FREE CUBA NEWS

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP65B00383R000200250037-5
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: U
• Document Page Count: 8
• Document Creation Date: December 15, 2016
• Document Release Date: June 9, 2004
• Sequence Number: 37
• Publication Date: May 4, 1963
• Content Type: REPORT

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Free New
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PUBLISHED BY CITIZENS COMMITTEE FOR A FREE CUBA
Telephone [phone] ? 617 Albee Building, 1416 G Street, N.W. ? Washington 5, D. C.
Editor: Daniel James Vol. 1, No. 1, May/4, 1963
Free Cuba News is being published by the newly-formed Citizens
Committee for a Free Cuba (see "Statement of Purpose" and list of members,
pp. 6-8) in response to a national need for information on what is actually
happening inside Cuba, and inside Latin America. Since it is abundantly clear
that the American people are not getting enough information about these vital
areas, the Committee also hopes to supplement Free Cuba News with periodic
special reports and fact sheets going into greater depth and detail on questions
that can only be touched upon here, as part of a national news service it would
like to establish. Readers are invited to take advantage of our informational
facilities.
The object of Free Cuba News is to publish news about Cuba, and
about the growing Castro-Communist infiltration of Latin America, which is
not now finding its way into existing major news media. Its stories will be
strictly factual, and as free of opinion and partisan bias as professional journal-
ists can make them. Facts constitute the foundation of any realistic solution to
a problem, and it is the hope of Free Cuba News that the facts it presents will
contribute toward the national discussion of the Cuba problem that is so urgently
required for its solution.
Our basic conviction is that the American people, when given the
facts, will make up their own minds as to what should be done about them.
Daniel James
Editor
INSIDE CUBA
CASTRO'S 'CHILD EXECUTIONERS'
"The most dangerous killers in Cuba are children of 12 to 15 years of age,
who serve in elite Army units," according to Dr. Gumersindo Garay, former head of
the Cuban regime's Sanitary Mission in Cruces, Las Villas province. Dr. Garay fled
Cuba in a small boat last week. A cancer specialist, he has practiced medicine 25
years.
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"It would sicken you to see these children walking about with machineguns
slung over their shoulders and bandoliers of ammunition across their chests," Dr.
Garay continued, in an interview with a Free Cuba News correspondent. "Killing is,
for them, a game. They regard their fellow Cubans with contempt. Anyone not wearing
a uniform is an enemy."
The physician continued:
"These child executioners are popularly called 'Rail's Creche,' 11 after Raul
Castro, Minister of the Armed Forces and the Premier's younger brother. "They act
with unbelievable cruelty and utterly cold-bloodedly. Without the slightest compassion,
they have shot a number of peasants suspected of helping anti-Castro forces in the
hills."
Dr. Garay has seen "Rail's Creche" in action:
"I know personally of four such executions near Cruces, and I know of
several score peasants who have been evicted from their poor homes by these youthful
murderers. They are indoctrinated by the Young Rebels, and given initial military
training by them. Then they enter the Rebel Army."
The child executioners are known as "Rail's Creche" because of their
viciousness, and because so many of them come from Oriente -- the home of the
Castros -- and are thoroughly loyal to Raul. They are drawn from the lowest classes
of Oriente.
"They are organized into special units commanded by adults," Dr. Garay
reports further. "These select units are continually being indoctrinated in Commu-
nism. Their nominal head is Joel Iglesias, 21; their real chief is Raul Castro.
They are in almost every Cuban town. But worst of all are the shock troops moved
from place to place to crush resistance."
The youngsters Dr. Garay speaks of are given the best arms and every
kind of privilege, constituting part of Cuba's "New Class."
GUEVARA: LABOR UNIONS MUST 'DISAPPEAR'
Cuba's Minister of Industry, Maj. Ernesto Guevara, believes it is the
"destiny of labor unions to disappear," according to the Castro regime's press
organ, "Revolucion." In a speech he made in Havana before a group of Cuban
workers selected to receive "Menciones de Honor," Guevara is quoted by the Feb.
2, 1963 issue of "Revolucion" as follows:
"The labor movement does not respond to revolutionary reality. Is it the
fault of the leaders? Perhaps in part, but I think it is mainly due to the faulty
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structure, of not having determined what a labor union is or what its destiny is in a
country that is building socialism. The destiny of the labor unions is to disappear."
"Labor unions must learn a new role: that of an ally of the administration
in production. . . . Now the workers will have to accept responsibility for the plans
of the State]; the workers are not independent of enterprises, as they were be-
fore. .. . it
CUBA'S SUGAR CRISIS
"Cuban sugar production is reaching new lows because so many farmers
are fleeing from the harvest fields." -- Maj. Ernesto Guevara, Minister of Industry,
speaking in Santa Clara on April 6.
Guevara's statement is supported by other sources. An excellent official
source -- the monitored broadcasts of the Cuban Government's internal network of
civil and military radio communications -- reveals the existence of widespread sab-
otage, almost universal efforts to slow down cutting and delivery of cane, and of
sugar mills that have been abandoned completely.
On April 8 -- the beginning of Holy Week -- sugar mills were told, "not one
sugar mill will be closed during Holy Week." This was an order from Sugar Mill
Headquarters of INRA (National Institute of Agrarian Reform). In pre-Castro days,
Good Friday was traditionally a day off for the cane-cutters, but not for the mills.
Cane-cutters worked doubly hard during the week to have a large enough store of
cane so that the mills would not close down on Good Friday. To close down a mill
and start it again is a very expensive proposition. Formerly, once grinding started
every possible effort was made not to stop even for a moment.
Here's what happened this year during Holy Week in Communist Cuba.
Not only did the sugar mills close down on Good Friday, but most of them
were out of operation for the entire week. The following mills were closed for 24
hours for lack of cane: Manati, Macareno, Francisco, Jatibonico, Jaronu, Algo-
dones, Fe.
During Easter Week itself, virtually all sugar mills were closed. INRA
headquarters in Santiago stated: "Not one sugar mill is grinding in the entire province
during Easter Week." From April 8 to April 16th, the following sugar mills were
among those which did no grinding at all (this list is not complete but gives some idea
of the crisis in Cuban sugar production):
Camaguey Province -- Adelaida, Macareno, Francisco, Jatibonico, Jaronu,
Algodones. Las Villas Province -- Santa Ludgarda, Fe, San Agustin, San Isidro, San
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Pablo, Manuelita, Soledad. Oriente Province -- Baltony, Santa Regina, Estrada
Palma,, Isabel B, Rio Cauto, Los Canos, Baguanos, Manati.
A new element in sabotage of the sugar crop has appeared recently -throwing
salt water on the sugar bags. INRA headquarters in Havana discovered, much too late,
that several thousand bags of sugar had been ruined through sabotage by salt water.
This was a deliberate sabotage effort, and the Communist government went to great
lengths to determine who was responsible. INRA headquarters in Santiago, for ex-
ample, sent out a message to find a certain engineer by the name of "Escalona" in
Holguin, to question him in regard to the salting of sugar. Another message from
Havana referred to the same "Escalona," saying, "We are trying to find him also."
The sugar situation in Camaguey province has gotten so bad that a great
number of sugar mills have been placed under direct government (military) super-
vision, through the "revolutionary organization of the masses, and the various depart-
ments of state in the province."
Andreu Ortuno, former auditor in Cho Guevara's Ministry of Industries, who
recently skipped out of Cuba, sums up the sugar situation:
"The peasants refuse to go to the fields and cut cane. The sugar mills are
working only sixteen days a month. For example, the Carolina mill averaged 76,000
tons during the first 40 days' operation, for many years. This year the same mill
ground only 43, 000 tons in the same period. Tuinucu Mill averaged 101,000 tons, but
this year only 56,000 tons have been ground to date. It is probable that 1963 will see
the smallest cane harvest in many years. "
EYEWITNESS DESCRIBES CASTRO SUBVERSION CAMPS
A first-hand account of the Cuban Government's training of young Latin
Americans in subversion and guerrilla warfare has been obtained by Free Cuba News
from the usually reliable Cuban Student Directorate. The latter quotes Lt. Noel Salas
Santos, former commander of a training camp at San Julian military base in Pinar
del Rio province, as reporting:
"In Cuba, specifically at the base under my command during the last months
of 1961, five groups of Latin Americans received guerrilla warfare training. There
were 70 Mexicans, 42 Puerto Ricans, 37 Brazilians, 19 Chileans and 18 Argentinians.
Most of the graduates were smuggled into Mexico by small boats. I personally accom-
panied one of these groups to Arroyo do Mantua, where they left in the fishing craft
Jorge."
Lt. Salas Santos fought with the Castro forces in the Escambray Mountains
from March 1957 until victory in January 1959, but subsequently broke with the Com-
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munist dictator and obtained asylum in the Brazilian Embassy. He was granted safe-
conduct from Cuba in February of this year. His story continues:
"The chief of the Latin American Training Program was Maj. Ernesto 'Che'
Guevara, who signed all orders and instructions and who visited the base three times.
The program coordinator was Maj. Manuel Pineiro, one of the chiefs of the State
Security Political Police. The groups were separated by nationality, the members
used false names, and no written records were kept."
##########
INSIDE LATIN AMERICA
TRAFFIC TO CUBA VIA MEXICO
Flight manifests of Cubana Airlines, the official Cuban air-carrier, show
that during the first eight months of last year a total of 3, 447 persons traveled to
Cuba via Mexico on that airline alone. The great majority -- 2, 090 - were Latin
Americans.
The Latin Americans included: 443 Mexicans, 435 Cubans, 229 Hondurans,
229 Argentinians, 126 Chileans, 122 Uruguayans, 80 Brazilians, 78 Panamanians,
47 Costa Ricans, 27 Paraguayans, 15 Colombians, 14 Nicaraguans, 7 Venezuelans,
and 2 Dominicans.
Among the passengers who used Mexico as a gateway to Cuba were 99
Americans and 81 Canadians. Those who came from Russia and the satellite
countries totalled 265.
Also plying the Mexico-Cuba run is the Mexican carrier, Mexicana de
Aviation, which by agreement makes approximately the same number of flights per
week as Cubana.
Additional numbers of Latin Americans -- and presumably Iron Curtain
citizens -- reach Cuba through other means. There is now a direct flight from
Moscow to Havana. Even the Spanish carrier, Iberia Airlines, has reportedly flown
passengers to Cuba. So does Varig, the Brazilian airline. And Cubana itself flies
from other points in Latin America, as well as Mexico, and from Europe.
##########
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CITIZENS COMMITTEE FOR A FREE CUBA
617 Albee Building, 1426 "G" Street NW, Washington 5, D. C.
DECLARATION OF PURPOSE
The Citizens Committee for a Free Cuba has been formed in response to a
statement issued by Freedom House, on March 25, 1963, calling upon Americans to
"unite in a movement for a free Cuba."
The Committee is nonpartisan. It believes that Cuba is an issue that trans-
cends party differences, and that its solution requires the kind of national unity we
have always manifested at moments of great crisis. This belief is reflected in the
broad and representative membership of the Committee.
The Committee holds, with Freedom 1-louse, that "a Communist Cuba is in-
tolerable," not only "for reasons which bear upon our security" but also because "it
has betrayed six million people who won their freedom from the Batista Dictatorship."
But the enslavement of those six million may now lead to the enslavement of
the more than 200 million people in the 19 remaining Latin American republics, for
the Communists, from their base in Cuba, have launched a grand offensive aimed at
conquering, initially, the entire continent south of the Rio Grande. Ultimately, that
offensive is directed at the chief bastion of world democracy, the United States.
The situation in Latin America, thanks primarily to the continued existence
of a Soviet base in Cuba, is far worse than the American people realize. The Com-
munist drive there is already on the way toward producing these serious consequences:
1. The demoralization of Latin America's democratic forces, who are be-
ginning to feel overwhelmed before the combined power of the Cuban military-police
state, the Soviet Union, and Red China.
2. The resurgence of dictatorial military elements intent on taking power in
reaction to the Communist threat.
3. The infiltration and subversion of other Latin American governments at a
tempo which may produce additional "Cuban" before long.
4. The frustration of inter-American efforts to achieve social and economic
progress.
If not halted before much more time has passed, the Communist drive south
of the Rio Grande could result in the gradual isolation of the United States from its
friends and allies in Latin America -- the reverse of the effort to isolate Communist
Cuba.
The American people are united on the objective of a liberated Cuba. The
President arA$ A& 8"r rrF2e$fase A` i66 3~'2'I 8ommitted
themselves to that objective. Differences exist, however, on Flow and when to attain
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a free Cuba, and the problem is to devise a means o liberating u a rom Commu-
nism before Communism succeeds in creating other "Cubas," yet at the same time
preserving the peace of the Americas.
The Citizens Committee for a Free Cuba believes that solutions to the prob-
lem can be found, and that, properly presented to the American people, they will
command overwhelming support.
It is the hope of the Free Cuba Committee that such a program will help
point the way to an effective Cuban policy, and that it will help create a climate of
public opinion that will facilitate positive action.
An Alliance for Freedom must now be forged in the Americas if the Alliance
for Progress is to succeed, and if the peoples of the Western Hemisphere are to live
and work as free human beings for the society of peace and plenty they all. seek. It is
also an urgent requirement of American national interests. The indispensable first
step toward the forging of such an Alliance is the liberation of the Cuban people from
Communist tyranny.
Membership List - Citizens Committee for a Free Cuba
(Affiliations published for identification only)
Executive Secretary
Daniel James, Author ("Cuba: The First Soviet Satellite in the Americas") and
Foreign Correspondent
Mariada Arensberg, Executive Secretary, Cuban Freedom Committee
Murray Baron, Labor-Management Consultant
Joseph Beirne, President, Communications Workers of America, AFL-CIO
Nicholas Duke Biddle, Chairman, Caribbean Committee, International Rescue Service
Irving Brown, U. N. Representative, International Confederation of Free Trade Unions
Adm. Arleigh A. Burke (Ret.), Former Chief, U. S. Naval Operations
Dickey Chapelle, Author and Foreign Correspondent
Leo Cherne, Executive Director, Research Institute of America
Ernest Cuneo, Chairman of the Board, North American Newspaper Alliance; attorney
Christopher Emmet, Chairman, American Friends of the Captive Nations
John Fisher, President, American Security Council
Dr. Russell H. Fitzgibbon, Professor of Political Science, University of California,
Los Angeles
Dr. Buell Gallagher, President, City College of New York
Dr. Harry Gideonse, President, Brooklyn College
Frances R. Grant, Executive Secretary, Inter-American Committee for Democracy
and Freedom
Paul Hall, President, Seafarers International Union
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Hal Hendrix, Latin America Editor, Miami News
Sal B. Hoffmann, President, Upholsterers International Union, AFL-CIO
Dr. Sidney Hook, Professor of Philosophy, New York University
Brig. Gen. Frank L. Howley (Ret.), New York University
Dr. Harry Kantor, Professor of Political Science, University of Florida
Rev. John LaFarge, S. J., Associate Editor, "America"
Jay Lovestone, Director of International Publications, AFL-CIO
Clare Boothe Luce, former U. S. Ambassador to Italy
Eugene Lyons, Senior Editor, Readers' Digest
Brig. Gen. S. L. A. Marshall, Military Writer
Henry Mayers, President, Cold War Council
Arthur G. McDowell, Secretary, Council Against Communist Aggression
Benjamin F. McLaurin, Vice-President, International Brotherhood of Sleeping Car
Porters
Dr. Hans J. Morgenthau, Director, Center for Study of American Foreign Policy,
University of Chicago
Edgar Ansel Mowrer, Author and Foreign Correspondent
John O'Rourke, Editor, Washington News
Bonaro Overstreet, Author, Psychologist
Bishop James A. Pike, Protestant Episcopal Bishop of California
Virginia Prewett, Latin America Columnist, North American Newspaper Alliance
Victor Riesel, Labor Columnist, Hall Syndicate
Dr. John P. Roche, Professor of Labor and Social Thought, Brandeis University
Dr. Robert Strausz-Hupc, Director, Foreign Policy Research Institute, University
of Pennsylvania
Dr. Frank Tannenbaum, Professor of Latin American History, Columbia University
Edward Teller, Physicist
William vanden Heuvel, President, International Rescue Committee
Vice Adm. Charles Wellborn, Jr. (Ret.), Hudson Institute
Dr. Arthur P. Whitaker, Professor of Latin American History, University of
Pennsylvania
(incomplete)
Central Intelligence Agency
John S. Warner
2430 E St.
Washington, D. C.
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