mente -_ __ROUTINS AND RECORD SHEET . = ® - a FRCNM: BATE: fe the abeence of comments ge Indicataan of ection * , ° tohen, 9 cover chee? all be destroyed when the docy=e+? @ Med. | REID COMMENTS TO | #Oos GATE | Orrcene & 1 BCevEe je emammgg, tale i a ; = , eed go | a ; eT ree | g . ae ' Le. al yaar’ aw 2 EL me Rose : . lon imata 8... a_i : Lalas Pats rent hh & 7 ‘ ‘Ff | me \f : y . | ABSTRACT j y | FUE N INDEX : i ot BEF ENCLOSURE DATE WiCROFiLBED SOCUMENT CATE *- OCUMiNT NUMBER . eet Ne “ta (810g Erne SECRET 3 20) CG. ee Bian, © oe Reproduce . ETURN TO CIA R nd Use Only Backgrou Do Not
z Mw = Ah bed SIAN UE ig 4 Fs sas ae we - sources. OPERATIONAL ANO SOURCE COVER SHEET . te, REPORT MAD BY: Heleon Ly Rarnock/pse jp __NUNEER FACES. 2 REPORT APPROVED BY: Woodrow C. Olien ss __sNUMBER ENCLOSURES: __ None DATE OF REPORT: 22 August 1959 0 CREFERENCES: Nome ee DISTRISUTION: By coy te: oo Headquarters v/mst 1 = Embassy (Eccnomic Counselor) Crolly ter. = Legal Attaché 2 ~ Files - Field File No, 6-0-1200 ot SOURCE CRYPIONYM: 3 NO: GS NO: ~ 7 See Comments below _ RRYPTION: ( Ye” [i Ne SOURCE, OPERATIONAL DATA, AND COMMENTS: - ee SUBJECT2 Cuban Econenle Criaia [Source Alberto FERNANDSZ Hechavarria (the chief of the Cuban Sugar Stabilisation Board who has tho job of selling Cuba's A foreer active muber of the 26 of July Moverent during the revoluticn, he is now disillusioned, and reportedly is not going to last much longer in his job. He is wealthy and his faaily have lest . through CASTRO's econumie reforms. He appears to know a lot about the goverment and a - a also seeng to have an insight inte CASTRO... He regards CASTRO as some type of 4 _— ONIVAG machins, his mind automatically photostating detaiis which he can and will use in the future. He saya that CaSTRO is ruthless, ami that nothing ean stop his in his determination to do semething, 1.e., agrarian reform, and that he will sacrifice his friends, his family, his xoney, and his fortune to accomplish his purpose. illustrating the present situation in Cuba, the source said that be cannot -publicly have contacts vith American officialsa—refusing to let the writer use his telephone—and he said that a record is kept of ali his calls ami that his movements are periodically checked. ; the advisor who warned CASTRO jn paragraph one of the attached report .was the faa possible reference to this report and particularly te Meld coment mmber two, see HAVA-2526. ras - 3/¥e8, 5 - ‘The second source referred te in Field Comant No. 2 was AMPACK~-] uho obtained his information from , oe SP35 51-59 manos mrsmrmin po PRs / i
Nee, _ °°, ‘FIELD INFORMATION REPORT , a. , «(VALUATION OF SoURCE A for satety retette 8. Usuatty relene  C. Fay onesie OF ot usu rpsaste  € mot retehie | Applied so sources of doubern! sone.ty or opaity. regardless af eis competence), F Pevatity canon bo pwtgce cAgguhod eo uatested of te vali ie only feasted source 41, at : + PPPMASA Ge ECAIL WE b Contirmed by other eicepencent ant relics sours 2. Peobebly true, 9. PossdN ve & Ooctiful § erolamy fetse 6. Cannct be yudged. Dace mentary. Basbd on orginal document. é ™. C-O-N-P-]D-Z-H-T-I-A-L COUNTaY = Cuba REPORT NO, . HKH-2130 susvect © Cuban Leononic Crisis DATE OF REPORT 21 August 1959 NO. OF PAGES 2. ee ee oo REFERENCES Rone | DATE OF ‘ INFO. , Tly-August 1959 DATE ACG. Cubs. Pabans (20 August 1959) : : nn SOURCE EVALUATIONS ARE DEFINITVE. APPRAISAL OF CONTENT IS TENTATIVE, NOTE FOREGOING EXPLANATION, SOURCE: Cuban Goverment £fficial (F). - Appraisal, of ¢ te 3 fo. i. Contrary to the reports which are issued by the Cuban Government, the ; ‘ _ financial status of the Cuban economy is rapidly deteriorating and _ beconing a serious problem. During July 1959 an advisor to Prime Minister Fidel CASTRO Rua, warned hin to proceed more alowly with the agrorian reform, because the Cuban treasury was running short of funds. Lone ee ; It was pointed out that 57 sygar mills were bankrupt and had not paid son eee =* the plantation owners for the 1959 sugar crop. CASTRO waa told that Cs if the reckless conflacation of agricultural properties centimed, the Cuban Goverment would become obligated to assume even more debts in order to alleviate the hunger of far= workers. 2, Another drain oa the econony ia government subsidies. For exanple, the danoo de Desarrollo Economico y Social (BANDES, Social and Economic Development Bank) controls about U. 5. 8400 nillion in properties and investments such as the Compufiia Cubana de Aviacion (Cuban Airline Company). The companies kave been caught in the - present contraction of capital and cannot survive without goverment subsidies, The subsidies paid by BANDS amount to U. S. $$ million @ month, and this is only one exemple of the many payments which are draining tae Cuban ‘treasury. a “- Field Comments. ame, 1. Frea-the-veports whish—have-been-received 14 appears that there is . gruwing unemployment of farm workers, This is the "dead season*— i the period between sugar cena harvests--but it is reported that 7 : most plantation. owners and ranchers are fearful of confiscation of their properties for the agrarian-reforn program)/and consequantly ; are doing very little in the vay of maintenance work. The latter : provided at least a marginal field of employment, and this ia now no, denied to the agricultural workers. However, spite of this warring; the dgrarian-reform program has not been alowed. In fact, it seems to have been intensified, Gm QaN-P=IDaEoHa Pol ~AnL [ DISTRIBUTION
14-00000 a ‘ a . — , _7 7 _ . . : . . * C-O-N-PaT DEH Po Tmd oL a = \ te Tee soures thought that nothing could stop CASTRO in hie determination c te proceed with the agrarian reform progran as fast as possible. Since the blegest obstacle to carrying out this Program is the lack of money, the ‘hource was of the opinion that CAST33 would do anything to obta‘n this money anal might even confiscate bank accounts and moneys and nego= tiable iestrmments held in safety deposit boxes. Carrying this one step furthar, theource thought such cocfiscatory tactics could only | be a temporary eating device and that eventually it would be necessary for CASTIO te obtain a large lean fron amther country. Re speculated that this would mean either the United States or the Suviet Union, and feared that if it were the lattery it would mean the end of friendly ‘colations with the United States, In respect to CASTRO's possible need for a loan, another, fairly rellable, source reported on 18 August 1959 that CASTRO was trying te obtain a 30 ,000,000-pese loan from docat bunke. of, . feo. res —e a a SO fm US SP NER —a 4 - oy C-O-N-F-I-D-~E-N-TxI-A-L f~ wf \ i 3 ae vot we {oD f3dD : .