U. S. TO BUY CUBA PRISONERS? THE CAPITAL RANSOM MYSTERY-----

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP75-00001R000200020008-6
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 2
• Document Creation Date: November 17, 2016
• Document Release Date: September 9, 1998
• Sequence Number: 8
• Publication Date: October 11, 1962
• Content Type: NSPR

OCT
I 1 1962 ~~-
'
, ,.. P ,/ r
/ YORK HERALD TRIBUNE x ...{,?
Approved For Ralaaca 7OOO/O8I24 ? CId_I~r11i'' A_flf fl'L1 141F 1 l ft OOO8_6
The Capital Ransom
Prisoners
%114. 4
Buy Cu
CPYRGHT
Pi Rnhert J. Donovah
CPYRGHThref Washington Correspondent
eT}girleered t 4e appointment of Mr. Donovan as the negq
fox forr tlk#an Families. Committer,
~ne confirn1edreport last night was that the govern-
Mystery-
Ca o. iin QJ1e form another for ransom.
has acted as a United States e dr! ra
tfor release oCubar .rs. It 's also widely
b ved t ize 'ed-erat ' 'ti `may be paid to Fidel
me would underwrite shipment-of some $13 million in
medicine and food to Cuba if the 1,113 Bay of Pigs prisoners
bey the fln T step in negotiations for the release of the
prisonlers, United Press International said in a Havana
tl novan met with Castro yesterday in what may
lafflitekk 1 the Cuban Families Committee. Premier Fidel
lC I demanded $62 million for release of the
+.1V !ep?trdly has since :reduced the figure to
10-4
t3f8t`~l?nwr,.s snip. a, n;;blishari rpvor
It is time to let the people of the country know what
this deal jr, ' ft-p.p. William C. Cramer, 1, Fle,., told the
-----??_r,..vaau xrciti~ awn about the:
Administration's activities are producing lie
Congress. w autcres in
? i, .~
impossible to 11One' for xansorla i
get gat because of the ironclad secrecy the
Kenn, administration has wrapped around the affair.
The Ostensible reason for this secrecy is that prer~atur
disclosures might jeopardize the release of the prisoriers
the touch-and-eo fd
they Central Ixtqj4 ',,.W ummrrtee but of
negofaing tie re ncy as wellst as he vas in
1 I l 1 p. "nrr~'At ip r2 ?llot FF*is GUY 'O `e*
lioltrrt F. Kennedy
Approved For Release 2000/08/24: CIA-RDP75-00001 R000200020008-6
 Approved For Release 2000/08/24: CIA-RDP75-00001 R000200020008-6
CPYRGHT
House of 17PpresPntativPt ""1 is whnip. jo;i] snirlis, which
is obvious because of its secrlt i attire. Tinw must we look
in the eyes of the world in M.:;king other rountries to cut
} qff trade with Cuba while at the same time allowing a ml-
Citizen (Mr. Donovan) to negotiate $60 million in
Made With Cuba"''s Castro?"
t Senate, Sens, John Williams, R., Del
., and John
E~efln ,D ., Miss., opposed the use of government funds to
funds to
rins0 he prisoners.
At the White House Pier Salingerm Presidential press
secretary, refused to say ahe cr any such expen4iture was
cgntexrplated. Since the Adm stration has adopted a policy
of strut secrecy, Mr. Salinger silence does not ne esSarily
suggest that Federal ransom oney is to, be paid
,. i said, in s cec1t that lie had d news
reports that Ionovanwas $cting as a Federal agent and
that the gpver aht would 'put up a substantial bunt of
tt% ransoizi. ' se reports, he said, were distutbirng, and he
hoped they were untrue. If they are false, , lie urci the
AdmitjCtipnto deny thei'h
T1# riticaty attitude which Repub cans in dongress
h ive take' toward the idea of spendin 'F'ede'ai funds for
;rf'l~flymentsto, Castro in any ffim iY$dicates that
." _ Ouse ~ublicans setit theyy dent telegrams
Want to Kngl
of *'hiclz:ha,s bin of will be cb ted
to the ran-
,
som fr foreign aid appropriations the categories of
aid from which such commitnlen ve been or will
be made."
Rep. &obert H. Michel, Ill., as jkd,thR President if the
Admini"$r>ation"Z}a"s."rbffered an hi? ,tough Donovan o
otherwise, as payment or part pay, 4 of the ransom."
I At the J4.6
Department Mr"; Guthman branded as
untrue" a stolythat Attorney en'al Kennedy had asked
Mr. Donotrar who has sing benome the Democratic
nilminee fdr United States Seriptor !3I New York, to repre-
sent the C
. Families Con 1itt
"He (Mr. Kennedy) did nit see Donovan at the time
Donovan Was hired by the ratives of the, prisoners to
represent them," Mr. Guthman explained.
"We're Not Saying That"
But, a reporter asked, was it not true that the Attorney
General had seen Mr. Donovan since then and had dis-
cussed the prisoners with him?
"We're not saying that," Mr. Guthman replied.
Mr. Donovan has seen the Attorney General several
times since last June. Once he wars accompanied, by a State
Department official.
Ostensibly as the attorney for Rudolf I. Abel, a Russian
spy then imprisoned in the United States, Mr. Donovan
negotiated the exchange whereby the United. States swapped
Abel for Capt. Powers.
Hand-in-Glove With CIA
In, fact ho*iivt ?, he was Working hand-in-glove with
the CIA; Indeed when the exchange had been consummated,
President Kennedy directed the CIA to award Mr. Donovan
its Distinguished Intelligence Medal. The medal was
presented last March by John A. McCone, .;lixector of
Central Intelligence.
In the absence of full infolilation from the Adminis-
tration, the logic of the present situation has led observers
here to believe that Mr. Donovan is again playing the role
of government agent while ostensibly working for the
Cuban Families Committee.
White House officials have arknnwl>mdjPd that the
CommitteP i,; keening the Prpsiri'nt and the Administra-
tion Advised sbmit. iI artivitipk
Appr
0200020008-6
C- IT i 1 1987