COMING: NEW EFFORT TO TOPPLE CASTRO?

Document Type: 
Collection: 
Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 
CIA-RDP75-00149R000100160031-3
Release Decision: 
RIPPUB
Original Classification: 
K
Document Page Count: 
1
Document Creation Date: 
December 9, 2016
Document Release Date: 
July 21, 2000
Sequence Number: 
31
Case Number: 
Publication Date: 
May 11, 1964
Content Type: 
MAGAZINE
File: 
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PDF icon CIA-RDP75-00149R000100160031-3.pdf168.08 KB
Body: 
Approved For Release 2001/07/26! CIA-RD U. S. NEWS AND WORLD REPORT Comki: NewEff As Soviet troops pull out of missile-bristling Cuba- Exile forces, long checked by U. S., may be getting a green light to harass Castro again. The problem of Red Cuba, it's hinted, is taking a turn that could lead to a new crisis. Exiles to act? Meanwhile, more and more reports are getting into print about intensive activity by exile groups at points outside the U. S. Exiles are talking openly about resuming military operations. The Johnson Administration isn't com- menting. But on May 1, a Republican policy group headed by Dr. Milton S. Eisenhower urged a new U. S. policy toward Cuba-including the unleashing of refugee forces. Some exile leaders-notably Manolo Ray, head of the anti-Castro Revolution- ary Junta-have proclaimed that they will be inside Cuba, fighting, by May 20. That is Cuban Independence Day- 62nd anniversary of the formation of the. Cuban Republic. Reports of new military training of Cuban exiles have been spreading for 'months. Training :camps in Nicaragua and other Central American countries' Signs are starting to appear that the U. S. soon may loosen its leash on anti- Castro Cuban refugee forces. For over a year, the U. S. has made sure that exile groups would cause Cuba's Communist dictator no trouble. Hit-and- run raids, even if launched from points outside American territory, were barred. Britain, at U. S. urging, blocked refugees from using British Caribbean islands as staging points for slashes at Castro. As a result, the flow of smuggled arms to anti-Communists inside Cuba was all but choked off. Sabotage devices were kept from Castro's enemies. The fear has been that raids against Castro would stir Russia into action. Now, however, the Soviets are pulling their. remaining troops out of Cuba, leav- ing 24 bases stocked with antiaircraft missiles, as well as with other modern armament. On April 30, Castro warned that, un- der his control, the missiles would be used against American reconnaissance. planes. The U. S.-which has let it be known that such action would bring in- stant retaliation-reiterated that surveil- lance flights would continue. have been mentioned with increasing frequency. At the same time, leading political figures among the Cuban exiles have' continued to seek support from fellow Latin Americans. For example, Carlos Prio Socarri s, former President of Cuba, went to the Dominican Republic to ask aid. Luis Somoza, strong man of Nicaragua, flew to Miami to talk with Cuban exiles. Manuel Artime, civilian chief of the brigade that fought at the Bay of Pigs in 1961, announced that he had set up headquarters in Central America. Prio and former Cuban Premier Antonio de Varona, a , key organizer of exile units Gutierrez Menoyo, once a major in Cas tro's rebel army. Menoyo and Ray no have joined forces in a "loose coalition, refugee sources say. Since February, a number of youn Cubans have disappeared from the refu gee colony in Miami. It wasn't a mas exodus, as in the weeks just before th Bay of Pigs. Those who vanished were tage or guerrilla tactics. . During April, "crisis conferences among exile leaders were stepped up with hasty trips between Miami an Puerto Rico and secret destinations i Central America. All of this comes at a time when th Cuban exiles train for new operations against Castro. Indications are before the Bay of Pigs, talked with Nic- aragua's President Ren6 Schick. In recent months, newspapers in Mi- ami have carried stories about the re- cruiting offices opened by veterans of the Bay of Pigs who had returned from commando training with the U. S. Army at Fort Benning, Ga., and Fort Jackson, S. C. Not long ago, Artime flew to Miami from his Central American headquarters. In a fiery speech, he told refugees that a new war against Castro-"a long, hard war"-was being prepared. Alpha 66, an exile organization which had made frequent forays into' Cuba be- fore the U. S. intervened, announced that it would soon resume infiltration. The combat leader of this group is Eloy Russians are leaving Cuba, - resentmen against Castro's police-state terror tac ties is said to be growing, and Castro' threats against the U. S. are pitche higher and higher. Exile spokesmen say that, with th Russians gone, they see a chance t start a civil war in Cuba-a war i which they believe they could win-sup port of some key officials, in Castro' Government and whole units in the R dictator's military forces. It's a situation that appears to hav all the elements of a new crisis over Re Cuba. Approved For Release 2001?/07/26: CIA-RDP75-00149R0001001-60031-3 CPYRGHT