GUEVARA'S AFRICAN VENTURE A DISASTER, SENATORS TOLD

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP75-00149R000400030010-7
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: November 11, 2016
• Document Release Date: December 10, 1998
• Sequence Number: 10
• Publication Date: April 10, 1970
• Content Type: NSPR

Sanitized - Approved F 9990FIMA-RDP75-00
10 APR 1970
CPYRGHT
GuevaraIs Aafrican Venture
isaste, Senators .~'odd
rnesto (Che) Guevara's
guerrilla operation in Africa was
nearly as bad as the disaster he
suffered in Bolivia, a former
Castro Cuban intelligence officer
told the Senate Internal Security
subcommittee in testimony re-
leased today.
The witness, Orlando Castro
Hidalgo, told the subcommittee
his "cover" job before he defect-
ed to the United States was as
protocol officer at the Cuban
Embassy in Paris but he actual-
ly was an agent of the DGI,
Cuba's spy and guerrilla organi-
zation.
The Cuban soldiers In Africa
'(the Congo) had expected to find
a revolutionary atmosphere but
discovered that intertribal rival-
ries were far more important
than revolution, Castro told.the
subcommittee.
He said the Cubans left Africa
fearing their friends almost as
much as their enemies.
Met Death in Bolivia
Guevara, he said, went direct.
ly from Africa to Bolivia where
he met his death.. The..Cuban
vpnture eta Africa was '04y a
ittle better than the Bolivia
fiasco because most of the Cu
ans got out of Africa alive, h
said.
Castro took asylum at the U.
Embassy in Luxembourg o
March 31, 1969. The testimon
released today was given to th
Senate on Oct. 16.
The defecting agent said th
Russians were critical of Cuba
Premier Fidel Castro for sen
ing troops to Africa, accusin
him of adventurism.
He told the Senate subcommi
tee that all Cuban ambassador
in Africa and most other Cub
officials there are members
the DGI under Ministry of F
eign Relations cover.. ? ,
--- - ..iJl..'..?a.il.Yri~aiK
CPYRGHT
Castro Hidalgo said his real
job in Paris was to support revo-
lutionary ,activities in Latin
American nations by providing
money and visas to Latin train-
ees en route to Havana and by
developing contacts among
French and Latin citizens.
Blackmail Used
There were DGI agents in 13
Latin embassies in Paris, he
said. Before taking the Paris as-
signment, Castro said he was in
the DGI section o p e r a t'i n g
against Cuban exiles In the Unit-
ed States.
"The DGI almost without ex-
ception uses only blackmail to
recruit agents in Cuban exile
groups in the United States,"
Castro testified. "Important Cu-
ban exiles are reviewed from
the standpoint of their relatives
still in Cuba. The prospective
agent is then approached on the
basis of helping the relative in
Cuba.
"If the agent accepts, the rela-
tive doesn't go to jail, orb
re-
leased from jail, or is permitted
to -leave, Cuba as an exile, de-
pending on the particular case.
FOIAb3b
CPYRGHT
Sanitized - Approved For Release CIA-RDP75-00149R000400030010-7: