pacific and Korea—an expert in magnetic mines, frogmen, beach work and demolition— according to his story he was responsible for preparing the famous Inchon landing in Korea.” Schneeloch, whose business card identified him as being with Inter-American Equipment Co., Inc., Miami, “informed them of his great interest of keeping his identity secret to the CIA and FBI” and “was very critical of everything that is being done.” Speaking “poorly of the State Department and CIA,” Schneeloch believes the CIA are wasting time with a political army and the people that should be helped are the Constitutional Army.” He believed “fighting in Escambray will help Fidel in the long run” because “those militia men that are being killed will gain sympathy in their hometown.”

The self-proclaimed naval war expert “informed me that it was a mistake not to start the strategic war, that by acts of sabotage and by taking the lives of prominent communists would demoralize Castro regime and spread fear and suspicions.” He offered to do “demolition work, sabotage, etc. on electrical power plants. Oil refineries, the lives of prominent communists and even magnetic mines.”

Regarding leadership, Schneeloch “was critical of the CIA backing Varona, who was supposed to be a Fidelista sin Fidel. I assured him that Varona had never been a Fidelista, that he had been an authentico ... a former member of University Directory of 1930 where there had been no Marxists or Communists that he had been a Senator and a Prime Minister. I told him that ... other top Cubans that eventually would turn up, but that I really thought Varona was one of them. He went after Artime and said he was a Communist or the son of a Communist—I assured him that I did not know Artime personally, that he could not be a Communist because he was a Youth Catholic Leader, that I heard say that his father had been a communist ... I was not sure of that. I told him that even though I did not know Artime, I disliked him personally and considered him an extremely ambitious man, that my definition of Artime could be that he was a Catholic Fidel.”6

Another document in Pawley’s file was the translation of the four-page unsigned memorandum to Dr. Cuervo describing the deteriorating conditions in the Escambray section of Cuba where local Batista supporters were continuing to fight against Castro’s “60,000 militiamen, armed to the teeth, with all kinds of equipment in excessive abundance.” As for Havana, “automobile traffic has diminished to half, old Havana is empty, the stores are half empty, of both customers and merchandise, movies and the like are empty except Saturday and Sunday, restaurants, cafes, etc, the same. Underneath this exterior, everyone is putting in a little to help overthrow the Government.” The observer noted that members of Batista’s former army “are really desperate. They do not have work nor a way of getting it, they do not have a pension or retirement, they feel harassed, all are anticommunists, mad and prepared to do whatever will return their personal dignity and permit them to work ... In a critical moment these men will take action even without suitable arms.”7

Among those up in the Escambray Mountains were 300 men led by Mario Kohly who were overwhelmed by Castro’s troops, eliminating one of the lynch pins in the successful uprising that was supposed to come with the invasion. Kohly, who had the backing of attorney Marshall Diggs, had been introduced to Nixon in October 1960 shortly before Nixon’s loss to Kennedy. Despite the loss of Kohly’s troops, he continued his efforts until he was arrested by the FBI in October 1963 for participating in a counterfeiting operation designed to destabilize the economy of Cuba. He was convicted the following spring and sent to prison for two years.8

Pawley had other responsibilities beyond choosing Cuban leadership and vetting recruits; he was facilitating propaganda against Castro. David Atlee Phillips, the propaganda chief, along with Richard Drain, chief of operations for the invasion, signed an authorization for payment of the February and March bill of $6,120 for marina charges. “WAVE should pay marina thru QDDALE in such way assure QDDALE or marina will pay Gibraltar.”9 Gibraltar Steamship Company was the operating company fronting for Radio Swan, the CIA’s propaganda station during the Bay of Pigs planning.10

A month before the impending invasion, the FRD organization was still an issue, according to another handwritten note reporting “conversations here by Dr. Maceo with other members of the Executive Committee.” Named to remain on the Executive Committee were de Varona, Carrillo, Artime, Maceo, and “a member of the Democrata Christiano.” 

Five others would be invited to join the committee. “Organizations to be invited to send a Representative’ included the Frente Obrero Revolutionario Democratico (FORD), Movimento do de Noviembre, considered to be “very radical group represented by David Salvador former Secretary General of the CTC with Castro, Union Nacional Democratica and the Directorio Estudantil (DE, later known as the DRE which plays a significant role in America two years later). The DE’s probable designate “is also a member of MRR (Artime).”11

On March 16th, the new U.S. Ambassador to Argentina Roy R. Rubottom Jr. sent a cable to Washington regarding his critic Pawley who had discussed with Argentine’s President Frondizi the “line of action regarding Cuban problem” back in December but had not since. “President quite strongly implied that U.S. needed consult more with GOA on Cuba. President Frondizi has considerable information from his Amb in Cuba, Julio Amoedo, who [is in] close touch with Miami situation and other aspects of Castro’s deteriorating position.” Frondizi wondered why he hadn’t heard additional details from Pawley.12

While Frondizi was trying to learn more about the U.S. invasion plan, Enrique V. Corominas, co-owner of the Argentine magazine Finanzas, wrote a letter indicating he, too, would like to discuss the Cuban situation with Pawley whom he greeted as an “esteemed and well-remembered friend” and praised Pawley’s “unforgettable Conference for the Maintenance of Peace and Security of the Continent, held in Rio de Janeiro in 1947 out of which came the Inter-American Treaty of Mutual Assistance, as well as in 1948, when I was in Washington presiding over the Council of the Organization of American States and was Ambassador from my country to the OAS.” Corominas then complained that he hasn’t heard from Pawley since that time. “Now, faced with the mention of your name, brought by cables from current Argentine newspapers, and knowing you are in Miami, I beg you to accept this letter, to read it, and toconsider its viability according to what is useful and effectively realistic. The cables make known your opinions regarding the case of Cuba ... when former President Carlos Prío Socarrás recently passed through Buenos Aires, we found occasion to recall good friends in the United States, of the continent, and your name was on the first line.” He then mentioned the significant Cubans in exile who pass through Buenos Aires, including Varona, who was in this city up until a few days ago. He has returned to Miami to take up other duties.” Corominas prodded Pawley “by the end of March, I will pass through Miami where I believe that I could meet and perhaps exchange a few affectionate words with my very dear friend.”13

On March 17th Pawley, as QDDALE, sent an urgent handwritten note that a delegate appointed to the FRD Executive Committee by the 30th of November Movement is reportedly a communist. At the same time, Pawley took another swipe at Ray. “It has been reported by a very reliable source that Manuel Ray (MRP) is bringing as an Advisor Professor Fiterra from Habana University ... an undisclosed Communist.” Pawley also provided his insights on others. “It has been reported that to complete the Executive Committee of the FRD the following are to be brought in - A Carlos Marquez Sterling (a very good idea) - B Aureliano Sanchez Arango again (very dangerous, but has more right to be there than Jose Miro Cardona) - C Antonio Maceo.”

Pawley then referred to Jose Ignacio Rivero’s Movement which “is using a great deal of people from Agrupacion Catolica Universatria and Catholics that are as well cooperating and working with Artime and Rasco.” Pawley perceived there existed a Catholic “conspiracy that was initiated by Terio Generacional has not been stopped yet. Rivero has as his Military Head Major Pons and they offer people the necessary warehouse and facilities.” Pawley noted that Varona “was rejected by an overwhelming majority” when he requested the FRD’s Executive Committee to accept and back “his joint Declaration with Manuel Ray.” In addition, El Mundo

ran “an article signed by members of Rescate condemning Varona on the way He dealt with the Crisis in the FRD—We have not seen the article yet.” (Two years later, Varona was offered $200,000 by the Mafia to kill Castro.)14

Concern also was expressed about “two men from the Air Force Camp who had been talking to the Military” and seven 2 1⁄2 to 3-hour interviews that Angel Fernandez Varela, Sub-Director of the newspaper Informacion in Habana, had with Fidel in the past three months. “Fernadez Varela works in the underground in close association with Jose Ignacio Rasco and Manuel Artime also from Agrupacion Catolica Universitaria. It has been brought to our attention that to this date Fidel has never mentioned Father Llorente, who is the Jesuit head of the Agrupacion Catolica Universitaria that visited Fidel in Sierra Maestra in December 1958 and who sent the Boys of Agrupacion Catolica Universitaria to Join the rebel forces in late December 1958, headed by Artime.”15

In another memo in the Pawley file, the crisis is further explained, and insights are offered into the rise of Artime as a significant exile leader. “The crisis provoked in the FRD by the alliance of four of its executive members” which was initially perceived as a generational disagreement “is the climax of a personal inclination on the part of responsible parties to favor the Artime-Rasco group within the FRD.” Artime is “the only member of the Executive Committee of the FRD who is now in the training camp” not out of the desire of others but because they were not” invited to go, nor have they been permitted to go when they wanted to do so.”

In 1957, the “Artime-Rasco group guided by the [Spanish] Jesuit Head of a prominent Catholic Association” was created “under the nominal direction of Manual Artime who tried to organize the Radical Liberation movement into a political party.” The group “made a deal with Dr. Carlos Marquez Sterling (who was getting $150,000 a month from Batista) ... as a result of which Rasco would run for senator and Artime for representative since he could not run for anything else due to his youth.”

With the failure of the “the above project and after a period of inactivity, they realized just before Batista was overthrown that Fidel would be the next ‘owner’ of Cuba and, with an impressive political opportunism, the group established contact with Fidel through the Jesuit priest who went into the Sierra Maestra on December 22, 1958. On this trip, the Jesuit priest was able to verify with his own eyes and ears that the communist danger was a reality in the ‘Fidelist’ revolution.” Batista was toppled within hours.

One additional insight was included. “The ideological confusion derives from the ‘Falangism’ which Spanish Jesuits have been infiltrating into Cuba and Latin America for many years. This doctrinal scheme is brought about by anti-American prejudices rooted in the Spanish resentment against the United States for the part that the United States played in the liquidation of the remaining bastions of the Spanish empire. The resentment proves the total ignorance of the Spanish people regarding the role of the United States in the great historic events of the twentieth century.16

A month later, as the Cuban Revolutionary Council’s chairman José Miró Cardona named Manuel Artime Buesa as the group’s Economic Administrator and “Delegate of the Invading Army” to lead the assault Brigade 2506 on the fateful invasion of Cuba at the Bay of Pigs.17

As if the complexity of organizing an invasion with multiple exile groups and project cryptonyms weren’t enough for CIA leadership to keep straight, there was a layer of aliases for agents as well. A dispatch after the invasion from the Chief of Station at JMWAVE to William Harvey at Task Force W attempted to clarify what was in an attached memorandum. “Reference to ‘friends’ means KUBARK. ‘Phil’ is Robert K. Trouchard who told AMCLATTER-1 that there was no necessity for continuing his regular contacts with AMBUD-1.” In 2022 declassified language deciphered by the Mary Ferrell Foundation, friends is CIA. Phil/Trouchard is William M. Kent, a CIA intelligence case officer at JMWAVE who also used the aliases Oliver Corbuston, Douglas Gupton, and George Witner. AMCLATTER-1 is Bernard Barker. AMBUD-1 is Miro Cardona.

The dispatch also explains that “‘Eduardo’” and ‘Mr. B.’ are respectively Terence S. CRAPANAC and the famous ‘alias Frank BENDER.’”18 Eduardo was CIA officer E. Howard Hunt (aka Walter Twicker). Crapanac was a misspelling of Crabanac, another Hunt alias. Frank Bender was CIA C/WH/4/PA Gerard Droller (aka Wallace Parlett).

An earlier Contact Report written by Parlett/Droller details the “Meeting with AMBRONC-1 at CRABANAC’s Coconut Grove Apartment, 21 December 1960” and stated that “Eustace C. KEATOR, using the alias ‘Colonel Roderick’, accompanied me to the meeting.”19 AMBRONC-1 was Col. Eduardo Martin y Elena the military head of the FRD. Keator/Roderick was Glenn J. “Rocky” Farnsworth (aka Jack Peters aka Dominick Pantleone) who served as JMWAVE’S paramilitary head in 1961-1962 and was replaced by David Morales (aka Stanley Zamka) who had served as chief of Counterintelligence at JMWAVE in April 1961 when the invasion got underway.

Farnsworth worked in the conservative milieu of those orbiting JMWAVE, the CIA’s largest station with some 300 employees, mainly case officers, working in the heavily wooded, secluded 1571-acre area within the University of Miami’s South Campus. Located a quick drive down South Dixie Highway from Pawley’s office and his Miami Beach home, JMWAVE was the operations hub where Theodore Shackley (the “Blonde Ghost”) coordinated anti-Castro activities with input from CIA Director Allen Dulles; General C.P. Cabell; Richard Bissell; Richard Helms; C. Tracy Barnes; Colonel J.C. King; Jacob D. Esterline, Gerry Droller, E. Howard Hunt, David Morales, William Harvey, Jim O'Connell, the ever-morphing FRD, plus David Phillips and George Joannides, their AMSPELL DRE members, and numerous others with their own perspectives and agendas.20

Each, like Pawley, had a significant role in America’s covert propaganda, economic, and military war against Castro. JMWAVE’s Operation PLUTO at the Bay of Pigs was the first misstep to dog those involved and the neophyte President who had only taken on the White House’s global concerns three months earlier.21


FOOTNOTES:

1 “Our Man in Havana, William D. Pawley.” By John T. O’Rourke. The Washington Daily News, February 20, 1961.

2 NARA 1993.08.09.17:07:29:370007 ~ 3/3/1961 Letter. To: Honorable Thomas C. Mann, Assistant Secretary of State, Washington, DC. From: William Douglas Pawley, Miami. Unsanitized CIA File of William Pawley. Pages 99-101 of 267. Mary Ferrell Foundation website: www.maryferrell.org

3/3/1961 Memorandum “Receipt of material from William D. Pawley.” Subjects: Pawley, W. To: CIA component. From: CIA employee. To: CIA component.

3/3/1961 Letter “re Most recent rumor heard in Miami re Key man after the fall of Castro.” [Manualo Ray not Re]. Subjects: Ray, M. Pawley, W. To: Mann, Thomas, Asst Sec of State. From: Pawley, William.

3/3/1961 Letter “Subjects: Pawley, William; Letter; Sec State.” To: Assistant Secretary of State, Thomas C. Mann. From: William Douglas Pawley.

3/3/1961 Letter “Subjects: Ray, Manolo; De Varona, M; Artime, Manuel.” To: The Honorable Thomas C. Mann, Assistant Secretary of State. From: William Douglas Pawley.

3 “The Massacre,” Time, April 28, 1961.

4 NARA 1993.08.09.17:07:29:370007 ~ 3/3/1961 Letter, To: Honorable Thomas C. Mann, Assistant Secretary of State, Washington, DC. From William Douglas Pawley, Miami. Unsanitized CIA File of William Pawley. Pages 99- 101 of 267. Mary Ferrell Foundation website.

Dear Tom:

The most recent rumor heard from all sectors of Miami is that Manolo Ray is being groomed by United States officials as the key man in the take-over after the fall of Castro.

It also thought by important Cubans whom I know here that Ray and three or four of the other prominently mentioned Cubans have already made arrangements through Russian agents and that when Castro falls, Russia will still have their men in power even though they pretend to demonstrate a more friendly attitude toward the United States.

The objectives that the communists sought when they selected and backed Fidel Castro many years ago have now been accomplished. Their patience has been rewarded. It will take many years of sacrifice on the part of Cubans to restore their country to a position of economic well-being.

Since Castro first came in, all of us interested in the subject of this Hemisphere have thought that the best solution would be a “junta” or “frente” made up of leaders of the various political groups. At no time has this seemed more necessary than now.

I offer for your consideration the following names:

Continue the “Frente Revolutionario Democrata” with:

(1)  Manuel Antonio de Varona [aka Tony de Varona]
(2)  Justo Carillo [sometimes spelled Carrillo]
(3)  Manual Artime
(4)  Antonio Maceo

And reinforce it with the following leaders of political groups.

(1)  Dr. Carlos Prío Socarrás (former Constitutional President)
(2)  Dr. Gustavo Cuervo Rubio (former Constitutional Vice President)
(3)  Dr. Guillermo Alonso Pujol (former Constitutional Vice President)
(4)  Jose R. Andreu (top Republican leader)
(5)  Dr. Juan Rubio Padilla (top Catholic leader)
(6)  Dr. Emilio Ochoa Ochoa (top Orthodox leader)
(7)  Dr. Carlos Marquez Sterling (President of the Constitutional Assembly -1960)
(8)  Dr. Jorge Garcia Montes (former Prime Minister under Batista)
(9)  Mr. Jose Alvarez Diaz (very capable Economist)
(10)  Mr. Carlos Hevia (former candidate for President)

All of these men are in the United States. Within a few days they could be brought together and I am reasonably sure that they could be persuaded to function as one in the interest of the overthrow of Castro and the rebuilding of Cuba’s future.

All of these men are men of experience; they represent the various factions of public opinion in Cuba. As a group, they have a great deal of know-how. Some are very honorable men and I am assured that none have been communists or Marxists. Castro’s revolution is represented by some, the overthrown government, by one, who incidentally is an excellent man.

There are least four in this group who could be chosen as provisional president. From this group the various ministers could be chosen, but it would have to be on the basis that they would all sign an affidavit not to be a candidate in the following elections following the fall of Castro.

Most of these men contributed to or were part of the Constitutional Assembly of 1940.

I have not added a direct representative of the “28th of July” movement. It may be that you will feel that one is necessary. If so, you might determine who could best qualify as I am unable to select one whom I feel fits in with this group.

A group like this could conceivably save Cuba from an extremely bloody civil war. It is my judgment that whatever part the United States may play in Cuba’s rehabilitation once Castro falls should have as its main objective the avoidance of further bloodshed and disorder.

If Manolo Ray or Miro Cardona are given important positions in the new government, my judgment is that civil war is inevitable and this I sincerely hope can be avoided.

With best personal regards, I am Sincerely yours,

William D. Pawley 

WDP:DF

Unsanitized CIA File of William Pawley. Page 103 of 267. Mary Ferrell Foundation website: www.maryferrell.org

Esterline cover memo No. 30 of 3/3/61 no usable text. Unsanitized CIA File of William Pawley. Page 102 of 267. Mary Ferrell Foundation website.

5 NARA 1993.08.09.17:07:29:370007 ~ 3/9/1961 Memorandum “Subject: Receipt of Material from [REDACTED].” To: C/WH/4/PM. From: J. D. Esterline C/WH/4. Unsanitized CIA File of William Pawley. Pages 88 & 91 of 267. Mary Ferrell Foundation website.

6 3/3/1961 Handwritten Note. To: [Probably Pawley].

Yesterday afternoon we were authorized to visit a Navyman that had contacted General Diaz Tamayo and Major Blanco and had informed them of his great interest of keeping his identity secret to the CIA and FBI. The man turned out to be Commander Ralph Schneelock [Ralph H. Schneeloch], a veteran of World War II in the Pacific and Korea—an expert in magnetic mines, frogmen, beach work and demolition – according to his story he was responsible for preparing the famous Inchon landing in Korea.

The man was very critical of everything that is being done.

a. He says that the fighting in Escambray will help Fidel in the long run, because his inexperienced militias in a couple more months will be seasoned troops, also because those militia men that are being killed will gain sympathy in their hometown.
b. He spoke poorly of the State Department and CIA ... He believes that the military in the CIA are wasting time with a political army and the people that should be helped are the Constitutional Army. He offered his services ... for demolition work, sabotage, etc. on electrical power plants. Oil refineries, the lives of prominent communists and even magnetic mines.
c. He informed me that it was a mistake not to start the strategic war, that by acts of sabotage and by taking the lives of prominent communists would demoralize Castro regime and spread fear and suspicions.
d. He was critical of the CIA backing Varona, who was supposed to be a Fidelista sin Fidel. I assured him that Varona had never been a Fidelista, that he had been an authentico...a former member of University Directory of 1930 where there had been no Marxists or Communists that he had been a Senator and a Prime Minister. I told him that ... other top Cubans that eventually would turn up, but that I really thought Varona was one of them. He went after Artime and said he was a Communist or the son of a Communist—I assured him that I did not know Artime personally, that he could not be a Communist because he was a Youth Catholic Leader, that I heard say that his father had been a communist that that I was not sure of that. I told him that even though I did not know Artime, I disliked him personally and considered him an extremely ambitious man, that my definition of Artime could be that he was a Catholic Fidel ...
e. ...
f. ... I asked him for his card ... Schneelock [Schneeloch], Inter-American Equipment Co., Inc. ... Miami.

f.7 NARA 1993.08.09.17:07:29:370007 ~ 3/9/1961 Memorandum “Subject: Receipt of Material from [REDACTED].” To: C/WH/4/PM. From: J. D. Esterline C/WH/4. Unsanitized CIA File of William Pawley. Pages 88 & 92-95 of 267. Mary Ferrell Foundation website.

8 “Exile Leader Seized Here in Plot To Flood Cuba With Bogus Pesos; Says He Planned to Finance Underground Operations—2 Accomplices Held Describes Past.” By Foster Hailey. The New York Times, October 3, 1963.

“Cuban Exile Sentenced,” The New York Times, March 26, 1966.

9 NARA Record Number 104-10265-10379. March 31, 1961 Cable. Subject: Re Net Marina bill. From: Bell. To: WAVE.

10 “Brief History of Radio Swan. Memorandum for: General Maxwell D. Taylor May 18 1961.” Proposed operations against Cuba 3-11-1961. Dulles Papers|Dulles Allen| Dulles Collection, case number F-1985-00856.

11 NARA 1993.08.09.17:07:29:370007 ~ 3/16/1961 No. 34 Memorandum. “Subject: Receipt of Material from [REDACTED].” From: Jacob D. Esterline C/WH/4. Unsanitized CIA File of William Pawley. Pages 84 & 85 of 267. Mary Ferrell Foundation website.

  1. Thermofax copy of a letter from Enrique P. Coominas of Buenos Aires. Letter is in Spanish.

  2. Thermofax copy of list of persons and organizations apparently being considered to form part

    of the Executive Committee of the FRD. [Attached Handwritten note].

    ... being considered to form part of the Executive Committee of the Frente Revolucionario Democratico, from conversations     here by Dr. Maceo with other members of the Executive Committee.

  1. From the old Executive Committee to remain:

    1. Dr. Manuel Antonia de Varona

    2. Justo Carrillo

    3. Manuel Artime

    4. One member of the Democrata Christiano substituting Fiaco [Fayca?]

    5. Dr. Antonio Maceo

  2. Personalities to be invited

    1. Carlos Hevia

    2. Dr. Jose Miro Cardona

    3. Goar Mestre [?]

    4. Sergio Carbo

    5. Jose Alvarez Diaz

  3. Organizations to be invited to send a Representative

    1. F.O.R.D. (Frente Obrero Revolutionario Democratico)

    2. D.E. – Directorio Estudantil – probable designate Fernandez Traneiso [?] who is also a member of M.R.R. (Artime)

    3. Movimento do de Noviembre (A very radical group represented by David Salvador former Secretary General of the C.T.C. with Castro

    4. Union Nacional Democratica (20 de Mayo)...Andres Vargas Gomez possible designate, but there are a lot of good men in that group that could be chosen.

12 NARA Record Number 1993.08.09.17:07:29:370007 ~ 3/16/1961 Cable Message. To: Director. From: [REDACTED]. Unsanitized CIA File of William Pawley. Page 86 of 267. Mary Ferrell Foundation website.

  1. (1)  In discussion with President Frondizi [of Argentina] 13 March, he recalled visit of William D. Pawley last December whom he received at request. He said Pawley had described line of action regarding Cuban problem and he uninformed since that time regarding these matters.

  2. (2)  President quite strongly implied that U.S. needed consult more with GOA on Cuba. President Frondizi has considerable information from his Amb in Cuba, Julio Amoedo, who close touch with Miami situation and other aspects of Castro’s deteriorating position. Amoedo told last night he expected President today.

  3. (3)  Can understand that, once seized of Pawley info, President of course would like hear more. Dept may wish consider providing up-to-date summary Castro situation with enough detailed info to be made available to President to keep him satisfied U.S. carrying out effective consultation even on highly classified and closely held basis.

3/14/1961 Operational Cable “Visit by William Pawley last December.” Subjects: Pawley, William; Ops cable. To: Director.

3/14/1961 Operational Cable “William Douglas Pawley.” Subjects: Pres. Frondizi; Pawley, William; Cuba; Anti- Castro. To: Director. From: Buenos Aires.

3/14/1961 Cable “re President Frondizi (Argentina) interest in information about Cuba.” Subjects: Pawley, William. To: [CIA] Director.

“The Massacre,” Time, April 28, 1961.
>> Frondizi was described by one of Castro’s officials as: “A viscous blob of human excrescences.”

13 NARA 1993.08.09.17:07:29:370007 ~ 3/ 20/1961 Translation of Letter. To: William Pawley. From: Enrique V. Corominas. Unsanitized CIA File of William Pawley. Pages 73-78 of 267. Mary Ferrell Foundation website.

My esteemed and well-remembered friend,

Since the days of the unforgettable Conference for the Maintenance of Peace and Security of the Continent, held in Rio de Janeiro in 1947 out of which came the Inter-American Treaty of Mutual Assistance, as well as in 1948, when I was in Washington presiding over the Council of the Organization of American States and was Ambassador from my country to the OAS, I have had no further word from you nor have I had the good fortune to see you again. Many times in conversations with friends I have recalled your name and your cordial services for better continental understanding. You were an obliging friend of Argentina during those days of Chancellor Bramuglia’s visit to Washington to meet with our very dear friend, the illustrious and unforgettable General Marshall ...

Now, faced with the mention of your name, brought by cables from current Argentine newspapers, and knowing you are in Miami, I beg you to accept this letter, to read it, and to consider its viability according to what is useful and effectively realistic. The cables make known your opinions regarding the case of Cuba...when former President Carlos Prío Socarrás recently passed through Buenos Aires, we found occasion to recall good friends in the United States, of the continent, and your name was on the first line.

Buenos Aires has become the point of forced transit of many varied missions which cross the continent in representation of Cuban citizens who are in exile...in the person of former Ambassador, Dr. D. A. Espinosa Bravo, and Dr. Angel de la Cruz Pinera Guevara, regional representative of the Cuban Resistance Front, headed by Dr. Antonio de Varona, who was in this city up until a few days ago. He has returned to Miami to take up other duties ...

In the face of this panorama, at “Finanzas” magazine, of which I am co-owner and which has been active in Argentina for more than twenty-five years...discussions have been held on the advisability of making a special publication dedicated to exalt Cuban political reality ...

... by the end of March, I will pass through Miami where I believe that I could meet and perhaps exchange a few affectionate words with my very dear friend ...

3/20/1961 “Translation of Letter to Mr. William Pawley.” Subjects: Pawley, William; Letter. 3/20/1961 “Translation of Spanish Letter to William D. Pawley.” Subjects: Cuban citizens; OAS.

3/20/1961 “Letter of friendship and contact (original Spanish and translated copy).” Subjects: Pawley; Corominas. To: (Pawley). From: Corominas, Enrique V.

14 NARA 1993.08.09.17:07:29:370007 ~ 3/17/1961Urgent Message [handwritten note Accusations from QDDALE 201-77378]. Unsanitized CIA File of William Pawley. Page 81 of 267. Mary Ferrell Foundation website.

It has been reported that to complete the Executive Committee of the FRD the following are to be brought in - A Carlos Marquez Sterling (a very good idea) - B Aureliano Sanchez Arango again (very dangerous, but has more right to be there than Jose Miro Cardona) - C Antonio Maceo.

Jose Ignacio Rivero is very active trying to get his Movement rolling – He is using a great deal of people from Agrupacion Catolica Universatria and Catholics that are as well cooperating and working with Artime and Rasco. – For example – Ambrosio Gonzalez del Valle, Oscar Gran, Dr. Zenea e.t.c – Behind all of this we believe is the hand of Father Gonzalez Posada and all the Catholic Group, this conspiracy that was initiated by Terio Generacional has not been stopped yet. Rivero has as his Military Head Major Pons and they offer people the necessary warehouse and facilities.

Varona proposed at a meeting of the Executive Committee of the FRD that his joint Declaration with Manuel Ray would be backed and accepted and he was rejected by an overwhelming majority.

Also in El Mundo there is an article signed by members of Rescate condemning Varona on the way He dealt with the Crisis in the FRD – We have not seen the article yet.

15 NARA Record Number 1993.08.09.17:07:29:370007 ~ 3/17/1961 Urgent Message [handwritten note] “Accusations from QDDALE. “Unsanitized CIA File of William Pawley. Page 83 of 267. Mary Ferrell Foundation website.

“The mafia, the coup and the murder. The authors respond to David Talbot's review of ‘Ultimate Sacrifice.’ By Lamar Waldron with Thom Hartmann. Salon.com, December 7, 2005.

16 NARA Record Number 1993.08.09.17:07:29:370007 ~ 3/17/1961 Undated Memo. Unsanitized CIA File of William Pawley. Page 107 of 267. Mary Ferrell Foundation website.

The crisis provoked in the FRD by the alliance of four of its executive members against the other to (which on the surface has appeared only to be a disagreement regarding the “generational movement”) is the climax of a personal inclination on the part of responsible parties to favor the Artime-Rasco group within the FRD.

It is positively true that the only member of the Executive Committee of the FRD who is now in the training camp is Artime, not because he was the only one who wished to go, but because the other executive members were neither invited to go, nor have they been permitted to go when they wanted to do so.

This Artime-Rasco group guided by the [Spanish] Jesuit Head of a prominent Catholic Association...got started in politics under the nominal direction of Manual Artime who tried to organize the Radical Liberation movement into a political party ... This organization stage took place in 1957...and they made a deal with Dr. Carlos Marquez Sterling (who was getting $150,000 a month from Batista)...as a result of which Rasco would run for senator and Artime for representative since he could not run for anything else due to his youth ...

Having failed in the above project and after a period of inactivity, they realized just before Batista was overthrown that Fidel would be the next “owner” of Cuba and, with an impressive political opportunism, the group established contact with Fidel through the Jesuit priest who went into the Sierra Maestra on December 22, 1958. On this trip, the Jesuit priest was able to verify with his own eyes and ears that the communist danger was a reality in the “Fidelist” revolution ... he sent Artime, who arrived on the 28th ... only 72 hours before the dictator was overthrown ...

The ideological confusion derives from the “Falangism” which Spanish Jesuits have been infiltrating into Cuba and Latin America for many years. This doctrinal scheme is brought about by anti-American prejudices rooted in the Spanish resentment against the United States for the part that the United States played in the liquidation of the remaining bastions of the Spanish empire. The resentment proves the total ignorance of the Spanish people regarding the role of the United States in the great historic events of the twentieth century ...

17 Howard Jones, The Bay of Pigs (Oxford University Press, 2008).

Peter Wyden, Bay of Pigs: The Untold Story (Simon & Shuster Books, 1979).

18 NARA 104-10232-10078 ~ 07/18/1962 CIA Dispatch “Contact with AMBUD-1.” To: Chief ,Task Force W. From: COS JMWAVE. Subjects: AMCLATTER-1, AMBUD-1.

19 NARA 104-10274-10003 ~ 12/29/1960 CIA Contact Report “Meeting With AMBRONC-1 at Crabanac's Coconut Grove Apartment, 21 December 1960.” From: Wallace A. Parlett.

20 Richard Mahoney, Sons and Brothers. Page 172.

NARA 180-10118-10129 ~ 5/31/1978 House Select Committee on Assassinations “Transcript of Lorenz, Maurita Testimony Before the Committee.” Page 148 of 189.

Mr. Kreiger. Was he, Eduardo, ever known by any other name? 

Ms. Lorenz: E. Howard Hunt.

NARA 180-10147-10240 ~ HSCA’s CIA Segregated Collection “Anti-Castro Activities and Organizations and LHO in New Orleans.” Released 6-5-2017.

NARA 104-10236-10258 ~ 8/31/1962 Memo “Possible Underground Revolt In.” From: Caponong. Subject: AMBUD -1 To: IS.

>> Alice B. Caponong (alias Maria; real name perhaps Evalena S. Vidal) worked closely with Joannides in psychological warfare against Castro.

21 March 23, 2001 Press Release “Bay Of Pigs Documents Show CIA Expected Uprising Against Castro, Or Military Support: Cubans Expected Beachhead Provisional Government Would Call In U.S. Invasion, So Rushed To Wipe It Out.” The National Security Archive website: https://nsarchive2.gwu.edu/bayofpigs/press3.html

IMMEDIATE RELEASE March 23, 2001, 10 a.m.

BAY OF PIGS DOCUMENTS SHOW CIA EXPECTED UPRISING AGAINST CASTRO, OR MILITARY SUPPORT

CUBANS EXPECTED BEACHHEAD PROVISIONAL GOVERNMENT WOULD CALL IN U.S. INVASION, SO RUSHED TO WIPE IT OUT

Havana, Cuba: Documents discussed on the second day of an historic meeting of former adversaries in Havana show that CIA officials believed that the Cuban people would welcome a U.S.-sponsored invasion and spontaneously rise up against the Castro regime. CIA officials also expected that Cuban military and police forces would refuse to fight against Brigade 2506, the CIA's 1400-man mercenary invasion force.

The document is one of several released today on the National Security Archive's website <http://www.nsarchive.org/bayofpigs>. The National Security Archive at George Washington University is co- sponsoring the event along with the University of Havana and several Cuban government agencies.

Another document, culled from the Russian archives, records a conversation between Soviet Ambassador S. M. Kudryavtsev and Ernesto "Che" Guevara on April 14, 1961 - the day before the first B-26 air strikes on the Cuban air force - in which Guevara asserts that Kennedy Administration efforts to establish "large beachheads of the external counterrevolutionary forces . . . would be doomed to failure."

The conference - involving former officials of the Kennedy Administration, the CIA, members of Brigade 2506, and Cuban government and military officials - convened yesterday in Havana for three days of discussion on one of the most infamous episodes of the Cold War - the April 1961 invasion at the Bay of Pigs.

In an unprecedented declassification, the Cuban government has also declassified some 480 pages of records relating to the invasion, including intelligence reports on U.S. preparations and Fidel Castro's directives during the battle - records that "shed substantial light on Cuba's ability to repel the invasion," according to National Security Archive Senior Analyst Peter Kornbluh.

Four of the Cuban documents - Fidel Castro's handwritten notes during the battle with the invastion force - are included in today's release, along with translated copies.

Documents from the first day of the conference - including newly declassified records from the United Kingdom - were posted on the Archive's website on March 22. The Archive has also released transcripts of CIA oral history interviews with Richard Bissell and Jacob Esterline, two of the operation's key participants. 

Other documents released today include:

  • Copies of two organizational charts of the CIA task force in charge of the Cuban operation.
  • An "After Action Report on OPERATION PLUTO" from the report of President Kennedy's special commission to investigate the Bay of Pigs invasion, chaired by Gen. Maxwell Taylor.
  • The summary conclusion of the CIA Inspector General's report on the operation, in which he blames CIA officials for "failure at high levels to concentrate informed, unwavering scrutiny on the project and to apply experienced, unbiased judgment to the menacing situations that developed."
  • Minutes from a March 16, 1962 White House meeting in which President Kennedy is briefed on guidelines for OPERATION MONGOOSE, the CIA's covert effort to destabilize and topple the Castro regime.

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