STATUS REPORT ON EFFORTS TO IMPROVE INTELLLIGENCE COMMUNITY COVERAGE OF CUBA

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP81B00401R000200010019-2
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: T
• Document Page Count: 6
• Document Creation Date: December 16, 2016
• Document Release Date: March 14, 2005
• Sequence Number: 19
• Publication Date: February 14, 1977
• Content Type: MF

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14 February 1977
MEMORANDU.1 FOR: National Foreign Intelligence Board
Status Report on Efforts to Improve
Intelligence Community Coverage of Cuba
1. During 1976 there arose in the Central Intelligence
Agency a mounting concern over Cuba's growing international
role in paramilitary, political, Communist Party, and intelli-
.gence activities. CIA was part:.cularly disturbed by the limi-
tacions of the Intelligence Community's knowledge of Cuban af-
fairs and the need to improve our reporting and analysis. Ac-
cordingly,,CIA began a careful examination of its Cuban activi-
ties, which soon led to Intelligence Community Staff and 1410
consideration of. the subject. We have put in train some im-
portant actions. The following is a status report on what has
been accomplished to date and plans for the future.
elements, Two actions have_fl,qwed fro? these seminars:
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related guidance and action strategies for each of the collection
disciplines.
12 NIO-IC Staff Special All-Source Review: The Community
is conducting a review of intelligence coverage of Cuba, called
a ''Special FOCUS.'' Unlike a regular FOCUS review, which deals
only with human resources and which evaluates the performance of
a .particular mission abroad in meeting intelligence requirements,
this Special,FOCUS is all-source, covering imagery, SIGINT, and
human resources, and deals with a country in which there is no
US mission. .It seeks to establish new national requirements and
ing internal matters and Cuban activities abroad,
national intelligence requirements on Cuba, concern-
The Special FOCUS began in November 1976 when the
;NIO for Latin America established tentative new
after discussion with key poll-cymakers.
evaluation seminars on Cuba, which were attended by
users Of intelligence from both-policy and production
On 9.an,d 13 December the NiO/LA held requirements and
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(1) National intelligence requirements on Cuba have
been prepared by the NIO/LA and coordinated with-
in the Intelligence Community for consideration by
the National Foreign,Intelligence Board on 17
February. These requirements were placed in order
of priority with respect to other countries at
aspecial meeting of the.DCID 1/2 Ad Hoc Committes
on 26 January 1977. Higher priorities were as-
signed to a number of subjects to stimulate _ol-
le.tion.
An NIO/LA evaluation of recent r=port,ng on six
vital issues pertaining to Cuba, with special at-
tention paid to reporting deficiencies, will be
completed shortly and forwarded to the Chairmen
of the OCI SIGINT, COMIREX, and Human Resource Com-
mittees. Work on this study has already produced
three results:
The DCI SIGINT, CCMIRZX, And Iuaan Resource Coaaito
toss will draw upon the ,CIO-prepared Rrioritiaed
National,Snteiligenee Re34ireIents on Cuba and t:'te
Loon-to-b? :ompleted Repartinq svaluation Study to
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develop separate collection guidanc-e and action
strategy packages. The Prioritized National Require-
ments were formulated in response to users' needs,
without regard to colllection means or resource
implications. Each DCI Committee will determine
what is appropriate for its own collection tech-
niques and the related dollar and manpower cost.
D. The final step in the Special FOCUS-exercise will
be the development and subsequent implementation
of an all-source collection; guidance and action
strategy using the three DCI Committee contributors,
including appropriate trade-offs and other resource
adjustments.
w, can be handled from existing resources.
3. CIA Actions: CIA acted on its initial review of Cuban
coverage without awaiting the results of the Special FOCUS.
CIA efforts have involved both collection and production, and,
except as noted belo
CIA Collection:
Operations Directorate: The Operatio
Di
a
ns
rector
te
is taking the following steps towards improving
clandest; ne
l __ _ _ _
co
y
(1) Efforts are under way to
assign additional
ba
Cu
n specialists to overseas positions, sub-
c
je
t to approval under the MODE process.
'(3) The. Directorate is expanding its headquarters-
ba
d
se
Cuban Operations Group.
4) It is also expanding its program of sanding
cub,n" - -- -- - --
brief them on the Cuban target.
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(5) A conference of European-based Cuban specialists
was held at CIA Headquarters in October; another
conference of Cuban specialists stationed in
Africa and the Near East was held; in January.
(7) In November of 1976, the agreement of the
counterintelligence elements of the US
military intelligence. services was secured
,for a program of expanded counterintelligence
operations against the Cuban General Direc-
torate of Intelligence (DGI).
5 CIA Production: The principal offices in the In-
telligence Directorate involved in producing finished Intel
ligence on Cuba--the Office of Regional and Political Analysis,
}the Office of Economic Research, and the Office of Strategic
Research- havetaken a number of steps to improve their
coverage of Cuba.
B. The Offi;$,of Strategic Research has assigned
anew full-time analyst to cover Cuban military
developments and is proceeding with a study of
addt,tional resources required to develop a
research capability on Cuban Military.
 Hpprovea ror meieasp( -ow
itsuu
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The Office of Economic, Research has doubled its
resources devoted to analyzing Ciba`s economy,
transportation activities, and technical assis-
tance programs.
6. FBI Production; A requirement was levied on'the FBI
on 22 November 1976 for a special report on Cuban intelligence
and related activities against Puerto Rico to be completed
by 1 April 1977. This will provide the NI"/LA and other
key users counterintelligence information on Cuba which
touches on their concerns, and which may now be restricted
to counterintelligence channels.
7. The results achieved so far demonstrate a steadily
increasing level of attention to a target whichindeed
merited far greater Community concern than it had been re-
ceiving. Although significant breakthroughs in collection and
production have
t
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no
yet been achieved, as a result of-this
increased attention we will soon obtain highly worthwhile
results in the acquisition of new reporting sources, in
improved exploitation of existing sources, and in production
more in tune to th
e needs of policymakers.
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