[104-10071-10324.pdf — page 5]
CONTINUATION OFDISPATCHSECRETHΜΜΑ-34792-press group. Of nine persons who belonged to the group as of 15 January, three subsequently dropped out because of differences of opinion which developed at group meetings. In addition (LINLUCK) learned that persons he had selected partly because of their leftist records (Identities 3, 4, 7 and 8) had long since ceased being leftists and were prone to submit manuscripts with texts politically harmful to the image of LIANCHOR. Confused political thinking and poor writing resulted in rejection of over 20 manuscripts during February-April by (LINLUCK) and the case officer. Rejection of manuscriptslin turn angered and insulted some of the writers.b. The personalities and character of some of the writers have presented problems to (LINLUCK) in directing and developing the LIANCHOR group into a productive unit. Identities, 3, 5, 6, 7 and 8 had to be goaded continually by LINLUCK to turn in manuscripts on assigned themes. Both Identity-3 and Identity-7 turned out to be emotional extremists, suffering at times from deep melancholy and at other times from inexplainable rages which were reflected in their writings. As of this writing the Station feels that the only reliable members of the group are Identities 6 and 9, who should be kept as members of the group as long as LIANCHOR is run as a group cooperative press service. The unreliable but brilliant and versatile poet/writer/lexicographer Identity-5 should be continued as a contact of LIANCHOR for occasional emergency use provided (LINLUCK's replacement can obtain any cooperation from Identity-5. In summary the LIANCHOR group composed of Identities 3, 4, 5, 7 and 8 has proved ineffective and not too productive and the ineffective members should be replaced.10. Effectiveness of P/A(LINLUCK):a. The list of articles and features by (LINLUCKS) under Separate Cover Attachment "B" is by no means the measure of the agent's writing and production capability. After the agent dusted off and mailed out several of his old article series in December 1968 the case officer instructed (LINLUCK) to reduce his production in ratio to the manuscripts of other LIANCHOR writers which were mailed out. The case officer was concerned that LIANCHOR would appear to potential client newspapers to be primarily a vehicle for (LINLUCK's) lengthy political essays in contrast to the statement in the LIANCHOR prospectus that LIANCHOR was a press service combining articles on cultural, educational, economic and social as well as political topics by many writers. During the agent's two final months of service he has been given authorization to write as much as he can on the Vietnam issue and other topics for the purpose of building up his name in Guatemala before he returns there to enter politics.b. While production of articles was not (LINLUCK'S) weak point, his selection and handling of the LIANCHOR press service writers appears to have been weak. He has been too long on the fringes of the foreign exile group in Mexico and his contacts among leftists in Mexico are no longer significant. In addition, the agent appears to have gone the way of many former Latin American Communists in that his theoretical solution to some of the political, economic and social problems of Latin America can no longer be termed leftist.![APERTRUE CARD REPRODUCTIONS]