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14-00000 16 September 1975 ‘MEMORANDUM FOR: C/LA/COG Antonio CUESTA, Valle, Formerly of Interest to : 7 | SUBJECT Letter from Mrs. Lourdes CUESTA, Ex-wife of 1 JMWAVE Station i i “ee 1. Lourdes CUESTA, ex-wife of Antonio CURSTA 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" eited 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, g DCD representative in Miami contacted Mrs. CUESTA and told her that the Agency preferred that the matter be handled with a personal touch rather than by letter. Mrs, CUESTA did not accept this and has subsequently phoned the DCD representative several ‘times requesting .a written reply. Mrs. CUBSTA 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 Souver. fname unknown) and perhaps is followizg legal.counsel., © +. 4. On 11 September 1975 the AC/LA/COG phoned the DC/LAD and. advised him of the foregoing. +ollowing the conversation it was decided that we would check out applicable maritime records in Archives, in addition to CURSTA'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. CUBSTA and resubmit it for approval. 5 - bcene
14-00000 ‘ o® §. 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: ¢ yo ¢ % 3% a. As, of February 1961 he was cited as a crewman . gboard the M/V TEJANA. A POA was requested on 15 March (vt 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-. 4 ; . pended on 1 May 1961 until ne. interest was apparent. van hoe . oO , of JMWAVE Station advised the Army of CIA operational inter- ao ‘ . est in CUESTA on 26 May 1962. JMWAVE advised: Headquarters i on $ June 1962 that CUESTA was not then being used and : requested the basis of other Agency interest. There is ; 2 OF ™ no indication in pertinent maritime files or his 201 file Do af that he was ever used on an operational mission by CIA. . "6. Brom the time he came to the U.S. in 1960 until he was ar- gested by the Cuban Government, CUESTA was associated with the MRR, : UR, Alpha.66 and Commando L organizations. The hit and run raids made ' . by these groups were welleknown to all government agencies and, in x 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. They i were not sponsored by or connected with the U.S. Government. Two of these unauthorized raids are the ones referred to (attempts 21 and 22) in the article attached to Mrs. CUESTA's letter. sone eaepen emanates ym te met ~ 9. Mrs. CUBSTA was born 21 May 1936. in Madrid, Spain. As of 20 March 1963 she was married to Antonio CUESTA, had one small son, and reportedly resided with Antonio in Miami, Florida, She current- 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 Liisa Viza Blance and Mrs. Vincente CIIESTA. | Following are items of interest: . “ a. Antonio CURSTA told the FBI that she lived with him in Miami, Florida as of 30 March 1965. “2 a 7 | ECRET | oe 2 se Os pate rae RE WERE Uren SRRRESHE we = 7 - ne PR eer coeate 6 Stine cman AEST STATES PBS 1 SGA SAY ERT re" Thos weeny
14-00000 + i . . ernner - OLUNE ™ b. Mrs. CUESTA told the FII in 1969 that she ar- rived in the U.S. 9 June 1963 at Miam, ftiorida. 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 “ission. € was advised of this and monitored her activities. {SAKER is a known long-time DG] officer PNG‘d from the U.S. in 67/68 for support to Black Panther and SDS ac- tivities. He was DGI Chief cf Center in Mexico City mk , €rom 70-73, one of the founding fathers of the DGI and ne the DGI expert on illegal operations against the U.S.] t ad. Mrs. CUESTA legally travelled to Cuba from Hiami, via Mexico City, in. April 1967 for a two week wisit with her husbend. In June 1967 the FBI advised “JMWAVE Station that she was recruited by the CUIS while in Cuba and to hold this knowledge to a minimum because’ they intended to operate her as a double agent. She said the pitch was made on behalf of the DSE and would benefit both her and her husband. She was told if she’ successfully reported on anti-Castro activities in Miami, especially Commanco 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. ays eT re a ee _@. Mrs. CUESTA travelled to Cuba from Miami via Mexico City again on 9 February 1968 taking nine suit- eases. 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 968. fine ere «Ae ep 2 im ents 8, This case was coordinated with the FBI representative, | vie Ops Liaison, on 12 September who asked that we hold up a re- | sponse to her letter until he could check out the status uf the case. | ft 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. CUBSTA was terminated circa December 1974 ; and that it sould net be necessary for us to coordinate our response fs ta Mrs. CUBSTA's letter with the Bureau. Details of the FBI opera- \ ‘tioval handling of Mrs. CUBSTA are unknown. The FBI representative { t t SEGRE: 2 RE as aie EO — Oe os -3- 5 Bos Lewee
erancy, - - SECRET - 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. ; Chris ‘Hopkins LA/COG/CiOS Filed: 201-281313 (Antonio CUESTA) 201-335014 (SAKER) 201-821216 (Lourdes. CUESTA) commence ment oe meme n 3 eanne a” £2 IMPDET CL BY 025231
Fa & & Fi fis Cla LETTE EHESD Suggested reply to Mra. CUESTA's letter of 4 August 1975 Mre, Lourdes Cuesta 2155 §.¥. Sth Street Miami, Florida 33135 Dear Mrs. Cuesta: This is in reply to your letter o: 4 Auguat 1975 and subsequent conversations with one of our Btani,-Florida™ representatives. a- Fes poise _to-your-Mgq7ir'yy Ss wish to advise that your ex-husbands alleged activities, cited ag Attempts No. 21 and 22 in the newspaper article enclose with your letter, were in no way sponsored by or associated with this Agency. Concerning prior knowledge of such activities, we can only gay that anticipated activities of some of the independent _ @@ile groups often became public knowledge because of - @igacuasion within the exile community of such activities. - Sincerely, Assistant to the Director Re lI owners sere