(04-10082-10191 : el ad ity S$ livetvep ——._! eemass> DALHSTORAL REVIEW PROGRAM .  RELEASEAS SANITIZED 26 JUL 1978 by. 499 MEMORANDUM FOR: Deputy Director for Operations FROM > Walter Raymond, Jr. Chief, IAD/CAS SUBJECT : House Select Committee on Assassinations (HSCA). Request for CIA Files on Teresa Pr oenza Proenza 1. The HSCA has requested the files on Teresa Proenza Proenza in connection with their investigation into the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. 2. In consultation with the Principle Coordinator, HSCA, Mr. Scott Breckenridge, we believe that these files should be denied since they involve sensitive operational methods. (The attached MFR at Tab A describes the project. At Tab B is the name provided to the HSCA.) 3. If the DDO concurs in denying the files to the HSCA, Mr. Breckenridge will consult with the DDCI and with his approval present this position to Mr. Blakey. It is likely that Mr. Blakey will ask Chairman Stokes to contact the DCI. 4. Mr. Charles Anderson, Chief, IAD/CAS/COB, can provide a briefing or additional details. Lathe Read Walter Raymond, Jr. Attachments: Tabs A & B (h/w) APPROVED: 26 JUL 1978 Date [Wan seme WARNA HOTE J 4096 ROO SabRces Pilic rp
14-00000 14-00000- oa TAG A ow ! ae a MEMORANDUM SUBJECT 4 Political Action Operations in Cuba - ‘The PROENZA _ Case , 1. Introduction." . " : a re - This memorandum sets forth information concerning the conduct of a series of interlocking non-violent political action: operations against the Cuban government, its internal coalition and its alliance with the Soviet Union mounted in. 1963. 2. Objectives pon OE By Pursuant to instructions from.the 303 Committee, during. the Kennedy Administration, the CIA established among its ohjectives against Cuba the fragmenting of its. governing . coalition and exacerbation of its relations with the USSR. This decision was taken prior to the October 1962 Missile Crisis. As a’ result of the decision a number of non-violent operations ‘were carried out. Those pertaining to the Teresa ‘Proenza Proenza case are set out below.. 3. The Operations 2 a. On 3 April 1963 a set of spurious documents falsely - ascribed to a disaffected CIA agent in Mexico were passed rou to the Cuban Embassy in Mexico City. The documents made it appear that the Cuban Vice Minister of Defense, a highly placed and extreme Moscow-line Communist (who ‘had been in Moscow when the missile build-up was planned in . early 1962), was actually a CIA agent who had betrayed the build- oot qmtmmmmmmgetmmmntie SEUSITINE HAITLUIGENCE SOURCES up. The purpose of this disinformation was to cause a great strain in the relations Between the Cuban Communist Party (then known as the PSP) and the other partners in the coalition. It was also hoped that the operation would redound against the USSR because the Vice Minister of Defense was a senior Moscow-line member of the PSP. It was calculated that. the USSR would move to defend the Vice Minister, who was probably their chief . agent in the Cuban government, and that a collision between the Soviets and Cubans could result. The Cubans accepted the spurious papers and paid for them per our demand. b. Through the summer of 1963 several further deliveries of spurious documents were made to the Cubans and several thousand dollars were received in payment. But results of the operation from inside Cuba were not yet observed. Therefore on 13 November 1963, when a delivery of documents: was again SESRET ements om + ppc = ed age ee “VIARSING EOTICE . Rent hPOET CL av Ql IRF i. ee £3) METHODS INVOLVED
14-00000 14-00000 4 Be Meet, ay 2 +e being made, several were included revealing the presence of another "CIA agent" in the Cuban government, this time inside the Cuban Embassy in Mexico. This target was Teresa Proenza Proenza, long-time Cuban Communist and contact of the Soviet intelligence in Mexico, who was acting as Cuban-Cultural Attache. She also . was a close contact of the Vice Minister of. Defense. On 10 December 1963 Miss Proenza was informed of her sudden ‘transfer back to Cuba; she actually departed on 23 January 1964. Her . recall was believed. to be a result of the spurious documents and of her known. long - ~time. ‘friendship. with the Vice Minister of Defense. .The first reaction’ to ‘the ‘operation inside Cuba "occurred in the week of 14 March 1964... At that time a junior | member of the Communist Party (PSP) was tried and convicted -of betraying non-Communist leaders of the resistance to. the former government of Cuba which had been overthrown by Fidel Castro. As the trial wore on it became apparent that since the young. Communist. had been the protege of the Vice Minister of Defense | the trial was really a ‘trial. of the latter. © ~ - d. During 1964 deliveries. of ‘documents to the Cubans were continued and payments received. On 18 November 1964 the Vice Minister of Defense was arrested on charges of .treason “and removed from his post, as was his wife who also held cabinet rank. They were jailed as was, Teresa Proenza. e. After terms in prison all three defendants were released to house arrest. Proenza was later permitted to work as . a librarian in Havana. ‘The Vice Minister died peacefully in his bed several years later. His widow was allowed to leave Cuba to reside in Spain. This phase of the CIA operation wound. down in March 1966 when the Cubans ceased taking an interest in it. , 4. Concluding: Remarks _ The foregoing is but the barest outline of a highly ‘complex operational.system that made use of a wide variety of techniques and assets which have not been revealed to the public. The story would make dramatic headlines if it became publicly known, especially in the present environment. The fact that - several persons were deprived of their freedom as a result of the | operation would attract further attention. Furthermore, this operation laid the basis for other operations of a similar nature that were successfully mounted against Cuban and other hostile targets. In short, this file is a Pandora's box the opening of which would not only expose the cryptonyms of other - _operations of this type but would attract unfavorable publicity for the Agency in certain quarters and would expose hitherto secret techniques and assets. This would make their employment in the future very difficult. The fact that this series of SECRET te soe eter ets SOAR RCOR tte rere eMC EE EE Seg SESS PETERSFIELD  AA ha . .
14-00000 14-00000 Be wet operations did not begin to register on the Cubans until after the death of President Kennedy should remove any suspicion that it could in any way have caused Castro to direct an assassination attempt against the President, z —— SEORET
14-00000 25 May 1978 Ae B ccccanaemnmy tam. TIA HISTORICAL REVIEW PROGRAM « eee ayers RELEASE AS SANITIZED FROM : Charles W. Anderson Chief, CAS/PAG/COB-: SUBJECT : Maria Teresa P r o en za Proenza l. Maria Teresa P r 0 en za Proenza, born 11] March 1908 in Havana, Cuba, is a Cuban citizen who resided in Mexico for a number of years before the coming to power of Fidel C a s t r o in January 1959. Miss Proenza, - a member of the Cuban Communist Party in Mexico was an zssociate of many Mexican and foreign Communists and leftists in intellectual and artistic circles. For ’ example, in 1957 she was the housekeeper of famed Mexican i x ommunist artist Diego Rivera. She was also well cquainted at the Soviet Embassy in Mexico City. ayy 2. When the incoming Castro regime took command of capdenee the Cuban Embassy in Mexico City, Miss Proenza was — iocally hired to work there in propaganda affairs. Eventually she was given the title Third Secretary/ Cultural Attache. She maintained her leftist Communist and Soviet contacts and played an important propaganda role for the Cuban Government because of them. 53. On 13 November 1963 this Agency initiated an peration to counter Miss Proenza's effective exploitation i her contacts in Mexico, a work which frequently had trong anti-U.S. overtones. Miss Proenza returned to Cuba in January 1964. ; 4. At no time has this Agency maintained contact with Miss Proenza. ‘Charles W. Anderson PIIDAED | Center  osnsy | 4 «
14-00000 SUBJECT: Maria Teresa Pro en za Proenza DDO/C/CAS/PAG/COB: CNAnderson:jd(ext. 1620) (25 May 1978) Distribution: 0&1 - SA/DO/O 1 - Memo Chrono > 1 - Hit Parade 1 - C/LA/STB