CIA IN CUBA

US. accused of interference

By WILLIAM DEVINE
Tribune Staff Correspondent

HAVANA

'S. President Johnson was public-

ly accused in Havana éarly this
month of being responsible for

a plot to murder Cuban leaders, in-
cluding Prime Minister Fidel Castro.

The charge was made by Castro him-
self in a speech Aug. 10 to the closing
session of the first conference of the
Organization of Latin American Soli-
darity (OLAS). Castro based his accu-
sation on testimony given by two
groups of agents, who admitted to
backing and organization by the U.S.
Central Intelligence Agency, and who
were captured recently while trying
to land on Cuban territory.

In two dramatic highlights of the
OLAS gathering, both groups were
questioned at two separate press con-
ferences, to which were invited OLAS
delegates and guests and representa-
tives of the world press on hand for
the OLAS meeting.

In both cases a substantial amount
of weaponry and highly sophisticated
radio and electronic equipment, which
expert testimony revealed to be ex-
clusive to the CIA, was captured in
the possession of the agents, all of
whom were Cubans who had previous-
ly left the country. Thus, the material
as well as the spoken evidence was
overwhelmingly conclusive. Detail
after detail of CIA involvement - was
disclosed under the most minute ques-
tioning of Cuban state security offi-
cials and the press.

Four of the six in the first group
questioned had been captured July 18
(one other had been wounded and was
in the hospital). The fifth had been
captured last April and the sixth was
detained in September, 1965. This last
had also taken part in fighting against
the Constitutionalist forces in Santo
Domingo in April, 1965.

Adding to the drama of the press
conferences was the fact that the sec-
ond group of two (a third escaped) had
been captured on the very day—Aug.
6—that the first group was being ques-
tioned. The second group was ques-
tioned Aug. 9. Of the eight questioned,
tive admitted to being direct CIA
agents. The other three, all from the
group captured July 18, denied direct
agent status, but admitted association
with and direction by CIA agents. One
of these, speaking of the so-called
Cuban exile groups in the United
States, confirmed that “all. the organ-
izations in exile are closely linked
with the Central Intelligence Agency.”
All those questioned said they sailed
to Cuba from Florida.

Admitted aim of the four captured
July 18 was three-fold: first, to estab-
lish contact and consolidation in Cu-
bas’ western most Pinar del Rio prov-
ince, where they landed; second, to
spread a movement of subversion to
Havana, hand in hand with acts of sa-
botage against specific industries, in-
cluding the Mariel power plant and
the Niagara sugar mill; third, to assa-
sinate, as occasions presented them-
selves, leaders of the Cuban Revolu-

tion. Number one target was Fidel
Castro.

For this last purpose they had
brought silencer-equipped _ revolvers

and poison-tipped bullets, all of which
were displayed together with the pri-
soners. The mission of the second
group was to infiltrate one of their
_ number into Cuba. The one to be infil-
trated escaped, but various maps to be
used by him were captured. On all
maps but one, an obvious blunder by
someone, a neat hole had been clipped
out. But on the unclipped map ap-
_ peared the words: “For official use by
the United States government.”

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Even more revealing was the fact
that some of the maps had Cuban mi-
litary and rocket sites marked on
them. The obvious conclusion was that
such maps could only be of use for an
offensive attack against Cuba. During
the questioning cf the second group,
one reporter's question suggested that
those captured may merely have been
members of a Cuban exile group, rather
than CIA agents. (This, despite the ad-
missions cited earlier.)

In his closing speech to the OLAS
conference, Fidel Castro took up this
question of the CIA versus Cuban
exile groups. “Is it that the United
States government does not feel re-
sponsible for the felonies committed
by (those) organizations in the US.?”
he asked. “‘Are they now going to say
that they are not responsible when it
was they who organized all those peo-
ple, they who suckled them, indoctri-
nated them, prepared them, if they
have been trained in U.S. institutions?
Is it that because of their being exiled
organizations, this exonerates the gov-
ernment of the United States from its
responsibilities?

“But it did not concern, unfortu-
nately for them, a group of these
through which the CIA works, but the
direct CIA organization. The embar-
rassing thing about this is that it was
the direct work of the CIA, not the
indirect work of counter-revolution-
ary organizations. Because the CIA
works indirectly through these coun-
ter-revolutionary organizations. And it
also works directly—as was explained
to you.” Castro also ridiculed the idea
that private individuals in the US.
could buy, “‘in an ordinary 5 and 10
cent store,” the highly advanced elec-
tronic equipment that was captured.

September 15, 1967—PACIFIC TRIBUNE—Page 6

~~;

all

He then took note of a public state-
ment of an Armando Fleites, a leader
of the Second Front of Escambray
movement based in Florida, that the
four invaders captured July 18 were
on a mission “to kill Prime Minister
Fidel Castro, which would form part
of a campaign of irregular warfare de-
signed to overthrow the Communist
regime.” And on this point, he added
to his earlier pin-pointing of the CIA
as directly responsible, and included
his accusation against Johnson:

“Is it that the government of the
United States does not feel respon-
sible for these acts?” he asked again.
“We directly accuse. the U.S. govern-
ment and hold it responsible for these
acts; we accuse President Johnson and
hold him responsible forthe fact that
plans were drawn up in the United
States for the assassination of govern-
ment leaders of another state, using
the most abhorrent methods, and these
plans were not only being carried out
but — partially — were also brazenly
made public.”

Castro dealt with another assertion
that had been made—that the presen-
tation of the captured CIA agents had
been with a view to the forthcoming
conference of foreign ministers of the
Organization of American States. (The
OAS foreign ministers are scheduled
to meet in Washington Sept. 23 to take
up Venezuelan charges of Cuban “in-
tervention.”’)

The capture of CIA agents, said Cas-
tro, “has become so common here, it is
a weekly occurence.” And he added:
“Is it our purpose perhaps to convince
the OAS? Who is going to make a joke
about such a thing. We don’t intend
to convince the OAS, we don’t intend
to impede OAS agreements. We have
other ways of impeding OAS agree-

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In a_ special resolution
conference had earlier co a
OAS as the “preferred
the execution of the ris te
policy of U.S. imperia™: forthe
America.” It denounce f mel”
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“signifying a renewee in ‘og
pare adequate conditions
aggression against —
Cuba.” It further said ill
charges against Cuba ee
a pretext to create 4 eect
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said OLAS, would be
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The OLAS ‘¢
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to oppose the abjec
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