04-10183-10446 ber TE a, he Te TIARAS ge 7 . 24 wh Owe v ers ree ~ / “~ seers? ‘ Aye “teabe LP the on we fb om bing, oe c¢ MEMORANDUM FOR TRE RECORD " i 58 nat so peti d nn Ce a ferot Fyre Eacag i SUBJECT: Meeting with AMWHIP/L, Xew York cae 28 April 1965 aly —~S 1. Time-Place-Purpose AMWHIP/? was met on 2S April in New Yerk City for the purpose , \ of introducing the undersigned's replacement and to debrief hia on his recent trip to Europe. The undersigned wet AMVHIP/1 at his office at 1215 hours, and chatted there for a short time. The undersigned and ANWHIP/1 then went to the lobby of Waldorf Astoria’ ak. Was Hotel where the undersigned's replacement, Mr. introduced to AMWHIP/1. Mr. used the alias "Harry Wills.*® After a working lunch at the Walderf's Bull and Bear Restaurant, the party motored by taxi to the Taft Hotel (Room 551). The meeting lasted, including lunch, frow L214 hours until 1700. At the conclusion of the debriefing at the Taft, the undersigned accompanied AMVHIP/1L back to his office and made the appropriate goodbys. Following that, the undersigned returned to the Taft Hotel to pick up Mr. 2, Details of the meeting A majority of the items covered during the meeting have been the subject of previous cables from the field. Wowever, for greater clarity, a number of these were reviewed with AMWHIP/1 and ’ additional information and comments obtained. a. Cuban Government efforts to obtain foreign exchange throuch the Flarida lotteries. (2) AMMHIP/1 stated that he had been approached in Garcia-DBonge Dirube (see Gladrid B486- IN 24295) Madrid by Rafael 20-2
jee ay gory =. and related traffic) who wanted him to act as a contact wan with Santos — Trafficante who is presently living in Miawl. According to GB, he had been told by(URSNAFU/19 (ys) that DSE Ch Chief Pineiro had. okayed the fot}owing operation involving the Cuban lotteries played illegally- im Plorida. The Cuban Governent.#2s _ prepared to give through) a9 three winning numbers” per week for. Trafficante to use (a -proftitas ‘on: the Cuban lotteries played ‘in Florida, Trafficante was to pay $50, o00 upon receipt of thé numbers: tron(t7i9 and an additional $50,000 after the win. This money, which would have been a free source of income to the Cuban Governuent, would then be either banked in Europe by (@iy19 on behalf of the, Cuban Government or sent to Havana according to instructions he received, GB had found out that AMWHIP/1 knew Trafficante in Miami and, had contacted him to act as a messenger to Trafficante. AMVHIP/1 was also offered, but declined, sum of money for his participation in this operation. As a matter of interest this ploy for illegal winning from the lottery was first conceived in 1959 by GB and Trafficante but it did not materialize as Pineiro and perhaps other govt officials would not play ball at that time. It is interesting to note that, for the price of $100,000 a week in foreign exchange, the Cuban Government is now willing to enter into a conspiracy of this level with well-known gangster elements. Other people in the Florida area who will probably be affected by this action are Amlato Batisti (former owner of the Seville Biltmere Hotel in Havana) and one, FNU Santos both of whom are also involved as king pins in the lottery racket, in Florida.
/ Accoring to wNTR/a, “Tainpa is the center for this activit#s = AMVHIP/1 stated that if we wanted to take any action in this watter, it would have to be done soon as GB ‘woulil expect hiw to react regarding the contact with Trufficante in the very near future. Extreme caution should be used in any action in this field as any. leak wight readily finger to AMWHIP/L, It is interesting to note ._ that in an interview woth a Gaeria Sdatiod otticer (cited Para 5 _ Giaacid4386), GB stated that he had turned down a DSE request to work for them overseas. He had however offered to become involved in illegal business deals abroad. on behalf of DSE. He never received a reply to this offer. It is also noted that, according to AMWHIP/1, Coy is not witting that he (AMWHIP/1) has this opportunity to , act us a go-between with GB and Trafficante on this matter. b. Luis Blanca Fernandez, Vice Minister of Communications. (1) In response to the question AMVHIP/L stated that he knew Blanca slightly but had no significant assessment to give on the man. He did know that he was an old DR member and that the best sources of information on him would be AMLASH/1, /2 and /3. c. AMNIP/I . . (1) In discussing the general situation in Madrid and Europe, AMWHIP/1 again deplored the use by KUBARK of AMNIP/1 . in operations against the Custro Cubans. He stated that he didn't know him personally but that many people had told him that AMNIP/1 was no good and a person in whom one could have obsolutely no confidence, He cited for an exumple how AMNIP/1 had told the mother of Diaz-Arguecles that he had been sent frou AMLASHI/3, a SEGrET