U.S. NAVY AIDS AN ANTI-CASTRO FAMILY'S SHIPS

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP80-01601R000900160001-8
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 5
• Document Creation Date: December 9, 2016
• Document Release Date: December 14, 2000
• Sequence Number: 1
• Publication Date: May 31, 1972
• Content Type: NSPR

NEW YORK DAILY IIEWS
Approved For Release 2001/0394 M IA3ftP80-01.601
??? ' I Owner IsAnti-Castro
e+o ~~1k The Bahamas Line has an of-
fice in Miami, headed by Teofilo
? a Babun, whose family is known
for its anti-Castro feelings.
ti Babun said that he did not ask
for such protection. "They (U.S.
fl ? warships) patrol the waters gen-
erally, erallYnot especially for us he_
~3 z t said.~ ,,
? By MERWIN SIGALI; A Pentagon spokesman also
denied "providing protection. to
Miami, May 30 - Four Pana- any one specific line."
manian-flag cargo vessels of the Keep Ships in Sight
Bahamas Line, owned by an anti- But other sources maintained
Castro Cuban exile family, are that the U.S. warships, aware of
operating in international waters the Bahamas Line schedules, pur-
near Cuba under the protection posely patrolled international iva-
of U.S. warships. The warships ters used by the Bahamas Lines,
are under orders to protect the sometimes keeping those ships in
merchant ships by force against sight for hours.
attacks or seizure by the Cuban The patrols operate mainly in
Navy, high-level sources reported the Windward Passage, a 55-
today. n:iile-wide channel between Cuba
The sources said the orders and Haiti. Bahamas Line vessels
? were, issued by the Pentagon in often use the passage on cargo
December, and again in February, runs between Miami, the Domtni-
with a special eye to the Bahamas can Republic and Haiti.
Line, owner of two cargo vessels On patrol duty- are a 165-foot
seized by Cuban subchasers Dec. gunboat from the U.S. naval
5 and Dec. 15 in, international base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba,
waters, ' 120. miles northeast of and destroyers training at Guan-
Cuba.. tanamo
Applies to All Ships
The Pentagon order applies.
generally to any friendly cargo
ship threatened, but, in practice,
close surveillance by the U.S.
warships is applied only for the
Bahamas Line vessels.
/
It is assumed that the four.
Bahamas Line vessels now oper-
ating, /
Oniar Express, William
Express, Jose Express, and
Lincoln Express, would he prime
targets of Prime Minister Fidel
Castro in a crisis.
Castro ordered the takeover of
two other ships of the Bahamas
Line, the Johnny Express and the
Layla Express, claiming that
they were serving the Central
Intelligence Agency by landing
guerrillas and arms in Cuba.
STATINTL
Approved For Release 2001/03/04: CIA-RDP80-01601 R000900160001-8
 Approved For Release 2QQ O4 71CIA-I R8U L601
. erbewir
sy R~ariIyn`Berger
Washington Post staff writer
The State Department yes-
terttay renewed denials that
the :U. S. government was in-
volved in any plans to attack
Cuban territory. This followed
a Soviet charge on Monday
that' Washington was behind
vans. There is no clear indication
The denial by State Depart- why Cuba moved against the
ment spokesman Charles W. two ships now. But informed
Bray followed a Tass commen- officials in Washington are
tary"supporting Cuban allef;a- : inclined to see it as retaliation
'tionS that the United States connected with a recent straf-
was" Involved in "pirate acts ing attack by Cuban exiles on
against Cuba" and that two a Cuban fishing village. In
ships seized this month by IIa- that incident, Cuban exiles
vana' were owned by persons claimed credit for a landing at
having connections with the Boca de Sama on Cuba's
Central Intelligence Agency. northeast coast on Oct. 12.
While Cuban exile groups Two persons were killed and
with headquarters in Miami four others injured.
have attempted to stage what Radio Havana blamed that
have" become known as "pin- attack on "the government of
prick attacks" on Cuban the United States and its ac-
shor'es, U. S. officials = id they complices." A Cuban exile
had ,no reason to belie ve that group headed by Jose Elias de
either ship-the Lyla i.xpress la Torriente claimed responsi-
seized Dec. 5 or the Johnny bility and called it the begin
Express seized Dec. 15-were ning of a series of actions to
thing but com- overthrow Fodel Castro.
n
d i
y
n a
engage
mercial pursuits. Some U.S. officials also sug- Tass connected efforts by
Following the seizure of the gested that there might be a some Latin American' coun-
connection between the sei-'i tries to improve relations with
Panamanian registered Johnny
Express in Bahamian waters, zures and the current visit to i Cuba to the U.S naval alert in
the jlnin States warned Moscow of Cuban President the Caribbean. "The wide
Cuba that it would take "ad Osvaldo Dorticos. He arrived movement for normalization
measures under international there yesterday on what Tass ^ of relations with Cuba that
law" to protect American and called a "friendship visit." spread in the Western Hemi
other ships against Cuban at- News of the visit took U.S. ` sphere causes extreme irrita-
officials by surprise. U.S. offi? tiara in Washington circles,"
1tacks. vials noted that Cuba has fre- the commentary said. "They
The State Department char?.,quently used the continuing refuse to reconcile themselves,
acterized the Cuban action as U S threat against the Castro to the bankruptcy of their]
a "clear and present threat to regime as a lever for winning policy of isolation of Cuba and
the fi cednm of navigation and
international commerce in the Soviet aid. They noted that new resort to every means to l
Caribbean and a threat to the aid agreement between ! make Latin American coun-]
American citizens." the two countries generally' tries continue to follow their
In its commentary Monday, comes up for renegotiation in anti-Cuban course."
Tass called the naval alert January and that the Dorticos Mexico never broke rela-
"completely. groundless" and i visit might. be preliminary to tions with Cuba, and Chile has
charged that the two ships, that negotiation. recently reestablished its ties
owned by Cubans who had ! State Department officials with the Castro regime.
ltaken political asylum in the 1 said the United States tried to Sources at the OAS suggested
United States, ''were widely discourag: exile plans to at. that a new effort may be made
ased by the Central Intelli- tack Cuba and noted that the to lift sanctions against Cuba
gence Agency ... for criminal' Coast Guard has frequently at the annual meeting in
actions" againsA tOVed F'u"r'FteffaS '2bCff/O"J1O4 snt rtLA nOt01i6UiL 000900160001-8
f
(41 0-1/
YJ
The'ships belong to the Bat1-~''cious expeditions. The officials' ernment connection with. the
,.hama Lines, run by four"lsaid it is a violation of his im two vessels that were seized,
1 brothers, who are Cuban ex- I migration status for an exile left open the possibility that
to become involved in any po- the ships, and their owners,
Iles and who have been in- litical activity. may at one time have been in-
volved in Cuban exile affairs. The action by. the Castro volved in anti-Castro activi-
ITass said that when the ves- government against the two lies. But they suggested that
sels were seized, "they had on vessels coincided with a move that may have been in the
board armed thugs who were by Peru in the Organization of heyday of Cuban exile activity
to land on Cuban territory and American States to lift sane- between 1961 and 1963.
tions imposed in 1964 against j Cuba's official Communist
the Cuban regime. In an infor- newspaper "Granma" called
mal OAS on Dec. 13, Peru the denial by the U.S. govern-
sought to sound out the atti- ment of any connection with
the seized vessels a "shameful
tilde of other members toward ,:_.,
fishdiplomatic, consular, coo., ton's originall denial of any In-
volvement in the 1961 Bay of
mercial relations with Cuba. Pigs invasion. But State De-
The United States took the partment officials said the
position, as enounced by State ships are involved in a regular
Department spokesman Rob-1 steamship service between
ert J. McCloskey on Dec. 16,1 Miami, Haiti and the Domini-
that "present circumstances' can Republic.
do not justify altering the; They add that according to
OAS decisions on sanctions ! crew lists supplied by the Ba-
since by virtue of its continu-: hama Lines there were no Cu-
ing interventionist behavior bans aboard the Johnny Ex
and its support for revolution, press, except for the captain,
Cuba remains a threat to the Jose Villa, a Cuban-born U.S.
peace and security of the hem- citizen, and two Cubans
is phere." In a formal, closed aboard the Lyla Express.
meeting Friday,: Peru with-
drew its suggestion.
.w hile denying any U.S. gov-
 CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR
Approved For Release Z&V50 d 7 CIA-RDP80-01601 R
Freighters seized
Et
UoS0, Cuba sle
Caribbean watch,
By James Nelson Goodsell
Latin America correspondent of
The Christian Science Monitor
Havana and Washington stepped up their
surveillance of Caribbean waters around
Cuba over the weekend in the wake of
Cuba's seizure of two United States-based
freighters.
The heightening of tension between the
two nations, which could lead to some sort
of new confrontation, came as the State
Department confirmed London reports that
a high-level Cuban intelligence officer had
defected in London to the United States.
Informants said the defector carried with
him information on an alleged new Cuban-
backed Latin-American liberation move-
ment. According to one source, the Cubans
are eager to set up some sort of head-
.quarters for revolutionary activity in the
Chilean capital of Santiago.
The report on the defector, which ap-
peared first in the Daily Telegraph of Lon-
don, did not mention his name nor would
the Department of State give his name.
Precautionary measures
The Department of Defense, meanwhile,
announced it had taken "certain precaution.
ary measures" in its continuing surveillance
of Cuba, but it refused to amplify. There
were indications, however, that the "pre-
cautionary measures" included stepped-up,
United States military-aircraft-and-ship
measures.
For its part, Cuba announced it had put
its air and naval units on alert. Moreover,
Havana said it would continue to act against
ships that allegedly carry on pirating ac-
tivities against Cuba, the implication being
that Havana regards the Panamanian-reg-
istered freighter Johnny Expresso, which
it seized last Wednesday, as one such ship.
The ship was seized in Bahama's waters, 100
miles from Cuba.
The Havana newspaper Granma, official
organ of the Central Committee of the Cu-
ban Communist Party, headlined a front-
page editorial on the issue: "Hypocritical
lying and threatening declaration of the
Yankee State Department."
Meeting with family
President Nixon last Thursday met with
the family of Jose Villa, the Johnny Ex-
presso's captain, and pledged to seek his
release. He is a naturalized American of
Cuban birth.
Havana earlier had claimed that the
Johnny Expresso. like other Miami-based
ships manned largely by Cuban exiles, was
involved in action against Cuba and was
in the service of the United States Central
Intelligence Agency.
Just where the current tension betwee4
Washington and Havana is leading is hard'
to tell. But the situation tends to blunt of-i
forts on the part of some people in the;
United States to seek a rapprochement with:
Cuba.
Moreover, it comes at a time when the.
Organization of American States (OAS) is:
debating a change in its eight-year-old stand;
isolating the government of Cuban Premier
Fidel Castro.
Whether the Havana-Washington tension.
and now the disclosures of a new Cuban de-
fector, will affect this debate in the OAS is
not clear. Those supporting an end to Cuba's
OAS-imposed isolation do not appear to
have enough votes anyway to swing a
change..
The editorial said the State Department's
comments on the capture of the Johnny
Expresso and its sister ship, Lylia Express,
A moa~~~P F8?0 2001103Y04: CIA-RDP80-01601 R000900160001-8
o resident ixon is trying to make tenser
the climate of hysteria and threats against
Cuha."
 Y
i n.. ,Uftt .ii7M
18 DEC X71
Approved For Release 2001/03/04: CIA-RDP80-01601 R00
U.S. WAINNS CUBA
ON SHIP A' TACKIS
Denounces Latest Seizure,
Vows to Take Measures
to Protect Vessels
By TAD SZULC
Sped] to The Yew Ynrk Time
f1 WASHINGTON, Dec. 17-The
United States warned Cuba to-
'day that it would take "all
measures under international
law" to protect American and.
other ships in the Caribbean
from any new attacks by the
Cubans.
The warning was contained
in a denunciation issued by the
,State Department over Wednes-
'day's strafing and seizure of a
'Miami-based freighter by a Cu
,ban gunboat, the second such'
,incident this month, and the
subsequent announcement last
night that Cuba would attack
"pirate" ships "no matter the
distance from our coasts or the
flag."
Robert J. McCloskey, the
State Department spokesman
who issued today's warning, de-
clined to specify what measures
the United States would take.
Orders Reported Issued
But it was authoritatively
understood that orders were be-
ing issued to naval and air
units in the Caribbean to pro-
vide armed assistance to any
vessel, American or foreign,
that might find itself under at-
tack by the Cubans.
. The State Department de-
scribed the Cuban actions as
a "clear and present threat to
the freedom of navigation and
international commerce in the
Caribbean and a threat to
American. citizens."
The captain of the ship seized
Wednesday, Josd Villa, is a nat-
uralized American ' of Cuban
birth.
President Nixon engaged his
own prestige in this latest con-
frontation with Havana when
he personally assured the cap-
tain's wife, Isabel, that he
would do all he could to obtain
his release.
Captain Villa, who was
wounded, is under detention in
Cuba, which has ignored de-
mands by the United States,
sent through the Swiss Embas-
sy in Havana, that he be freed.
The captured freighter is the
Johnny Express, which flies a
Panamanian flag but is based
in Miami and is owned by the
Bahama Lines in that city. The:
Bahama Lines, which has six
freighters, belongs to four;
Babun brothers who are Cuban
refugees.
The Lylia Express, first of.
the Babun ships to be attacked,
was seized off the coast of
Cuba on Dec. 5. The Johnny
Express was strafed, rammed
and captured near Little Inagua
Island in the Bahamas.
Cuba Charges C.I.A. Links
Cuba charged that both ships
were engaged in "piracy" and
that their owners had connec.
tions with the Central Intellig-
ence Agency.
This was denied in Miami by
Tedfilo 13abun, one of the
brothers.
In Washington, Mr. McClos-
key said, in reply to questions,
"I can assure you that these
vessels were on innocent pas-
sage and in no way were con-
nected to the United States
Government."
American officials were not
certain why Cuba has appar-
ently chosen this time for new
frictions with the United States
and has risked the possibility
of actual clashes with American
forces, if additional ships are
attacked in the Caribbean.
But the impression among
officials concerned with Cuban
affairs was that Havana was
inviting tension when it made
the statement last night that)
"the ships that perpetrate acts
of piracy against our country
will be treated without leni-
ency, no matter the distance
from our coasts or the flag or
camouflage they use to perpe-
trate their crimes."
Officials here said that it wasp
this threat that had led di- i
rectly to the State Depart-
ment's warning of reprisals.
Boy Returns From Cuba
MIAMI, Fla., Dec. 17 (Reu-
ters)-Robert McKinley Jr., 16
years old, arrived back in Mi-
ami today alter being detained
for more than six weeks in Cu-
ba. He was one of five crewmen
taking a fire-damaged schooner
to Key West when Cuban gun-
boats captured them for invad-
ing Cuban waters.
STATINTL
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 I/
MIAMI HERALD
Approved For Release 2001/03l04DCJ P80-0160
Castro Calls Attack
Reprisal for Raids
E*iles on Cuba
By WILLIAM MONTALBANO
Herald Latin America Correspondent
The Cuban government Thursday portrayed its
attack on the Miami-based freighter Johnny Express
as a direct reprisal for exile raids against the Fidel
Castro regime.
The Panamanian-registered Johnny Express, at-
tacked Wednesday near the Bahamian island of
Little Tna,.;ua, made port Thursday in Cuba's Oriente
Province under escort from Cuban naval units.
On Key Biscayne, President Nixon met with the
wife and three children of Jose Villa, the freighter's
captain, and said the United States would demand
Villa's return.
. Villa, a
citizen, and several members
of his crew were reported
wounded in the attack, which
the Cuban government state=
ment acknowledged had oc-
curred in international wa-
ters.
In a dramatic account of
the attack by radio, Villa
said at one point that he was
dying. But White House,
press secretary Ronald Zieg-
ler said Thursday that Villa
was alive in Cuba.
Ziegler called the attack on
the Johnny Express "deplora-
ble ... an unconscionable act
.. clearly in violation of in-
ternational practice...."
But U.S. authorities
stressed that the incident
would be of most immediate
concern to the governmci't of
Panama, because the Johnny
Express was not only Iricgis-
tered in Panama but also
owned by a Panamanian cor-
poration.
"WE DO HAVE some in-
terest-because at least one of
the persons aboard, the cap-
tain, is an American citizen,"
said Ziegler. He said the
United States was maintain-
ing close contact with the
Panamanian Embassy in
Washington.
naturalized
STATINTL
"Cuba will not hesitate to
act at any distance from our
coast where these pirate
ships are operating and
under whatever flag or cam-
ouflage they are carrying out
their crimes against our na-
tion," said the Cuban govern-
ment statement as heard on
Radio Havana.
The statement accused the
Cuban exile Bahun family,
operators of the Express ves-
sels, of being "well-known
counter revolutionary agents
in the service of the U.S.
government."
The Cuban statement re-
called an exile attack Oct. 12
on the coastal fishing village
of Boca de Sama in Oriente,
in which several persons
were killed and others injured,
including a -13-year-old girl
whose leg had to be amputat-
ed.
the Cuban charges of CIA
,connections.
The family claimed the'at-
tack on the Johnny Express
was part of a personal ven-
detta against the Babuns by
Fidel Castro, UPI reported
TIIE JOHNNY Express,
like the Lyla Express, was en
route back to Miami from
Port-au-Prince, Haiti, when it
was attacked.
'rhe Lyla Express, the
C u b a n government has
charged, landed exile guerril-
las in Cuba "from bases lo-
cated on United States terri-
tory" on three occasions in
1968 and 1969.
The crew of the Lyla Ex-
press included two Cuban ex-
iles, as well as Colombians,
Haitians, Hondurans and
Guatemalans.
"It was one of dozens of
American /similar crimes committed by
The Bahamas Line, opera- the imperialistic government
tors of the freighter, said the of the United States against
crew included nine Domini- Cuba," the statement said.
cans, two Haitians and two
Spaniards.
In acknowledging the at-
tack, the Cuban government
called the Johnny Express a
"pirate ship" in the service
of the U.S. Central Intellik
gence Agency.
The statement said: "This
ship, like the Lyla Express,
which was captured Dec. 5 in
the same area, was flying the
Panamanian flag to facilitate
its activities of transporting
arms and men to Cuba."
In a telephone conversa-
tion with The Herald, a man
at the Cuban Foreign Minis-
try in Havana confined him-
self to the governments state-
ment. He iefused to say
where the crewmen were
being held, or how many
were wounded and what
their conditions were.
THERE WAS some specu-
lation that the 1,400-ton
Johnny Express had been
taken to the port of Baracoa
in Oriente. The Lyla Express
has been held there since its
capture, and the Cuban gov-
ernment has said it would
bring criminal charges
CUBA CHARGED the at-
tackers at Boca de Sama
reached the village in a
speedboat launched from "a
/mother ship."
The Cuban statement did
not directly link any of the
Bahama Line Express vessels
to the attack.
Informed U.S. sources here
said the "mother 'ship" at
Boca de Sama was a vessel
called the Aquarius, owned
by the exile organization
C u b a n Liberation Front,
which claimed responsibility
for the attack.
The Babun family is promi-
nent among anti-Castro ex-
ilesherep At least two mem-
bers of the family are veter-
ans of the Bay of Pigs inva-
sion and once police arrested
two Babuns and seized a
large quantity of explosives
from their shipyard here..
ONE OF the brothers, Teo-
filo, had a Herald reporter
ejected from the Bahamas
Line offices Thursday. He
said he was angered by an
article on the family's back-
ground, published Thursday
morning.
comment from the Panaman- UUt, He ucuieu, accoruing
ion governme~4pproved F5 eIease42e eov17d %WtfArR '04d- 01 R000900160001-8