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16 September 1975
MEMORANDUM FOR: C/LA/COG
SUBJECT
: Letter from Mrs. Lourdes CUESTA, Ex-wife of
Antonio CUESTA Valle, Formerly of Interest to
JMWAVE Station
1. Lourdes CUESTA, ex-wife of Antonio CUESTA Valle, currently
imprisoned in Cuba, wrote to the Director of CIA on 4 August 1975.
She requested that the Agency "give her some kind of verification
that her ex-husband was not connected nor the CIA had any knowledge
that he was preparing the raids mentioned in Attempts No. 21 and 22"
cited in a 31 July 1975 Miami Herald newspaper article following
Senator McGovern's recent trip to visit Fidel CASTRO.
2. A carefully worded reply was prepared for signature by an
assistant to the DCI; however, per instruction of the DC/LAD (from
the DDO) it was requested that the letter not be sent, but rather
that a DCD representative in Miami handle the matter with Mrs.
CUESTA personally.
3. ▲ DCD representative in Miami contacted Mrs. CUESTA and
told her that the Agency preferred that the matter be handled with
Mrs. CUESTA did not accept
a personal touch rather than by letter.
this and has subsequently phoned the DCD representative several
times requesting a written reply. Mrs. CUESTA said that she plans
to send a copy of the reply to Fidel CASTRO and one to Senator
McGovern. According to the DCD representative, Mrs. CUESTA (a nat-
uralized U.S. citizen of Spanish birth) works for a lawyer 
(name
unknown) and perhaps is following legal counsel.
4. On 11 September 1975 the AC/LA/COG phoned the DC/LAD and.
advised him of the foregoing. Following the conversation it was
decided that we would check out applicable maritime records in
Archives, in addition to CUESTA's 201 file, and if we still un-
covered no evidence that CUESTA was involved with CIA in the cited
infiltration operations, draft a very brief letter of acknowledge-
ment to Mrs. CUESTA and resubmit it for approval.
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S. Antonio CUESTA came to the U.S. from Cuba on 31 May 1960
as a refugee. According to his 201 file, he has had the following
U.S. Government association:
a.
As of February 1961 he was cited as a crewman
aboard the M/V TEJANA.. A POA was requested on 15 March
1961 for his use in PM maritime ops as a crewman on the
vessel TEJANA under Project JMATE. Due to cessation of
JMATE activities, processing of the clearance was sus-
pended on 1 May 1961 until new interest was apparent.
JMWAVE Station advised the Army of CIA operational inter-
est in CUESTA on 26 May 1962. JMWAVE advised Headquarters
on 5 June 1962 that CUESTA was not then being used and
There is
requested the basis of other Agency interest.
no indication in pertinent maritime files or his 201 file
that he was ever used on an operational mission by CIA.
b. ISR records show that CUESTA was registered as
an Army source on 22 May 1962. There is no indication
that he was dropped; however, it is recorded that he was
reinstated on 12 August 1965. He was dropped again on
10 May 1966, without prejudice. There is no further record
of Army association. The specifics of his association
with the Army are unknown to the Agency. not submit to control.
6. From the time he came to the U.S. in 1960 until he was ar-
rested by the Cuban Government, CUESTA was associated with the MRR,
The hit and run raids made
UR, Alpha 66 and Commando L organizations.
by these groups were well-known to all government agencies and, in
fact, openly known in Miami because of the propensity of the Cubans
to talk. There were a number of discussions at the highest level
(President) concerning what should be done about such raids.
were not sponsored by or connected with the U.S. Government.
of these unauthorized raids are the ones referred to (attempts 21
and 22) in the article attached to Mrs. CUESTA's letter.
They
Two
As of
7. Mrs. CUESTA was born 21 May 1936. in Madrid, Spain.
30 March 1963 she was married to Antonio CUESTA, had one small son,
She current-
and reportedly resided with Antonio in Miami, Florida.
ly refers to him as her ex-husband, but particulars of a separation
or divorce are unknown. She is also known as Mrs. Maria Viza CUESTA,
Maria Luisa Viza Blanco and Mrs. Vincente CUESTA. Following are
items of interest:
Antonio CUESTA told the FBI that she lived with
him in Miami, Florida as of 30 March 1963.
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b. Mrs. CUESTA told the FII in 1969 that she ar-
rived in the U.S. 9 June 1963 at Miami, Florida.
C. ACSI advised JMWAVE Station in November 1966
that she had been in contact (date unknown) with Chafik
Homero SAKER Zenni of the New York Cuba UN Mission.
The FBI was advised of this and monitored her activities.
[SAKER is a known long-time DGI officer PNG'd from the
U.S. in 67/68 for support to Black Panther and SDS ac-
tivities. He was DGI Chief of Center in Mexico 
City
from 70-73, one of the founding fathers of the DGI and
the DGI expert on illegal operations against the 
U.S.Į
d. Mrs. CUESTA legally travelled to Cuba from
Miami, via Mexico City, in April 1967 for a two week
visit with her husband. In June 1967 the 
FBI 
advised
JMNAVE Station that she was recruited by the CUIS while
in Cuba and to hold this knowledge to a minimum because
She
they intended to operate her as a double agent.
said the pitch was made on behalf of the DSE and would
She 
was told if she
benefit both her and her husband.
successfully reported on anti-Castro activities in Miami,
especially Commando L activities, for a period 
of six
months, they would release her husband 
from custody 
and
after three years of reporting permit him to leave 
Cuba
.
Her contact in the U.S. was to be 
Chafik Homero SAKER
Zenni.
e. Mrs. CUESTA travelled to Cuba from Miami via
Mexico City again on 9 February 1968 taking nine suit-
cases. She called Havana from Mexico City and 
asked 
to
be met at the airport in Havana by two cars because of
the excess baggage. While in Cuba she saw 
her husband
several times. She returned to Mexico City on 4 
March
1968.
8.
This case was coordinated with the FBI representative,
via Ops Liaison, on 12 September who asked that we hold up a re-
sponse to her letter until he could check out 
the status of the 
case.
It was recognized that Mrs. CUESTA could be acting 
in behalf of the
DGI. On 16 September the FBI representative 
advised that FBI opera-
tional interest in Mrs. CUESTA was terminated 
circa December 1974
and that it would not be necessary for us to coordinate our response
Details of the 
FBI opera-
to Mrs. CUESTA's letter with the Bureau.
The FBI representative
tional handling of Mrs. CUESTA are unknown.
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advised that Mrs. CUESTA had inquired what it would cost to obtain
documents in the FBI files on her under the FOIA.
9. Attempts are being made to obtain the name of the attorney
for whom Mrs. CUESTA works.
10. Attached is a suggested reply to Mrs. CUESTA, based on
the facts in para 5 a, for approval.
Filed: 201-281313 (Antonio CUESTA)
201-335014 (SAKER)
201-821216 (Lourdes CUESTA)
Chris H
Chris Hopkins
LA/COG/CIOS
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CIA LETTERHEAD
Suggested reply to Mrs. CUESTA's letter of 4 August 1975
Mrs. Lourdes Cuesta
2155 S.. 5th Street
Miami, Florida 33135
Dear Mrs. Cuesta:
This is in reply to your letter o 4 August 1975 and
subsequent conversations with one of our Riami, Florida
representatives.
In response to your inquiry, we wish to advise that
your ex-husbands alleged activities, cited as Attempts No.
21 and 22 in the newspaper article enclosed with your letter,
were in no way sponsored by or associated with this Agency.
Concerning prior knowledge of such activities, we can only
say that anticipated activities of some of the independent
exile groups often became public knowledge because of
discussion within the exile community of such activities.
Sincerely,
Assistant to the Director
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