1. THE CITIZENS COMMITTEE FOR A FREE CUBA WAS ESTABLISHED A FEW WEEKS AGO, AND STARTED PUBLISHING A NEWSLETTER ON 4 MAY 1963, AND HAS BEEN GETTING FAVORABLE PUBLICITY IN EDITORIALS AND IN CONGRESSIONAL COMMENTS.

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP73-00475R000102540027-7
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 9
• Document Creation Date: December 23, 2016
• Document Release Date: March 10, 2014
• Sequence Number: 27
• Publication Date: May 14, 1963
• Content Type: MEMO

STAT
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.1)
MEMORANDUM FOR THE RECORD
1. The Citizens Committee for a Free Cuba. was established a
few weeks ago, and started publishing a newsletter on 4 May 1963,
and has been getting favorable publicity in editorials and in Con-
gressional comments. Its original membership list, announced early
in May, is a distinguished group of 44 American leaders of business,
military, governmental, and academic life, of various political and
religious persuasions.
2. Its "declaration of purpose," issued on 25 March 1963, calls
for nonpartisan unity in a movement for a free Cuba. Daniel James
has been aoforeign correspondent and is the author of "Cuba: The
First Soviet Satellite in the Americas." W. James is the editor
of the newsletter, "Free Cuba News;"and a Mr. Peke (spelling?) is
also said to be connected with the newsletter.
3. The files contain clippings of recent publicity by and
about the Committee, including its declaration of purpose, its
membership list, and favorable news stories and comment by the
NEW YORK TIMES (May 6), Lyle C. Wilson in the WASHINGTON NEWS
(May 8), the CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR, and Senator Dodd in the
CONGRESSIONAL RECORD, 7 May 1963.
TAT
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PUBLISHED BY CITIZENS COMMITTEE FOR A FREE CUBA
Telephone [phone] ? 617 Albee Building, 1426 G Street, N.W. ? Washington 5, D. C.
Editor: Daniel James
Vol. 1, No. 2, May 11, 1963
INSIDE CUBA
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NIEL PACO DEITODA OBLISACKAM CONTRA/DA OA CUM PLIICEPVEILTEIRRITORIO NACIONALTAill
Citz ?A.: print.d state :t that. they wctri.:kiebs ).b the
latest weapon of the underground fight against Castro inside CrItba. Above, a sample
note valued at one peso, obtained by Free Cuba News from underground sources.
The Spanish phrases read:
"VALUELESS FOR FOOD
"VALUELESS FOR CLOTHING
"BECAUSE COMMUNISM IS HUNGER MISERY AND DESTRUCTION
"THIS IS THE WORK OF THE GREAT TRAITOR"
Circulating in Cuba, in unknown quantities, the "anti-Castro peso" presents
holders with a dilemma. If they try to cash it at the bank, they risk being accused
of collaborating with the resistance. If they attempt to pass it on, they do collabo-
rate. If they hide or destroy it, they take the loss.
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RUSSIANS CLASH WITH CUBAN, PATRIOTS
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First word of an armed conflict between Soviet forces in Cuba and native anti- '
Castro guerrillas has just reached Free Cuba News from one of the guerrillas, Miguel
Velasquez arrived in Miami following a dramatic escape from Cuba. Free
Cuba News has verified the story through other sources.
Velasquez adds that, following the armed encounter, 12 guerrillas were captured
and tried by a military court Which included a. Soviet Army officer. The young Cuban
was active in the underground in Oriente, and after the capture of the guerrillas his
cell folded .and he fledito Matanzas and from there to Miami.
Here is the story as told to a Free Cuba News correspondent:
Tho b,21onee,...1 to :vas c.nai. of. Inalle ratlr..7 tnn. :11 ("yo.r
operations plan was simple. On the morning of March 26, a large band of us attacked
the garrison guardingithe Nicaro mines which are now being operated 24 hours a day
for the benefit Of the RUSSians.".
The Nicaro mines, formerly owned by the U. 5. Government, are located on the
north coast of Oriente Province and produce considerable nickel and cobalt.
,"Our assault' was a surprise," Velasquez continued; "and we succeeded in
wounding six mine guArds and killing two others. Our force withdrew successfully,
but while doing so we!were attacked by a group of Russian soldiers acting as mine
guards. Two Russians and four guerrillas were killed, while 12 guerrillas including
our commander, Armando Govea, were captured."
Other sources confirm the deaths of the two Russians.
a
? .?The captured anti-.Castro patriots were subSequently tried at Mayan, Oriente,
the municipal subdivision under. which the-Nicaro mines come. "A Russian Officet,I!
according to Velasquez, "took parei.n the drumhead court which summarily condemned
the J2 Prisonc?-?%"'
"They Were:shot-near the mines and buried there in an attempt to conceal the
executions."
SOVIET TROOPS "ROTATED"
Proof that some Soviet forces allegedly departing from Cuba are, in fact,
promptly "rotated" back, has been receiyed by Free Cuba News from sources inside
Cuba.
In one case, Ifussian personnel embarked supposedly for home from the port of
Isabela de Sagua on the north coast of Cuba were landed shortly thereafter at the southeast
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port,of Santiago. The Cuban underground learned of this maneuver through letters
written by the Russians to girl friends they left behind in Sagua.
.As a rule, the Russians embark during the day so thay can be thoroughly
photographed by U.S. planes. They return to other ports by night.
Another tactic used to evade U.S. detection, says the underground, is to hide
out in specially constructed caves converted into barracks. Several such under-
ground installations are located at Suset farm at Kilometer 4 on the road to Gaya-
jabos in Pinar del Rio province.
. # II #? # # # #
RAUL ADMITS PASSIVE RESISTANCE
'.. ?
, The following excerpts from Raul Castro's May Day speech in Havana indi-
cate the great concern of the Castro-Communist regime with the apathy and passive
resistance of the Cuban people;
?. . .if you want to have glory in the battle of production, you must study the
way in which glory is achieved in this combat ? by applying oneself to one's work in
the strictest sense, by subinitting oneself to the directors of production and to
reaching the standards that they LairectorD have established; by fulfilling the goals
that have been laid our for you Ole workerE. . ."
". our Revolutionary CTC CCongress of Cuban Workers3 labor unions, all
sections of labor, must enhance the role that they have been playing to date; without
reducing 'what has been already accomplished; without minimizing the gains; without
neglecting to point out that there are admirable examples. Let us demand that they
do more, that they combat the signs of narrow Communism Ccornunismo estrechig
that still creep up now and then, here and there. That they [workers] make one
final effort to eradicate absenteeism, laziness, vagrancy and lack of discipline that
we find today among some. . . ."
SABOTEURS CAUSE TRAIN WRECKS
In the space of less than three months ? from December 28 throttg.the middle
of February ? Cuban saboteurs caused three major train wrecks. They eiccurred
in Las Villas, Matanzas, and Pinar del Rio provinces.
Workers at sugar mills did their, share, as well. 'In checking the falling'sugar
production, INRA headquarters "flat ed" the extraordinary number of accidents N:vith
locomotives. Sugar Central Josefita in Havana province radioed that it had only one
locomotive in operation. "The other" said the radio operator, "had been derailed,"
INRA. headquarters asked for a full explanation and dispatched an inspector to the '?
mill to investigate, stating that "there is not an extra locomotive in all of Cuba."
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in a. tnree-weex periou from the end of February to the middle of March, a rash
ofleports sent to INRA in Havana told of locomotives being derailed at sugar mills.
Sugar Central Mercedes in Manta.zas Province reported on Feb. 27 that "a train had
been derailed while transporting cane to the mill."
On March 9, the Cuban Government revealed that another train wreck had
taken place near Ciego de Avila, Camaguey province. The engineer of one of the
trains and several others were killed in the crash. The Government announced that
the balance of the train crews "have been detained by agents of public order."
? In February, the radio operator of the provincial delegation of sugar mills for
Camaguey radioed Havana that "the people most against us are thdse at the sugar mill
of San Francisco." On March 20, the head of the sugar mills' for the province stated
that "anti-government groups spread the rails of the lines at the sugar mill of San
Francisco, causing the derailment of two trains."
The steamer Atel Sultan was scheduled to take on 1,100,000 gallons of molasses.
Only 500,000 could be loaded, "due to the lack of prime movers for the tank cars (evi-
dently diesel locomotives) to transport the cargo."
# # # # # # #
GUERRILLA REPORTS FROM TWO PROVINCES
Anti-Castro guerrillas continue to be active in Cuba. Here is the latest infor-
mation.from two provinces, gathered by Free Cuba News from sources inside Cuba:
1. Las Villas. About Apr. 10, Armed Forces Minister Raul Castro led 4,500
soldiers into the Escambray mountains to exterminate guerrilla forces there. The
guerrillas tried to avoid contact, breaking up into groups of 4, but an encounter never-
theless occurred on or about Apr. 18, near a place called Palmarejo, between Cara-
cusey and San Pedro.
The guerrillas in that area are said to total 250. Sustained by peasants, they
lack adequate arms and food, and receive no help from outside.
2. Matanzas. "Rescate," one of the larger resistance groups, reportedly has
organized a guerrilla body in this province under the name of "Conde." In March, 19
of its members clashed with more than 1,000 militiamen near Cardenas, where rioting
broke out last year. Casualties: more than 30 militiamen injured; 11 guerrillas killed.
The remaining 8 escaped with the help of a local resident.
(Ed. Note: As Free Cuba News went to press, we received information from inside
Cuba that more than 2,000 people have been rounded up and detained in the provinces
of Las Villas and Matanzas.)
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4., LETTERS DESCRIBE LIFE IN CUBA
From dozens of letters written by ordinary Cubans living in Cuba, Free Cuba
News has culled typical excerpts describing how they are faring under Communist
rule. All the letters excerpted were written last month, and the most recent was
dated Apr. 26.
Writes "Jose," a worker.in the Havana suburb of Cerro:
"It is certainly true that there is no exploitation of one man by another, as the
Communists put it. Now we have the exploitation of all men, and it is exploitation by
the government. Life has never been so hard."
"Jose" continues:
"They have us cutting cane, harvesting peanuts, coffee and cotton by day, and
training in the militia by night. But in one respect we are the richest country in the
world: we have more trenches here than anywhere else. That is all the Communist
know how to produce."
Another Havana worker writes:
"You really should not call this Cuba or Castroland ? it is Nothingland. There
is nothing at all left, neither food, nor clothes, nor shelter. But we do have one
thing ? men.in uniform. The soldiers, police, militia, spies, vigilantes and even
the firemen all wear the same olive green."
Food is scarce everywhere. Writes "Juan," a member of a resistance cell in
the Cuban capital.
"My chickens ? according to may ration book I get two every month ? have not
appeared since January 2. Eggs cost 20 to 25 cents apiece. I am entitled to ten a
month but since January I have been able to obtain only five."
"Pedro" reports from another Havana district:
"You don't see shoes. People wear carpet slippers and wooden clogs in the
streets. There is nothing left here now -- not even shame, for the Communists have
none."
Letters from all over Cuba speak of resistance to the regime. One smuggled
out of Las Villas, reveals:
'Several days ago a group of anti-Communist destroyed an entire crop of
onions, leaving a sign reading, 'This is really voluntary labor.' CAn allusion to the
government's inability to get voluntary work out of the Cuban peoplej Please try to
help them, for they are brave men doing a great job of sabotaging government instal-
lations. The Communists are using planes manned by Russian pilots to strafe their
hideouts in the mountains."
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A construction worker in Santiago, Cuba's second city, at the eastern end of the
island, writes of how he and friends try to help the guerrillas by engaging in sabotage:
"The Communists are building a new electric plant near the oil refinery here
and we workers are doing out best to delay the work as much as possible and do as
faulty a job as possible."
Other resistance workers ask for arms. From "Somewhere in Cuba," one
writes:
"I am a brother of Captain Gonzalez, who has taken up arms against Castro's
Russian Cubans. We are living in the mountains, lacking food, weapons, and especi-
ally live phosphorus, which is the main weapon we must use in the future since it is
difficult for our, men outside to get to us."
"Please have the live phosphorus delivered to our men in the Student Director-
ate, Alpha 66, or Comando L," the letterwriter continues. "They know how to get it
to us."
A letter from Bayarno, Oriente, says:
"In Bayamo, over 2,200 acres of rice and several storage warehouses were set
on fire on Feb. 21. Five Russians were shot to death on Feb. 22 as they returned from
a party in Baire. They were part of the personnel working in the E. Pepu caves at Los
Negros, near Jiguani."
And an underground leader reports from Havana:
"The Bohemia magazine building was set on fire by its own employes. Heads of
many vigilante committees here are resigning in fear of reprisals."
Further indication of the mounting resistance to Castro is the mounting terror.
Thus a woman from the town of Bolondron tells of visiting the cemetery to pray at
her family plot during Easter:
"While I knelt there I saw a truck loaded with bags pull up before an open trench.
Soldiers dragged the bags off, opened them, and dumped out the bodies of men and
boys killed in Bolondron, into a mass grave. Later, I learned that 22 had been slaugh-
tered. Bolondron is experiencing a bloodbath. Besides those the Communists buried,
others were interred in nearby Union de Reyes."
(Ed. Note: Phosphorus is widely used in Cuba as an incendiary agent to burn crops,
and as an explosive to make hand grenades and booby traps employed against Govern-
ment forces.)
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URBAN POPULATION RESISTS CANE-CUTTING
?a
The Cuban guajiro has refused to cut cane for the Castro regime. To fill that
gap, so-called volunteer labor battalions have been recruited in the urban commu-
nities.
A recent series of cartoons in "Revolucion," a government organ, revealsthe
depth of disenchantment among these "volunteers." In a humorous but threatening
manner, the regime let it be known that it is aware of tactics employed to slow down
production in the sugar indukry. The "volunteers" are shown as unwilling to arise
early enough to catch the trucks to the. cane fields. Upon arriving, they only half load
the cane carts, are "careless," and are sullen about it all.
A radio conversation between a7 "volunteer" working in Camaguey Province,
with hit.. rzioth2r i avana. is revoodling. He ;vas per-'-'-tect to taiic over the official
shortwave network because his wife had been taken to a hospital for an operation.
The exchange, intercepted in Miami, disclosed that he had not been permitted to.
notify his family that he was leaving town or where he was going. He had, been away
1-3 days without communication with his home. The "volunteer" was turned up in
Camaguey after an intensive search by his mother.
# #. # # if if if
INSIDE LATIN AMERICA
SUBVERSION IN COLOMBIA
"Cuban Communist subversion in Latin America is increasing, both in the
scope of its operations and in the number of Latin Americans who are being given
guerrilla warfare training in Cuba," reports the Cuban' Student Directorate in
Exile.
The Directorate, which has accurately gathered intelligence from Cuba and
Latin America in the past, has provided Free Cuba News with detailed informa-
tion on subversion in Colombia.
"Groups of Colombian students leave for special sabotage and guerrilla
training in Cuba every month," the Directorate reveals.
The students are recruited by Manlio Lafont, editor of the Colombian-Com-
munist Party weekly La Voz de Democracia (The Voice of Democracy), and the
Communist leader Luis Emiro Valencia. The trips are organized by La Vuelta
del Mundo (Around the World) travel agency in Bogota.
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01.'1,where they are picked up by special Cubana Airlines planes."
The Communists have organized a guerrilla force in Colombia with more
than 100 instructors trained in Cuba as cadres for the Colombian insurgents. The
Red guerrillas are believed to number more than 1,600 and they are organized
into 13 groups. The Directorate gives this breakdown of their organization:
Territorial Area Number of Groups Strength
1. Cauca 3 500 men
2. Cundinamarca 4 105 men
3. Tolima 3 434 men
4. Meta 1 unknown
5. Huila 2 90 ;men
HOUSE UNIT STRESSES SUBVERSION PERIL
The Subcommittee on Inter-American Affairs of the House of Representatives
recently issued a report on "Castro Co'rnmunist Subversion in the Western Hemispher
which said in part:
"Castro has stepped up his campaign to exploit indigenous nationalist and ultra-
leftist movements in behalf of his own subversive aims in Latin America. Infiltration
of political, social, and economic movements remains a primary Communist tactic
is carrying out subversive activities in the various nations of the hemisphere . . .
"Testimony given the subcommittee by top intelligence officials of the United
States established that from 1,000 to 1,500 Latin Americans traveled to Cuba last
year for ideological and paramilitary training. The number of trainees is increasing
in 1963."
ILLEGIB
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