COMINGS AND GOINGS OF RED AGITATORS IN PANAMA MAY BE FORERUNNER OF COMMUNIST TAKEOVER THREAT

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP75-00149R000600040074-4
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: November 11, 2016
• Document Release Date: December 15, 1998
• Sequence Number: 74
• Publication Date: February 4, 1964
• Content Type: NSPR

FOIAb3b
LAS VEGAS SUN
{ 7A
1. ~~~~?'
By ROBERT S. ALLEN and PAUL SCOTT CP
pp ---
May Forerunner of Communist Takeover Threat gr u - , ^ -_
CPYRGHT y quarters of the Communist underground, and middle-aged "per-
manent scudents " actually paid Red agitators, hold key places on
t
a
n a ung, a pro- as r a y
and slaying of four U. S..soldiers in Panama, have bee member of the nnm wauian Congress, Is a forefront figure of the
I
WASHINGTON-- ome two-score the campus.
+ es rue ive rintin T1 ei C tote le
fle
in the Socialist Part and
quiet y allowed to. leave that country. above-ground apparatus. Significantly, she returned from a visit
They include eight professional Red killers who wer 1' to Cuba just before the rioting afld killings. She made the trip by
seized and jailed by Panama National Guardsmen durin r way of Mexico - as virtually all the leftists do.
the costly violence. An Afro-Panamanian, Mrs. King's principal propagandaorgan
The Communist guerrillas -- Panamanians, Cubans is radio station Tribuna.
Mexicans. and other Latins, some of them veterans o NEW OTEPKA SHOWDOWN
the recent Red terrorist' operations in Venezuela -- wer Senate investigators of the scandal-smeared ouster of Otto Otep-
ftown to Mexico. From there, a number have gone ka, State Department security official, are on a new collision course
C b with Se t D R k
cre
ary can us .
U a. -
Directly involved in this secret exodus are two top Panamanian The Senate internal security, subcommittee Is threatening to
summon Rusk for public grilling unless he complies with demands
officials t Education Minister Solis Palma and Eloy Benedetti,
I
legal advisor to the foreign minister for a detailed accounting of the State Department's handling of ae?
- ------- - ?_?-.4 ??????....... sautes 4uw u. .. e .. ? ?.??.?.G 1/Gt/??1H+1G114 cauywyce wawa Pcr-
public at' the Insistence of the State Department - on the ground sonnel files r
Putedly contain derogatory Information, Sen. East-
that their publication might further complicate the tortuous and land asked Secretary Rpsk to report (1) when the list was prepared
;,.uncertain deliberations with the leftist-tinged regime of President and by, whom, (2) what, if anything,?has been done about these em
Roberto Chiari. ployes, and (3) how many are still working for the department,
Intelligence and military authorities vigorously dispute this how mm}ny have been dismissed, and the reasons.
view. They are urging President Johnson to make these facts Eastland left no doubt that failure by Rusk to provide this in-
known to prepare the Anlerican,people for a possible Communist formation would subject him to public interrogation by the corn-
take-over in Panama: matted.
It is contended there is grave danger of that. So far, the State Department head has given no indication of re-
Chiari's eovernment is said to h. en e.,+en..., ?r..:_e:r?__._~ ___..._ aponding to these demands. He has had a series of conferences with
?..?.6.?.. ....o.. ?Vl 4..G 1VllVWll{~?.
for their coming to Panama and were In constant touch with them A copy of a secrect list of 800 State Department employes re-
during the murderous demonstrations. ` puted to have derogatory information in their ecurity files.
Benedetti particularly is. credited with being in close contact A full report on whether the State Department uses government
with the Imported Communist goons. He was especially active in `agencies, such as the Central Intelligence Agency, or private organ-
gettting those jailed released. izations for wiretannine and invectiaativp wnrlr in Woehin.,+nn
.
curity problems.
A detailed Intelligence report charges that the two leftist In a bluntly-worded memorandum unanimously approved by the
Panamanian officials not only cleared the wav for the mirrontitinite +.n......i++,.., en.. T......._
The Departments of Ed cation and Agri 10450,, namely, questions as to possible past,Communist activity or
q aulture are heavily- Association
Communist lnflltrateci ,Sa, AM . a citoptsryf wr, journalism and . e false statements, immoral conduct; .homosexuality, and
(ment4l, defects.
~??.?4 VI UM w s~tty to ouice, J10 will Outcome of this explosive backstage confrontation remains to be
have to submit to the extremist demands of Palma and Benedetti.
seen. ; :.
It is asserted the two leftist leaders are claiming that only Sen. Eastland' submitted his blunt request for the "list of 800"
direct U. S. armed intervention can block Communist seizure of after committee investig tors uncovered a secret Inter-department .
Panama. memorandum disclosing )its existence, Further confirmation was
THE RED SETUP obtained from another government agency.,
Communist forces In Panama- are operating both underground SECRET MEMO
and in the open. Prepared by the Bureau of security; & Consular Affairs, the
The underground is financed and supplied chiefly by Cuba via I secret memorandum states In part:
Mexico. The visible apparatus helds key places In government and - "We have, on occasion, in the past year or more discussed with
the university and controls the leftist wing of the Socialist Party, department officials our critical concern with the fact that, after
with more than 10,000 members. completion of our initial- Investigative responsibilities, there remain
Avowed aim of all the left-wing elements is to create the utmost on the department rolls about .800 Individuals concerning whom the
dissension, with the M.S. over the' canal and . the Panama Zone Office of Security has information which raises questions in major
Issues. or minor degrees with respect to the criteria of executive order
t:ontlnuod