BOLIVIA SEIZES PROOF OF CUBAN PLOTS

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP69B00369R000200270018-6
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 15, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 26, 2003
• Sequence Number: 18
• Publication Date: September 22, 1967
• Content Type: OPEN

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Approved For Release 2003/09/02 : CIA-RDP69B00369R000200270018-6
The Washington Merry-Go-Round
THE WASHINGTON POST
Friday, Sept. 22. 1967 B 15
Bolivia Seises Proof of Cuban Plots
Hy Drew Pearson
Amazing evidence of Com-
munist Cuban penetration into
the heart of Latin America
has just been captured from
Cuban guerrillas in Bolivia.
This writer, as a result of his
visit to Bolivia last spring, has
obtained copies of fake pass-
ports of high Cuban leaders,
pictures of Che Guevara, Cas-
tro's former war minister, and
the secret personal diary of
Che Guevara written in the
Bolivian mountains.
This -information comes to
light just as the Pan-American
foreign ministers are meeting
in Washington to consider,
among other things, what
ahould be done about Castro's
tltt mpts to spread revolution
in Latin America.
It also comes to light just as
one of the most influential
Pan-American statesmen, for-
mer, P,;e'sident Galo Plaza of
Ecuador, has. been persuaded
to become a candidate for Sec-
retary General of the Organi-
zation of American States,
where he could play a power-
ful roe in settling Pan Ameri-
u4?utes and unifying the
can d
hemi ere.
The. amazing documentation
of Castro's attempts to pene-
trate part of the continent-
Bolivia came about through
the ca ture of certain Cuban
guerr las and the discovery of
eaa6s In which the guerrillas
,had hidden their papers.
When they went into battle
they left their documents be-
hind, fearing capture. But Bo-
livian authorities have now
discovered two caves contain-
ing forged passports of Pana-
ma, Uruguay and Ecuador, to-
gether with snapshots which
the guerrillas had taken of
each other while going about
their camp chores.
Fighters Relax
These photos show Che Gue-
vara when he first arrived
clean-shaven and slightly bald.
'Guevara has been missing for
some years and is reported to
have been on a mysterious rev-
olutionary mission. The pho-
tos bear this out. Subsequent
photos show him with -a heavy
beard. Most of the photos show
him smoking a pipe.
There are various photos of
guerrillas chopping wood,
cooking, reclining in ham-
mocks.
Captured were two Uruguay-
an passports, No. 130748 and
No. 13220, in the name of Adol-
fo Mena, the assumed name of
Che Guevara. Guevara also
was able to forge a special let-
ter of introduction on the sta-
tionery of the Bolivian
"National Office of Informa
tion of the President of the
Republic."
This document, allegedly
signed by the director of press
and information, stated:
"The director of press and
information of the President
of the Republic present
Adolfo Mena, special assistant
of the Office of American
States, who is effecting a
study, and acquiring informa-
tion regarding the social and
economic conditions among
Bolivian peasants.
"The director orders nation.
al authorities and requires all
civilians and institutions to
give all information to Adolfo
Mena that he may wish to ac-
quire and to facilitate his in-
vestigation.
"Signed in La Paz, Nov. 3,
1966, by Lopez Munoz, direc-
tor of press and information."
Director Lopez Munoz had
never seen or signed such a
document, but the Castro net-
work was so efficient that it
was able to secure his sta-
tionery and forge his name.
Also captured was a Pana-
manian passport of the Cuban
minister of sugar, Gustavo
Ricardo Machin, who fought
under the nickname of "Ale-
jandro."
One Cuban guerrilla killed
was Juan Acuna, a leading
Castroite who fought under the
nickname of "Joaquin." His
Panamanian passport No. 65736
was dated Dec. 1, 1965.
Among the informal snap-
shots taken by the guerrillas
around their camp were one
or two of Tanya, the Cuban
girl killed in mountain skirm-
ishes who had been broadcast.
ing to Bolivian peasants as a
Latin American "Tokyo Rose."
The photographs show her to
be about 30 years of age, with
bobbed hair. Her broadcasts
indicated that she had a culti-
vated Castilian accent.
Captured in Bolivia last
week was another girl guerril-
la nicknamed. "Loyola."
All the guerrillas, of which
it is estimated there are about
50 left, operate under nick-
n a m e s, such as "China,"
"Benigno," "Marcos."
Marcos is the nickname of
Roberto Bustos, an Argenti-
nian newspaperman so far not
captured. The other newspa-
perman fighting with the
guerrillas, Jules Regis De'bray,
the French Marxist, has been
captured, however, and is now
held in a Bolivian prison.
Debray's book has been cap-
tured, significantly with notes
on the margin by Che Gue-
vara. The book is "Revolution
in the Revolution," a manual
on how to overthrow Latin
American governments.
While fighting in the Boli-
vian mountains, Che Guevara
himself kept a diary, now cap-
tured. It has been carefully
compared with his own hand-
writing, and there is no mis-
taking its authenticity. Snap-
shots of Che Guevara have
been blown up and compared
with photographs taken dur-
ing his earlier days with Cas-
tro in Havana. They show iden-
tical facial detail.
p 1967, Bell-McClure Syndicate, Inc.
Drew Pearson will report
on the conflict between Sec-
retary of Defense McNamara
and the Joint Chiefs of Staff
over the bombing of North
Vietnam Saturday at 6:40
p.m. over Radio WTOP.
Approved For Release 2003/09/02 : CIA-RDP69B00369R000200270018-6