EXILES CLAIM THEY ATTACHED SHIP

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP73-00475R000400710001-5
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 2
• Document Creation Date: December 27, 2016
• Document Release Date: December 19, 2013
• Sequence Number: 1
• Publication Date: September 16, 1964
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

STAT MIAMI NEWS
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release @ 50-Yr 2013/12/19 : CIA-RDP73-00475R000400710001-5
(7:1
SEP 16 1964
xiles Claim? They Attacked Ship
Spanish ship en route to Ha-
vana,, but its version didn't
jibe with survivors' reports of,
the incident.
Better known exile organiza-
tions' fuld the Castro govern-
Ment were accusing each other.
A new and shadowy Cuban of the machine gun attack on ward Passage and set it afire, The survivors' accounts of the
exile organization claimed
"credit" today for attacking a
the freighter Sierra Aranzazu,
killing the captain and two of-
ficers.
Seven other crewmen were
wounded when two mystery
boats converged on the 1,600-
' ton vessel 50 Miles off the east-
ern tip of Cuba in the Wind-
,
? according to the survivors.
1, A man who identified 'him-
' self as Telmo Alvarez called a
'? news agency and reported that
his new exile group, OSACC,
had carried out the attack with'
"torpedoes." Alvarez said that
all ,other ships, regardless of I
nationality; would be subject to
? attack if they traded with Cuba.,
attack did not mention tor- ,
pedoes.
OSACC, which stands for the
Secret Continental Anti-Commu-
nist Organization, was reported
to have been organized by a;
group of Cuban freedom fight-,
ers_two months ago. Establish.:
Contintw:
nRciassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release @ 50-Yr 2013/12/19: CIA-RDP73-00475R000400710001-5
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release @ 50-Yr 2013/12/19: CIA-RDP73-00475R000400710001-5
CSEP 1 6 1964
? Nine Survivors Of
ed exile groups here expressed.
Doubts that it was an organiz
? tion with attack capability.:
Several weeks ago, OSACG
? claimed to have sunk a Cuban
torpedo :boat- off the' Cuban
north coast.* The organization's
spokesman said it was based in
the Caribbean and. had no of-
flees here..
? 4
. , .
' Bolstering its own claim' of
: innocence in the affair, the Cas-
tro government reported by .ra-
dio that a Cuban tug had towed
the gutted, abandoned hulk. of
"the freighter to Cuba.
The attack ? which has Spain
, embroiled with the U. S. State
Department over the question
of how well Caribbean waters
are patrolled ? took place Sun-
day night. . .
'
Havana radio said, "There is
reason to believe" that
.."pirates" financed by the U. S.
Central Intelligence Agency
m?.5-dage?iti tier? .
' Two Cuban exile . leaders,
: Manuel' Astime and. Manolo
. Ray, denied their forces were
involved. .. .
,
. . .
.. Backers of Artime blamed
Castro forces, saying. 'they
sought to discredit the -exile
. group.,- ' . , , -
The Sierra Aranzazu, *laden .
with textiles, toys, cork and
F: garlic from Spain to Havana,
reportedly had veered .far ,off
course to avoid the, wake of
Hurricazie.Dora. ? -': . i
?
Spanish Freighter Arrive In Puerto .Rieo
. --
1.- A -Dutch ship, P. 4.?ThOlin,* 7 ?The attack occurred "in an
. __.....?
.i rescued the Aranzazu's sur- area very well controlled, by :
f vivors from a launch. and they U. S. forces and 'we are much
. werellown to San 'Juan, Puerto surprised ' and naturally ' con.
Rico, Later they would be cerned about it."
. _ . -
returned to Spain. ,
.. . ?. ' In a later broadcast, the Cu-
Crewmen said' minutes before . ban Armed Forces Ministry t
the attack a speedboat -sped up'' 'charged: "The U. S. gov-
to the freighter, blazed its spot-.* *ernment knows perfectly well.,
light on the ship's nameplate ? who .made the attack since the
and reared away. . ' ? "perpetrators' were mercenary `
. ?
. In Nassau, there was specu-
ulation government" cirelea ,
. that 'Castro gunboats, 'might'
: ? have fired on the Spanish ves-
sel. ? ?
'And in Washington, the State '.
. Department s a i d,' "Whatever
, the nationality of the attackers, '
! we cannot but deplore this at-
tack on a merchant vessel on
..
Ithe high seas." .
The, Spanish government 'at
, Madrid issued .a statement.
edged, with sarcasm:
- .
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release
elements, equipped, paid and',
? directed by the Central Intel-',
ligence Agency." ,
. The broadcast said the attack
was part of the United States'
policy of "aggression And block-
ade agdirist'Cuba." ) '
?
@ 50-Yr 2013/12/19: CIA-RDP73-00475R000400710001-5 /