CUBA TODAY - THIRD OF A SERIES

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP66B00403R000200170047-9
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 2
• Document Creation Date: December 16, 2016
• Document Release Date: January 3, 2005
• Sequence Number: 47
• Publication Date: June 26, 1964
• Content Type: OPEN

1964
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CtNGRESSIONAL RECORD-- APPENDIX
era who fox mast children are perfect sym-
bols of &}ltoyy So the pressure upon the
student
;tp clr ixl and , participate beoa r_ies
more ;than, ,a young person should have to
-bear. ~e State has no right to impose this
burder3'upon. him. I believe it is especially
offensive yplle t is elong,,.in the name the
Christian, religion
It has been maintained by proponents of
school prayers and meditative Bible reading
that these are not devotional programs at all
but merely opening exercises. But to the ex-
tent this:is true or to the extent that the
.public school'gives the impression that it is
true then the state , and the, church have
joined to.debase both prayer and'Holy Scrip-
ture. Neither fs a gimmick for'cranking up
the academic machinery, and we shall dam-
age the religious traditions we seek to pre-
serve if we use them as such,
It remains 'true, however, that religious
believers on both sides Of this, Issue want
young people-indeed, want all people-to
know and to appreciate the religious tradi-
tions which have helped to make this_ Na-
tion. what it is. No man is well educated
who does not have a mature and adequate
understanding of vital religion.
But this can be accomplished by an ob-
jective study of religion, including a
thorough reading of the Holy Bible as well
as other Feligious literature, which can be
done in public schools as an academic, pur-
suit, The-Supreme Court has not ruled this
out, In fact, it seems to suggest that it be
done, In,good conscience, therefore, we can
encourage and develop such teaching for our
children; but what we may not do in good
conscience is to require them to participate
in any form of corporate worship.
Admittedly, neither the churches nor the
public schools have done much, to set up
appropriate plans of objective study like this.
The problems that face us as soon as we
think of it are so numerous that. it has been
easier to settle for "opening devotions." But
these problems, although thorny, . are not
forbidding. It will take a lot of doing, but
I believe good religious education can be de-
veloped by Protestants, Orthodox, Jews,
Roman Catholics, and others working to-
gether; and if we are genuinely concerned
about wanting our young people to have an
understanding of their religious and cultural
heritage, we will make honest attempts to do
so.
The questions raised by such a proposal
are the ones for us to answer, it seems to me.
It is no answer to our problem to say to Jews,
to Roman Catholics, to 57 varieties of Prot-
estants, to Orthodox, to atheists, and to all
the varied and sundry types of believers, non-
believers, and half-believers in our com-
munities, "Please bow your heads and pray-
or leave the room."
Foreign Aid Victory for President
Johnson,.
EXTENSIONOF, REMARKS
db'
,}ION, DONALD M.. ERASER
.. _ 4F 11711~TNFiq,SPTA
IN THE HOUSE OF 13,EP#ESF,NTATIVES
Thursday June 25, 1964
Mr. FR415i' Fv,, Mr, Speaker, the recent
passage of the foreign aid authorization
bill was a 4istorio occasion of which
President Johnson be justly proud.
Nepex,intile ex3tire.histoxy of American.
foreign aid hasa,Pres;dent been suc-
cessul in Obtaining the totalamou>;t of
,money requested for foreign assistance.
S think ShM, is a significant milestone
in the history of foreign policy and indi-
cates the true support for this vital
program:
The following editorial which appeared
recently in the Washington Star com-
mends President Johnson on his judi-
cious leadership in the field of foreign
aid. I join with the Washington Star in
commending President Johnson for his
skillful leadership and want to bring
the editorial to the attention of my col-
leagues in the House.
The editorial follows:
[From the Washington (D.C.) Evening Star,
June 15, 1964]
A GIFT
President Johnson has good reason to feel
a glow of gratification over the way the House
has dealt with his request for foreign aid.
By a rollcall vote of 230 to 175, it has author-
ized-almost exactly down to the last
penny-the $3.5 billion he has asked for.
This has never before happened in the
17-year history of foreign aid. Always in the
past, the House has slashed away at the
annual Presidential recommendations. But
now, setting a precedent of sorts, it has ac-
cepted at face value Mr. Johnson's argument
that $3.5 billion must be regarded as a pre-
shrunk, barebones, rockbottom sum vi-
tally needed to serve the Nation's best inter-
ests abroad. We hope the Senate follows
suit.
Still to come, of course, is the vote needed
to appropriate the authorized funds. But
what the House has already done is a promis-
ing augury. It is a measure of Mr. John-
son's unique skill and persuasiveness in deal-
ing with the Congress. It suggests that hon-
esty may be a better policy than the tradi-
tional practice of padding appropriations re-
quests in anticipation of their being cut.
Given such a gift, any occupant of the
White House must cherish it as something
good not only for himself, but for all the
Nation.
Cuba Today-Third of a Series
EXTENSION OF REMARKS
OF
HON. PAUL G. ROGERS
OF FLORIDA
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Thursday, June 25, 1964
Mr. ROGERS of Florida. Mr. Speak-
er, as I stated an June 24, the articles
on,conditions in Cuba written by Bruce
Taylor and published by the Washington
6tar should be given the widest circula-
tion, and accordingly I am inserting the
third installment in the RECORD today:
CUBA TODAY: CASTRO Has TALENT-FOR
RUINING THE ECONOMY
(By Bruce Taylor)
It is not despite Fidel Castro's best efforts
that Cuba is grievously ill. It is because of
them. There is no realism in his programs
to make the country self-sufficient.
He establishes himself as the ultimate au-
thority in a project, becomes entirely en-
grossed in it, sets unattainable goals for it,
makes mistakes, loses interest, leaves all of
it to be puzzled out by subordinates who
know less about it than he does, and moves
on to something else.
The results are disastrous.
Cuba's economic welfare is determined
almost wholly by its ability to produce
sugar. It Is Cuba's only real currency. Last
year's production was 3.8 million tons, the
lowest in the nation's recent history.
-A352J
Premier Castro is talking about 10 million
tons by 1970, but this year's production will
be even lower than last year's.
FORCED TO BUY SUGAR
He is committed for 3.84 million tons, and
has admitted in speeches he has been forced
to buy sugar on the open market to meet
that commitment.
Mr. Castro is unable to plan ahead.
Last year's low production was caused by
the shortage of experienced cane cutters he
created by bringing them into the cities
after the previous season to work in industry
He was unable to free them to return to the
'fields at harvest time.
Wielding a machete is backbreaking work,
and it is definitely an art. Amateurs not
only can ruin the current crop, but the suc-
ceeding one.
IMPORTS CANE CUTTERS
This year, Mr. Castro thought he had the
problem beaten by importing new, specially
designed Russian mechanical cane cutters.
They did not prove effective. So he ordered
practically all of his army into the fields.
This improved the situation to some extent-
although we saw thousands upon thousands
of acres of cane that could never be cut in
time-but this year there was a new prob-
lem: transportation.
Where it was relatively good last year, it
broke down this year. The old American
trucks he has been using were another
year older. There are not nearly enough
Soviet vehicles in Cuba to replace them. He
used oxen.
Next year, he doubtlessly will be plagued
by the increasing malfunction of the ma-
chinery in the American-built sugar mills.
All of it is at least 5 years old, and no re-
placement parts for it are available to him.
PSYCHOLOGICAL EFFECT
This second successive sugar crop failure
has had a tremendous psychological effect on
the Cubans. It has heightened anti-Castro
emotion everywhere on the island, but most
-particularly in the agricultural areas where
his main strength originally lay.
It is not generally known that Mr. Castro
,last year carried out a second agrarian re-
form. It nationalized the farms of the very
people who had given him his most solid
support.
His first agrarian reform law was enacted
in 1960, a year after he became dictator, and
was the one which he had promised. It took
over for the state all farms of more than 30
"cavallerias." There are 33 acres to a cavel-
_,leria.
Most of these farms and plantations be-
longed to absentee United States and Cuban
landlords, and there was little general sym-
pathy for them. The land was not turned
over to individuals, however; the individuals
were turned onto it, to work it for the state.
REPORTS START TO FLY
Last year, reports began to fly that Mr.
Castro was contemplating further agrarian
measures.
ANAP, an association of owners of small
private farms, was worried. It called a con-
vention last summer to ask Mr. Castro what,
if any, plans he had. Mr. Castro assured the
association he was satisfied to take no more
than 70 percent of all land under cultivation
and to leave the balance to the ANAP.
Less than 2 months later he quietly en-
acted his second agrarian reform law. it
nationalized all farms of more than five cav-
allerias.
ANAP was destroyed, but if that wasn't
bad enough, Mr. Castro had more bad news.
TOOK ALL OF LAND
The state took every last acre of every
farm of more than five cavallerias. It also
took all buildings on the farms, and turned
out their owners with nothing more than
clothes on their backs.
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CONGRESSIONAL RECORD -APPENDIX I June 26
Compensation varied, from a minimum of
100 pesos a month to a maximum of 250 pesos
a month for 10 years, according to the size of
the farm.
A farmer with even one or two children
could not survive. To maintain a stable diet
he would have to buy food on the black mar-
ket, and he would now have to pay rent-
If he was lucky enough to find a place to live.
Premier Castro's typical lack of foresight
compounded their troubles even further. He
had neglected the mechanics of a system by
which the compensation payments could be
made. A great number of the evicted farm-
ers received no money at all for several
months.
CONSCRIPTION RESENTED
The reasons for their mounting antago-
nism toward Mr. Castro do not end even
there. He has begun compulsory military
service for all able-bodied men between 17
and 45. His method of conscription is to
go into small towns, seemingly at random,
and strip them of all men who lit the bill.
Mr. Castro began his reign with a great
rash of construction. He had reasonable
success putting up homes for laborers and
farmers in the interior, but his project in
East Havana-across the bay from the city
proper-was a flop.
i5ANT AS SHOWPLACE
It was to have been a showplace. He put
up beautiful seven- and eight-story apart-
ment buildings. They are impressive, and
Government officials delight in pointing them
out to you.
But when you get away from the officials
The community OEDP's also empha-
sized the need for more public works and
facilities A good many of the "needed"
public works projects had little relation-
ship to the future economic development
of the community. Few promoters paid
any attention to the potential cost of the
proposed projects even when they had
relevance to economic development. Few
bothered to compute a cost-benefit ratio
to justify the proposed public works.
The planning process was not taken seri-
ously; it was Just looked upon as a pre-
liminary hurdle to obtaining Federal
largess.
Local communities of State economic
development agencies often ignored the
congressional and ARA desire for "grass-
roots" preparation. For one example,
most, if not all, of the OEDP's for Ken-
tucky were prepared by the State area
program office in Frankfort. They were
In such general terms that without basic
changes they could have described almost
any area.
Incredibly, the ARA went along with
this cavalier attitude. It faced the
choice of either approving inadequate
plans or disqualifying areas for receiving
ARA cash until better plans were Pro-
duced. The ARA was no less anxious to
help than the communities were to re-
ceive help. So It accepted the plans.
The ARA had developed neither the ex-
find the buildings are anything but practical. Cuba ay if you can getthings done by 1 pease nor the staff to appraise the valid-
You learn that Mr. Castro couldn't get I na sera proxlma'-next week. Ity of the local programs and to offer
elevators for them, so no one on the upper sound suggestions for the development of
floors is happy. And transportation to the more comprehensive plans.
city is so unpredictable the people can't ARA and its staff are inexperienced In
of them comfortably
theably get would to and move-if from there their jobs. was some- Most ARA's OEDP Program Was a Farce the crucial business of economic develop-
where else to go. ment and planning. Their main objec-
sva.ns POWERPLANTS EXTENSION OF REMARKS tive Is to stimulate and process applica-
Cuba is in the process of constructing two of tions for Federal cash. ARA does not
thermoelectric powerplants. one at each and let essentials interfere with spending.
of the island. These, however, are being HON. BURT L. TALCOTT ARA also dissipated funds on foolish
built by Russians, and are progressing well. of CALIFORNIA engineering studies. For example, ARA
To the very bare credit side of Mr. Castro's IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES financed one study of the feasibility and
construction ledger must be inscribed his designof a multipurpose reservoir In the
fishermen's cooperative at Manzanillo. on Wednesday, June 17, 1964 Willapa River Basin, Wash., the kind of
the Caribbean coast of Oriente Province. Al- Mr. TALCOTT. Mr. Speaker, commu- job that Congress has the Corps of Engi-
most 600 fishermen and their families live scrambling for ARA benefits lost veers to do. It did the same thing in
co small but very pc prefabricated no time in filing their overall economic southern Illinois, where the Corps of
concrrate ete homes. They y pay attractive
no rent.
pay
The development has a barbershop. a hoe- development plans. By May 1, 1963, 81 Engineers has for several years been con-
pital, a pharmacy, and other such services. Percent of the designated areas-850 sidering the building of a multimillion-
All are free. areas--had filed OEDP's. Most of them dollar reservoir to supply Industrial water
LUSH GIVES our involved only limited thoughtful analysis and create a tourist attraction.
The fishermen earn up to 400 pesos a of community resources and contained
month, three to four times the national little that would provide a blueprint for
average. future community economic develop-
Mr. Castro's early gush of construction has ment. Many were poorly conceived and
petered out now. There is a sign in Havana failed to contain essential economic data.
.that tells people who can't get past the city Most were choked with information hav-
to see for themselves that 70 percent of the Ing no bearing upon the purpose of the
population lived in "bohios"-huts made of
palm leaves thatched over wood frames- OEDP. Since many of the filing orga-
and implies this nizations were direct successors of the
when Castro came to power
,
condition no longer exists, established local economic development
It is an outrageous lie. The bohios still groups-by 1961 there were more than
are there. So are the mud-floor hovels that 3,000 In existence according to SBA esti-
line every roadway through the interior. mates-it was not surprising to find that
Castro is attempting to inject some reality the OEDP's followed the long-established
Into his planning now, but without notable tradition of such groups by basing the
achievement. "plans" for future development on en-
LECroaES ON LIVESTOCK ticing new manufacturing plants from
Currently, he is an expert on livestock, some far-off place. In short, Most of
and lectures at great length on the subject the OEDP's were "pie In the sky" docu-
Ih speeches and in private conversation. He meats. Actually, manufacturing em-
wants to export beef, and says he is experi-
menting ployment Is declining. ARA could
raise a cattle natural feeds without that having will to imenable- scarcely base sound economic planning
him to with
him the fertilizers of which he is so desper- for its customers upon expanding manu-
ately short. facturing plants.
Critical View of Student Grouping
EXTENSION OF REMARKS
OF
HON. ROLAND V. LIBONATI
OF ILLINOIS
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Tuesday, May 26, 1964
Mr. LIBONATI. Mr. Speaker, my good
friend, Dr. George S. Reuter, Jr., secre-
tary of the Chicago chapter, Industrial
Relations Research Association, has pre-
pared a "Critical Review of Student
Groupings," with a review of its early his-
tory and a compendium of the various
plans that have been experimented with
in the United States and abroad, for the
purpose of giving deliberate and scholarly
thought to the evaluation and recon-
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At the moment there Is not enough good
beef in Cuba for his own people.
Cuba's climate is such that it should be a
prolific producer of food. Properly tended, its
soil can be induced to give three crops of
corn a year, for instance. But the island's
agriculture is in a mesa. The Russian and
Red Chinese technicians brought there to
straighten it out do not appear to be mak-
ing much headway.
CANADIANS' FARM SUCCESS
They are being shown to great disadvan-
tage by several Ontario tobacco farmers work-
ing on contract In Cuba. Their success has
been spectacular. They have introduced
Canadian seed and methods to Cuban tobacco
farming in Pinar del Rio Province, and have
increased production there in the past year
by 300 percent.
Mr. Castro's own Inadequacies are largely
responsible for the failure of his programs
and, accordingly, the condition in which
Cuba finds itself today.
But he also is handicapped by the fact that
the only people he can trust are the people
who fought with him in his revolution. and
they are the ones he has had to Install in
positions of wide authority. Most are totally
unfit to hold them.
AVOID DZC?ISIONH
It is seldom that the head of one depart-
ment or ministry knows what his counterpart
in another is doing; it is even more seldom
that one of them will make a decision.
Cubans have always been famous for get-
ting things done "manana"-tomorrow.