WATERGATE: ATTACKS ON THE LEFT NEW FACTS ON 1970 TERRORISM

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP75B00380R000100080030-4
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 15, 2016
• Document Release Date: November 17, 2003
• Sequence Number: 30
• Publication Date: July 13, 1973
• Content Type: NSPR

G`'.'a~~, 9 ~' ,9 ATE ~ e {~~(' d~(o on ~j?;~ tF~''"~' ~
fly DELLA ROSSA
LOS ANGELES-During the spring
of 1970, coun,?rrevolutionary Cuban
terrorists carried out a series of armed
arson attacks licre against the Hay
market, a radical meeting place and
bookstore; the offices of the Socialist
Workers Party 1970 California elec-
tion campaign; and the Ashgrove, a
co ice house that often made its fa-
cilltfe ava'rlnble to r< i un "cal ca ses
s
Pelaez, Castro, and Gonzalez were
arrested while attempting to flee the
Ashgrove coffeehouse after the June
7, 1970, attack on that center. The
three pleaded guilty-vim they fins
came to trial n Dec. 19, 1972
time of the three' on_ c sreport
that Pelaez, Castro, and Gonzalez were
only three of at least a dozen gusanos
who participated In the armed terror-
fet raids. No one else has yet been
three victims of . attaclts ,
All
these
were centera of activity during the?
massive antiwar _u~su_re ihnt,chal-
ler,rcd the U.S. invasion of Cambodia
in May A 19141. _.~ -,..._..t ............,...~.......,....
L~?I1~0.>51:9 -I212t1' T)jstrlctAttarn
^~te; hen 1 'frc7tt1Fwho eras th-e^pros-
erutor in the case of three of the ter-
rorist3 involved in the attacks here,
has now revealed in discussions with
this rc;portcr that the terrorists had
been approached prior to their arson
raids by a man claiming to be with
the CIA,
When asked if the thought the CIA
was involved In organizing the arson
attacks, Trott said, "I wouldn't be sur-
prised at anything now, after Water-
gate. For i:istan_ce, there is E. 1-1 oward
Hunt. His -;.i(3 [r'n' thodof, operation)
w
%vasto lie to_Cubans, saying they
would get back Cuba if they helped
the CIA. It was a vicious, disgusting
business.
"The Cuban exiles hate communists
rho much they would bomb anything
that moved," Trott said, referring to
the right-wing opponents of the Cuban
revolution, called gusanos (worms)
by supporters of the Cuban revolu-
tion.
The three terrorists prosecuted by
prosecuted for taking 'part* In the
attacks.
The attack on the Haymarket, which
totally destroyed the place, occurred
April 13, 1970. Ron White, a witness
to the raid, was splashed with a caus-
tic solution that burned his lungs so
ecvere'ly It was feared he would not
live. His lungs are permanently dam-
aged.
On May 27, the SWI' campaign
headquarters at 1702 E. 4th Street
was gutted by an armed arson attack
by about a dozen gusanos. Four elec-
tion campaign workers were held at
gunpoint and told they "would die
for Fidel Castro." The four were left
inside the building after It was set
aflame but were able to escape
through a fire exit.
Following, the attack on the SWI',
the Citizens Committee for the I'tirx;ci
of Free Political Expression L?dics-oi-
ganized. Sponsors ineluaed Angela
Davis, Stnt4.Senatorr Merv pymnllya,.
Jane Fonda, Councilman I3ill Mills,
and local heads of the Social
Services
thing Work-
era, and Teamsters.
The committee's purpose was to
secure the 'arrest and conviction of
those responsible for the May 27
attack on the SWI' campaign head-
quarters. The pattern of police nn;
-
'Trott--Mario Pelnez,HeLnaldo Cas-
tro, and Reynaldo Gonzalez-have all
been ocntenced~'on'churges of eonspir-.
acy to commit arson for their part I
e
in the attacks ther. Pelaez Is serving ?....~ ligcnce In the investigation was so
a te
-
t
t
n
mon
h sen
ence in the Los
Angeles County jail, Castrp and
Gonzalez were given sentences of one
to 10 years in state prison.
Trott's assertion that the CIA was
Involved in the terrorist activities was
orr_p$nx.trI _by interviecys with
don seems to have been clearly mer
E
dward Gitd St Ch i
rz anergeants
Lou,st of the Los An/rele3 Police De-
lZartrnent Criminal Conspiracy 'Divi-
sion. Gritz was the attorney for the
three qusanrm, He nays he was
aware that someone ciaimint, to he
from the CIA had approached a num-
Irer of Cubans in Los Angeles in the
nprinf, of 1970. "My clients were used
by someone," he said. "1 know who
it is but I can't reveal the intoimation '
Loust revealed trial n Cuban had
approached Los Angeles Cuban coun-
terrevolutionaries in May 1970 to
"fight Ctviriniuutsnu mud get Calbrh
h,?,,
/3
Approved for Release 2003/12/02: CIA-RDP75B00380Rp.4D~A04~39.~1 Nr- ~(~ 5/ /97 3
1 i pervasive that it raised the questio
of police complicity In an attempt Ir
cover up the real inspiration bchin9.l
the attacks.
In the light of Watergate and these
Ited. The. gusano actions were tied
to the Nb:on "game plan" aimed at
attacking the antiwar movement fol-
lowing the May 1970 upsurge. The
Los Angeles police and district attor-
ney's office appear to have been coop-
erating in hiding this fact from the
victims of the CIA-Inspired attacks.
For example, following their arrest,
Pelaez, Castro, and Gonzalez skipped
bail. Official court records reveal that
in April 1971, J_ olln R. Howard, a
i special agent for the Surety Insurance
Company, the company responsible
for their, bail,_ informed the I,os
Angeles Superior Court that he had
located the three fugitives. Castro and
Gonzalez were, according to Howard's
i deposition to the court, in Mexico City
at the headquarters of a gusano or-
ganization called Alpha 66. Ile de-
scribed this as an armed guerrilla
warfare trninin camp that was
planning anti-Cuban 'operations. Pe-
Inez was found at a Colgate-Palmolive
plant in Costa Rica.
1'ht?re is no evidence, that there was
any move on the part of the court
to bring the three back to Los Angeles
following the receipt of Howard's
report. Gritz now maintains they never
left the V.S. Trott says he also doubt
that they were found as indicated in
Howard's deposition. Tl,erc is no
explanation for the discrepancy 'be-
tween these two reports.
In any case, the three gusano fugi-
tives were finally arrested only in
1972, 'when Pelaez converted to the
Jehovah's Witnesses and, according to
Trott, confessed his role in the terrorist
attacks In a letter sent directly to Pres-
ident Nixon. The White House, Trott
said, notified Pelaez of what he should
do to make a formal confession.
Following Pclaez's confA$i C1B
h'encii warrant was issued for -the
arrest of the three gusanos. One was
arrested in Connecticut and the others
in Miami.
'Trott was also the prosecutor in
the case of two other gusano terrorists,
hector Cornillot y Lano Jr. and Juan
Garcia-Cardenas, for their part in
about 10 bombings in Los Angeles
in 1968. These included attacks on
the Shell Oil Corporation and two
Mexican tourist, offices. F131 -agents
testified at the tr iul of these terrorists
that thee hlosivcs they used had been
obtained from the CIA for use in the
I ay of Pigs invasion~^
I'he fact that the CIA allowed these
gusanos to keep. these explosives for
seven years after the Bay of Pigs
fiasco of 1961 is further evidence of
CIA complicity in the April-May 1970
terror attacks against Los Angeles
nntiwclr an d socialist organizations.
Approved For Release 2003/12/02 : CIA-RDP75B0038OR000100080030-4