WELL-PAID, CASTRO FREES PRISONERS; OUR GOVERNMENT'S ROLE IN THE DEAL

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP75-00001R000100380038-5
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: November 17, 2016
• Document Release Date: June 7, 2000
• Sequence Number: 38
• Publication Date: December 31, 1963
• Content Type: NSPR

Approved For Release 2000/06/13: CIA-RDP75-0vQ'1 Fz000100
Well-Paid, Castro Frees Prisoners;
Our Government's Role in the Deal
Cuban Ransom
A more unlikely Santa Claus could
carcely be imagined. But there he was---
ark-bearded, Fidel Castro-waiting at
lavana Harbor for the arrival of the
ansom ship African Pilot.
Castro seemed almost overcome by
Christmastime cheer as he watched over
he exchange of 1,113 captured Bay of
Pigs invaders for the first instalment of
$53,000,000 111 drugs, medicine, food, and
surgical and medical equipment from the
United States. The Cuban premier joshed
with .the captain of the African Pilot and
took r Americans from the ship on a
tour "dftou a new housing development and
of the home of the late author Ernest
Hemingway.
He graciously declared a 24-hour "state
of peace" with the United States and, as
a "Christmas bonus" to the ransom deal,
allowed. more than 900 relatives of the
Cuban invasion plsoners t Altil to the
united,, States Ca also d the
early 'release of 1 erican n hi s
prisons. There was even talk`1Havana
about a general amnesty for the 80,000
political prisoners behind bars on Castro's
island. And, Cuban authiort tor~ said an ad-
ditional 2,500 relative', -o" trig` invaders
would be permitted to go to the United
Appro
Castro's dockside gestures were some-
what less an magnanimous, however.
Two days aei,the prisoners' relatives de-
parted, he Cfinceled plans to let any more
relatives fallow them.
States..':
possessions Stay Behind-
Nor did the Cuban premier make de-
parture easy f9t those who did get away.
Except for the clothes they wore, the
relatives' erei'orced to leave behind prac-
tically all= their possessions. Cuban
militiamen snatched toys from youngsters
before they boarded the African Pilot. One
man had to surrender a jeweled ring he
hadn't removed from his finger in 20
years. The militiamen told him, "Either
you take the ring off, we `cut the finger
off,, 016 ryou don't *o F'
The prisoner exchange, deal had been
in tlaq works for several months. A pre-
vious attempt to swap tractors for the
prisoners fell through. Last summer At-
torney General Robert. F. 'ennedy asked
James B. Donovan, a New `c'ork lawyer
who handled the transfer of U-2 pilot
Francis Gary Powers for Russian spy
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d F,iRee/D6/13 : CIA-RDP75-0
newspaper at $4,000,000, to the families
of the pr1 oars.
President nedy felt a moral obli-
gation to ob '"the release of the Cuban
prisoners. ailed the Bay of Pigs
fiasco his 'risibility, and named
his brother, the Attorney General, to
handle the Administration's end of the
prisoner exchange.
The propriety of the Government's
deep involvement in the ransom deal
evoked some criticism. Republican Sen.
Thruston B. Morton of Kentucky chided
the Administration for calling the deal
a private venture. Senator Morton said
Attorney General Robert Kennedy had
contacted "a company with an antitrust
suit pending againsi; it" and suggested
it contribute to tbe ransom fund.
There was also some grumbling
among the more than 100 companies
that donated either goods or transpor-
tation services to the prisoner exchange.
One businessman called the deal "black
mail" and refused to contribute. Other
murmured about Gowey.nment pressure
Most, however, participated without corn
plaint. The Justice Department denie
that "prressure was put on any compan
by anyone in Government."
The Government's Role
Mr. Donovan denies that the Kenn dy
Administration masterminded the pris n-
er deal. But the Government's role as
apparent all along, and the deal couul 't
have taken place without full support of
the Government.
Much of the last-minute maneuve ng
went on right at the Justice Depart nt
in Washington. Robert Kennedy assig ed
deputy Attorney General Nicholas B.
Katzenbach and other aides to assist r.
Donovan. The Attorney General hi elf
met in his office with groups of busin ss-
men. Other Government departm nts
helped out, too.
When some companies worried a out
tax problems involved in donating g ods
to the ransom stockpile, the Internal ev-
enue Service eased their minds by de Tar-
ing that any donations could be wr ten
off as charitable contributions. The us-
tice Department told the corporation in-
volved that antitrust laws wouldn' be
enforced against them in connection ith
the prisoner deal.
The Administration's assistance was
more obvious at times. Some of the rgo
loaded aboard the African Pilot was
plainly marked "U.S. Government rop-
erty." When the Red Cross needed lun-
teers to handle the tons of cargo, a roue
~~ T649' turned up a, the
o ~3 a merit ev eve con-
yam
tributed funds. estimated by one 1 ianiy