CUBA MORE SOVIETIZED

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP75-00149R000400030013-4
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 2
• Document Creation Date: November 11, 2016
• Document Release Date: December 10, 1998
• Sequence Number: 13
• Publication Date: July 16, 1969
• Content Type: MAGAZINE

CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOT
Sanitized - Approved For Rq)oa .1gt4-REY07A mb1
`Cuba more ovietized' MI
Defector from Castro intelligence networ
!says 1968 pact binds Havana to Moscov.
Iyr,o
By a staff correspondent of
The Christian Science Monitor
X1969 The Christian Science Publishing Society
All rights reserved
Washington
According to r. s ro a ,
growing Soviet Influence in Cuba was the
reason for his defection.
Betrayal seen
CPYRG
HT
A Cuban intelligence officer, who defected to the this increasing Soviet influence, brought on
United States earlier this year, says that Premier Fidel by Premier Castro, as a betrayal of the
astro signed an accord with the Soviet Union in 1968 Cuban revolution and the goals for which
which he personally fought, both in the Sierra
which commits him to a pro-Moscow line. Maestro and afterward.
The assertion. it is felt, would explain the noticeable Castro Hidalgo, in his tsays
that his Immediate ro Hid superior his testimony, ti the Paris
xv ne being followed by Cuba-a trend which Mr.
Ar. ~{Fite time of the Soviet invasion of Czechoslo- Embassy, Armando Lopez Orta, returned
vakia last August. from Havana last January with word of the
According to the defector. Orlando Castro Hidalgo, I Cuban-Soviet troaty and this pronounce-
the Cuban-Soviet agreement requires the Cuban leader ment:
to mute his criticism of the Soviet Union and of Mos. "Some$ mbs aovieticns" (We are more
cow-oriented Communist parties in Latin America. Sovietized).
In return, the Soviet Union agreed not to diminish Mr. Castro Hidalgo's version
of the nei'grt r. Castro Hidalgo's version
its economic support of Premier Castro's government According to
and also to provide some 5,000 technicians to work in a
variety of fields to support Cuba's lagging economy. 1117111 now, the Soviet Union for Its part
These disclosures are part of the testimony being agreed to keep up the level of economic
given by Mr. Castro Hidalgo, who is no relation to the assistance which has been flowing to Cuba
That aid is cant-
Cuban Premier. It was learned from informed sources in In the past t as protputed
circles several years. of es $350 million yethin
Embassy in Paris late in March of this year and
sought asylum for himself and his family at the United Technicians provided
States Embassy in Luxembourg.
Since then, Mr. Castro Hidalgo has been undergoing The Soviet Union, It is understood, also
extensive questioning together with explaining an at- agreed to increase badly needed petroleum
tache case full of documents he carried with him when shipments to Cuba, to purchase more of
he arrived in Luxembourg. Cuba's production of nickel ore, and to send
Mr. Castro Hidalgo now is in the United States under some 5,000 Soviet technicians to advise the
protective custody. Castro government In the fields of science
The Christian Science Monitor learned of Mr. Castro and technology.
Hidalgo's presence in the United States, and as far as These technicians, Mr. Castro Hidalgo
is known this is the first mention of his defection and says, are to be used in providing support in
his disclosures to United States officials. agriculture, mining, atomic energy, fishing,
It is understood that the Cuban Government has and military fields.
asked the French Government for assistance in return. However, some ,Soviet assistance in the
lag both Mr. Castro Hidalgo and the documents he DGI is part of the agreement.
brought with him when he defected. But Cuban sources f
would make no comment on this subject nor admit that To the secret souagreementrces Is here, , this this atlyspecct o of
Mr. Castro Hidalgo had defected when asked for com? cant in that the DGI Is understood to have
ment. taken on many of the diplomatic activities
Informed sources here say that Mr. Castro Hidalgo formerly handled by foreign service otllcers.
has been a veritable gold mine of information ion de- In light of the general reduction of Soviet
velopments in Cube, Although he was not a intelligence operations in France and else-
major oflicint In the Cuban Government, he where in Western Europe in recent years,
in-
other Intelligence r degenmaterials s to d as a the presence of a Soviet-oriented Cuban in-
ments end y had
part of an the oh Cuban Intelligence se service ian telligence system is regarded by informed
part sources here as important.
Europe. That service, according to Mr. Castro Claim confirmed
Hidalgo's testimony, Is put at the disposal Mr. Castro Hidalgo claims to have been
of the Soviet Union under terms of the 1968
agreement. Known as General Directorate part of that. system and the documents he
of Intelligence (or DGI after its Spanish brought out confirm this claim.
Initials), the service has been extending But the documents are of even greater im-
Its o orations In Europe recently. .! portance - although they do not contain the
Sanitized - Approved For Releas6extC?iAll'R 91 '6'-' lfl R 400030013-4
annt1nue8T
 _`CPYRGHT
C
many and known facts about situations in
Latin America, Europe, and elsewhere, the
United States has learned a great deal about
Cuba and its activities through Mr. Castro
Hidalgo's defection.
The defector was a DGI operative in
Paris. He states that he helped organize
and operate a clandestine apparatus in the
French capital aimed at providing Latin-
American revolutionaires and guerrilla
leaders with money, false passports, and
hideouts during their travels to and from
Cuba.
According to Mr. Castro Hidalgo, the
Paris center for the DGI conducts operations
into South America, while the Cuban Em-
bassy in Mexico City coordinates operations
in Central America and the Caribbean.
As far as guerrilla activities in Latin
America are concerned, Mr. Castro Hidalgo
says that the secret Cuba-Soviet accord
makes no specific mention of their role -
presumably leaving Premier Castro free to',
operate much as before in the question of
armed insurrection throughout Latin Amer.
ica.
Conflicts apparent ..
There are apparent conflicts between the
Soviet Union and Premier Castro over this,
question, but Mr. Castro Hidalgo says that.
Havana's support for the "export of revolu-'
tion" to Latin America is not diminished;
by the accord.
However, the DGI is reported to have told
its people that there must be a more meticu
lous screening of Latin Americans before
they are put into the pipeline for guerrilla.
training in Cuba. It is also understood, ac-'
cording to Mr. Castro Hidalgo's testimony,',
that Cuba has decided not to send out mili
tary leaders to aid Latin-American revolu-
tionary groups until these groups have
reached a significantly high state of develop-
PYHT
11
le+ left In the middle of secondary school
,lid since then has been lnrriely self-taught,
is talks slowly, measuring his words rare-
ully, and has an air of self-confidence and
ophistienIion.
elected for training'
Selected for intelligence training by the
ast.ro government in 1465, Mr. Castro
lidalgo got, a grounding in both intelligence
,henry and tactics and guerrilla warfare
ractice. He also was given training in
anguagP prior to being sent to France in
arch, :1467.
His wife, Norma, had originally been on
a list of those Cubans desirous of emigrating
to the United States tinder the provisions of
a Cuban-United States accord-but took her
name off the list when she married.
It is understood that the fact that her
name had been on the list was discovered
by Cuban intelligence people in Havana and
that an investigation of the situation was
tinder way at the time the family defected
to the United States Embassy in Luxem-
bourg. Sources here say that she played
something of a role in leading to the defec-
tion, but at the same time, Mr. Castro
111(lalgo had his own reasons for defecting.
Oilier disclosures
Among other disclosures
Castro Iliclalgo nrothese.,
? Col. Frnnciycn Canmafin Defin, the
leader of the 1465 Dominion revolution, is
now in Cuba and that he arrived there short-
ly after Mr. Guevnra's death at the hands
of the Bolivian Army In October, 1967. At
first Cuban omclals thought they would use
the Dominican officer as a replacement for
Mr. Guevarn, but, since that time there has
been no evidence that they have done so.
? Guyanan Prof. Dr. Walter Rodney,
whose presence in Jamaica last year caused
a furore, was helped by Cuban Intelligence
forces In Paris to travel to Cuba by way of
both Paris and Prague.
? Prensa Latina, the Cuban news service
now regarded as being run by DGI ele-
ments, was involved In a plan to infiltrate
pro-Cuban agents into the ruling military
junta of Gen. Juan Velasco Alvarado in
Peru.
o The names of Cuban Intelligence agents
in Chile--together with the concern on the
part of Premier Castro and his associates
that Eduardo Frei Montalva, Chile's re-
formist president, was usurping Premier
Castro's place and influence -. In Latin
America.
In the Sierra Maestra. After Premier Castro
came to power, Mr. Castro Ilidalgo stayed
with the Army and served in campaigns
against guerrillas in the Escarnbray Moun-
tains and against the Invaders at the Bay
of figs.
Movement In March, 1957, fighting mainl
The presence of Mr. Castro Hidalgo and
his family - a wife and two small boys-
was confirmed by the Department of State,
although it would give no further details.
C
of agents and others working for Havana
throughout the world has been an important
development in United States intelligence
activities
went.
Implicit in the Castro Hidalgo testimony is
awareness on the part of Cuban officials
that the guerrilla effort led by Ernesto Che'
Guevara made a number of errors.
It is understood that Mr. Castro Hidalgo's
disclosures of Cuban plans and the names.
u an.
Mr. Castro Hidalgo is a 31-year-old
born in Puerto Padre, in Oriente Province
in the eastern part of the island. His mother
and five younger brothers and a sister still
live on the island.
He joined Premier Castro's 26th of July
00400030013-4
Sanitized - Approved or Release : CIA-RDP75-00149R000400030013-4