12.00000
104-10308-10127
2025 RELEASE UNDER THE PRESIDENT JOHN F. KENNEDY ASSASSINATION RECORDS ACT OF 1992
DISPATCH
CLASSIFICATION
SECRET
✓ MICROFILMED
PRO-
POSED
☑
-
Chief, Special Affairs Staff
INFO.
1
JAN 20 1954
AMPATTINA
26
PROCESSING
:..
TO
FROM
AKR 1 DOC. MICRO. SER.
Chief of Station, JMWAVE
SUBJECT OPERATIONAL/TYPIC/AMFAUNA
ACC
ACTION
PLIS
MARKED FOR INDEXING
NO INDEXING REQUIRED
ONLY QUALIFIED
HEADQUARTERS DESK
CAN JUDGE INDEXING
ABSTRACT
MICROFILM
AMFAUNA-26 Progress Report for October, November and December 1963
ACTION REQUIRED REFERENCES
Action Required:
Reference:
For Your Information
UFGA-11700, dated 14 October 1963
Operational Developments:
1. Seven SW messages were received from AMFAUNA-26 during the
period, and two were sent to her. Two SW messages written by AMFAUNA-2
no. 34 and no. 36, have not been received and it is not known what has
happened to them. It has been observed that mail to and from Cienfuego:
is very slow and uncertain; SW message no. 10 sent to AMFAUNA-26 on 6
November did not reach her until 22 December.
2. A continuing effort was made during the period to activate
AMFAUNA-26's OWVL and medium speed radio systems. OWVL transmissions
were begun on 16 October with message no. 1 warning AMFAUNA-26 of the
arrest of AMFAUNA-14 the week before (see AMFAUNA-1 Progress Report for
October, November and December 1963) and the fact that AMCUTLER-2 was
under surveillance. AMFAUNA-26 was unable to receive this message. In
her SW message no. 35 of 25 October, she reported that her radio set is
calibrated in meters instead of kilocycles and she had been unable to
find the correct frequency. JMWAVE then sent AMFAUNA-26 instructions
for" converting kilocycles to meters, and began transmitting dummy
messages, giving AMFAUNA-26 a simple code for reporting by commercial
telegram whether she was receiving them, and whether and with what books
she was able to decipher.
3. Two sets of deciphering materials had been sent to AMFAUNA-26.
One package was buried by AMGLEN-9 in Pinar del Rio Province (see WAVE-
5887 of 16 October 1963), and AMFAUNA-26 was informed of its location
in OWVL message no. 1 of 16 October and SW message no. 10 of 6 November.
A previous set of number groups had been sent to her by SW early in
Distribution:
3
Hqs
INDEX
F
1
1 CROSS REFERENCE TO
Continued....
DATE DISPATCHED,
JAN 15
CS COPX
CLASSIFICATION.
SECRET
dongrading a
DATE TYPED
9 Jan 1964
DISPATCH SYMBOL AND NUMBER
UFGA-13428
HEADQUARTERS FILE NUMBER
19-6-5013
19-6-50/3
sui
دارش نسه
محمد
13-00000
CONTINUATION OF
DISPATCH
CLASSIFICATION
SECRET
DISPATCH SYMBOL AND NUMBER
UFGA-13428
1 October.
. It now appears that AMFAUNA-26 never receive either of these
'sets of groups.
As of 22 November when AMFAUNA-26's sister Olga arrived
in Mexico (see paragraph 5), AMFAUNA-26 already had in her possession :
the letter containing the groups written in SW, but either had tried and
failed to develop it, or had hesitated to try to do so, not knowing in
what strength to use the reagent and erroneously thinking that this was
a critical factor. As mentioned previously, AMFAUNA-26 did not receive
SW message no. 10 until 22 December; on the following day she sent an
open telegram to the son of AMFAUNA-32 in Miami, confirming her willing-
ness to travel to Pinar del Rio and recover the material. It is not
known whether she actually did so.
4. It had been planned, once AMFAUNA-26 was receiving OWVL and
her ability to recover caches confirmed, to have AMWEE-1 cache AMFAUNA-1's
radio and to inform AMFAÙNA-26 of its location by OWVL. Events did not
permit this.
5. AMFLORA-1 sent a telegram to his JMWAVE area accommodation
address on 16 November 1963, reporting that his wife, the sister of
AMFAUNA-26, was due to arrive in Mexico City on 20 November. Mexico
City Station was so informed on 18 November (see WAVE-7762), but by the
time confirmation arrived (MEXI-7031 of 23 November) the lady had
already departed for Caracas. The oral messages which she brought from
AMFAUNA-26 therefore did not reach JMWAVE until 20 December when HVCA-
10780 was received. This dispatch transmitted a typewritten note from
AMFLORA-1's wife containing the following information:
a. AMFAUNA-26 had run out of developer pills. (In retrospect,
this does not seem to be true, because AMFAUNA-26 was evidently able to
. develop SW message no. 10 which she received on 22 December (see paragraph:
3). What AMFAUNA-26 had probably been trying to convey was that she
was running very short of pills. AMFAUNA-1 does not remember how many
he gave her, but the most probable number appears to be twelve.)
b. AMFAUNA-26 had been unable to develop the SW message
containing her cipher groups, because she had not been told how to mix
her reagent.
C. AMCUTLER-2 was very worried by the fact that AMFAUNA-14
had been telephoning her frequently, and was afraid that AMFAUNA-14 was
betraying her to the DSE.
d. AMFAUNA-26 was uneasy about being left in Cuba without a
responsible leader to report to.
e. AMFAUNA-26's cover was wearing very thin, due to indis-
cretions by AMFAUNA-31.
6. In her SW message no. 29, which was received at JMWAVE on 21
October, AMFAUNA-26 reported that AMFAUNA-38 had been arrested on 7
September and taken to Santa Clara. At 0200 hours on the following
morning, fourteen policemen came to AMFAUNA-26's house and searched it
on the pretext of looking for a burglar. However, the only part of the
house which they searched was the part inhabited AMFAUNA-26.
7.
In her SW message no. 30, AMFAUNA-26/reported the full names
of two individuals who had approached her sub-agents AMFAUNA-29 and
AMFAUNA-31, claiming to be doing underground work against CASTRO. These
persons are one Amable SANCHEZ Borroto and lone Raul SIMON Delgado.
While neither JMWAVE nor Headquarters (DIR-78835 of 30 October 1963)
had any traces on these persons, JMWAVE has a carded reference to a
sensitive source document which carries the full name of Amable SANCHEZ
Borroto and the implication that he enjoys the confidence of the Cuban
Government. Unfortunately, an error was made in typing the card, and
the document is unrecoverable. In SW message no. 10, AMFAUNA-26 was
told to be careful with the person.
Mis card for
th
stub identified by
A
CLASSIFICATION
cula
701-332765092
PAGE NCA
FORM
5-60 53a- USE PREVIOUS EDITION.
(40)
E CRETE
JCONTINUED
13-00000
CLASSIFICATION
DISPATCH SYMBOL AND NUMBER
CONTINUATION OF
DISPATCH
SECRET
UFGA-13428
8. On 12 October 1963, AMFAUNA-26 was in Havane where she saw
AMCUTLER-2. About 23 or 24 October she was again in Havana and again
saw AMCUTLER-2. On both occasions the problems posed by the arrest of;
AMFAUNA-14 were the prime topic of discussion.
9. In outgoing SW message no. 9 of 30 September, AMFAUNA-26 had
been asked to investigate a Cuban naval officer named Carlos *LOPEZ
Avalos with a view to forming an opinion as to his political attitude.
She reported in SW message no. 37 of 3 November that all reports on
this individual were derogatory except for one given by AMLAME-5. This
report reached AMFAUNA-26 via AMFAUNA-31 who got it from a man identified
only as Ramon PEREZ who said that AMLAME-5 had told him that he had a
contact to the Swiss Embassy, and that LOPEZ was already connected with
people outside of Cuba and had recently performed a great service for
the counterrevolution. atarlas. See de contact w/201--71717)
A plogenidad
10. When the arrest of AMCUTLER-2 became known to JMWAVE (see
AMFAUNA-1 Progress Report for October, November and December 1963); the
son of AMFAUNA-32 was asked to phone his mother in Cienfuegos and instruc
her to tell AMFAUNA-26 to go into hiding. On 3 January the son reported
completion of the call and said that his mother had told him that
AMFAUNA-26 had been arrested on 29 December and taken to the Santa Clara
prison.
!
11. The reason for AMFAUNA-26's arrest remains obscure, or rather
there are so many acceptable explanations that the problem is to select
the right one. She could have been implicated by AMFAUXA-38, as would
seem to be suggested by the fact that her house was searched immediately
following AMFAUNA-38's arrest; if so, however, it is hard to explain
why AMFAUNA-26 herself was not arrested until three and one-half months
later. She could have been denounced by AMCUTLER-2 who was herself
arrested two or three days before AMFAUNA-26's arrest; this seems unlikel
in view of the fact that AMCUTLER-2 and AMFAUNA-26 are friends, that when
AMCUTLER-2 reaches the point where she is ready to implicate other
members of the AMFAUNA net she could be expected to begin with people
who are not her friends, and that at least one such person (AMFAUNA-25)
was known to be at liberty as recently as 4 January 1964, as were two of
the cutouts between AMFAUNA-26 and AMCUTLER-2 (AMFAUNA-32 and AMFAUNA-33),
AMCUTLER-2 is believed to have been under surveillance by the DSE, at
least sporadically, between 12 and 24 October (see AMFAUNA-1 Progress
Report for October, November, and December 1963), and AMFAUNA-26 could
have been observed and identified when she visited AMCUTLER-2 during
this period and marked for subsequent arrest and interrogation in
connection with AMCUTLER-2's activities. AMFAUNA-26 could have made an
attempt between 22 and 29 December to recover the cached cipher groups
(see paragraph 3), and either been detected in the act or arrested while
trying to contact AMCUTLER-2 on the same trip; in this case, however,
it would seem that the DSE would not have transported her all the way
back to Santa Clara but would have kept her in Havana for concurrent
interrogation with AMCUTLER-2. The open telegram sent to the son of
AMFAUNA-32 on 23 December was rather indiscreet and could have caused
difficulties for the sender, but some of these difficulties ought in this
case to have brushed off on AMFAUNA-32 herself, and as of 3 January 1964
she was still at liberty.
3-29604L PUIG Tal
12.
201-332765
i
Information received from HULAKE-1 on 8 January 1964 indicates
that a general roundup began in Cienfuegos on 26 December, possibly in
connection with a suspected plot against the life of Fidel CASTRO, and
that at least seventeen persons had been taken. One of these persons
appears to be AMLAME-5, To the best of JMWAVE's knowledge, neither
AMFAUNA-26 nor AMLAME-5 had been involved in any plot against the life
of Fidel CASTRO, but both could have been high on a general suspect list.
The only known factor common to both AMLAME-5 and AMFAUNA-26 is the
Ramon *PEREZ mentioned in paragraph 9. AMLAME-5 evidently was extra-
ordinarily indiscreet when he talked with this man. AMFAUNA-31 has also
spoken with him, and according to the oral message brought out by
AMFAUNA-26's sister (see paragraph 5-e) AMFAUNA-31 has been habitually
☐ indiscreet.. Ramon PEREZ was thus in a position to denounce both AMLAME-5
and AMFAUNA-26. If so, AMFAUNA-31 also ought to have been implicated,
and it is perhaps significain in this connection that, of all of
PAGE NO.
ROSQUETIE
FORM
5-60 53a USE PREVIOUS EDITION.
(40)
CLASSIFICATION
SECRET
CONTINUED
13-00000
CONTINUATION OF
DISPATCH
CLASSIFICATION
SECRET
DISPATCH SYMBOL AND NUMBER
UFGA-13428
AMFAUNA-26's sub-agents, AMFAUNA-31 is the only one walieved to be in
hiding as of 3 January (see WAVE-9940 of 4 January).
11°
.13. There has been no previous mention of Ramon PEREZ in the
AMFAUNA operational reporting, and JMWAVE has no identifiable traces on
37
him.
AMFAUNA-1 was asked about him on 6 January, and produced the
1 following information which he had obtained from Antonio Remigio *ESTRADA
Diaz (bormil October 1939, Cienfuegos now residing at 1425 S.W. 5th
St., Apt. 10, Miami and a former collaborator of the AMFAUNA net in
Cienfuegos. Ramon PEREZ is an employee of the Consolidado de Transporte,
lives on Calle Arguelles in Cienfuegos between Prado and Gacel, and has
a`son, name unknown, who drives a taxi. Resulyect identifying mon
paran ta 201-291236
14. On 5 and 6 January 1964, warning messages were sent to AMFAUNAS
29, 30, 31 and 33 by Antonio Remigio ESTRADA Diaz and by AMFAUNA-1
(see WAVE-0045 of 7 January 1964).
Production:
15.
UFG-3918
UFG-3941
UFG-3947
UFG-3948
UFG-3974
UFG-3998
UFG-4088
UFG-4141
UFG-4180.
:
UFG-4266
UFG-4272
%.
The following reports were made:
Loading of a Ship at La Isabela with trailers Carrying 40-
foot Long Covered Objects
Relocation of Radar Installations & Other Activities at the
Cienfuegos Surface-to-Air Missile Site, Las Villas Province
Installation of an unusual Light at Cifuentes SAM Missile
Assembly Base, Las Villas Province; Dress, Habits, & Expected
Departure of Soviets at Cifuentes
Increase in the Number of Tanks & Soviet Personnel at the
Sagua la Grande SAM Missile Site; Relocation of a Sagua la
Grande Soviet Headquarters
Departure of Soviets from the Remedios Area; Movement of
Trucks, Guns, & Soviet Personnel in Las Villas Province
Military Defense Measures at Cayo Loco, Las Villas Province
Arrival of Unexplained Vehicles at Las Auras, Cienfuegos &
Dismantling of that Base
Cuban Military Occupation of Former Soviet Camps Near Yaguaja
& at Fincas La Puntilla, La Bajada, & Rojas
Removal of Some Equipment & Personnel from the Soviet Base
at Itabo, Las Villas Province
Field Comment Only
Alleged Transfer of all Cuban Militiamen to the Central Army.
New Defense Measures Along the Southern Coast of Las Villas
Province
Expenses:
16. Three separate remittances each of $270.00 or a total of
$810.00 were sent to AMFAUNA-26 during this period. By previous agree-
ment one quarter of the money was to be given to AMFAUNA-32 and three-
quarters was to be retained by AMFAUNA-26. The first two remittances
were sent to AMFAUNA-32 by her son, and each was acknowledged by telegram.
The third remittance, at the telegraphed request of AMFAUNA-26, was sent
to AMFLORA-1 in Caracas. Evidently his wife came to some arrangement
with AMFAUNA-26 before she left Cuba.
Future Plans:
17. Communication will be maintained with AMFAUNA-33, first by
telephone and later if possible by clandestine means, for the purpose of
FORM
5.60 53a USE PREVIOUS EDITION.
(40)
CLASSIFICATION
SECRET
☑
CONTINUED
_PAGE NO.
13-00000
CONTINUATION OF
CLASSIFICATION
DISPATCH SYMBOL AND NUMBER
DISPATCH
SECRET
UFGA-13428
¡learning the status and whereabouts of affected members of the AMFAUNA-
26 group.
As soon as the situation has crystallized the whereabouts
of burned agents learned, and secure communications established, an..
attempt will be made to exfiltrate endangered personnel.
1.
FORM
8.60 53a *USE PREVIOUS EDITION.
(40)
CLASSIFICATION
SECRET
End of Dispatch
CONTINUED
PAGE NO.