14-00000 nee sete eaten eae eee in Spain (which Espinosa entered illegaily), Espinosa was in- formed. that there is a plan to-overthrow the Castro regime and to kill Castro and some of his main leaders. The plot is led by Cubelag and some of the March 13 Movement, plus (I be- lieve) some military officers, They must move very quickly because more and more people are. learning of the plot and there-is growing risk of exposure. -They are anxious to have some coordination, or at leaet consultation, with responsible Americans, .'They:are:not confident that they could win an all- out fight against the Castro forces, and are thinking more in terms of taking control for a short time (perhaps only 2 few hours), -killing Castro and his most effective men (thus ruining the Castro movement forever), end then trying to hold out .for as long as feasible. . It:is essential that they know what, if anything, the Americans might-de to help, now end/or later, when the-coup is. attempted, - Also, they wished to alert the United States Goverment to what was, beine planned, . ene The Cubans: might have turned t ‘| the CTA men infadria]-- However, they’ believe. is completely unreliable... A Cuban _girl-was sent. to Madrid some time ago by the Castro- people,: | was fooled by her and, being very fond of women, 6@6€ her up in an apartment in Madrid, He &iso arranged for her to-work with the Internationel Rescue Committee, -When the proper moment came, four months ego, she flew back to Havana with some very-useful files, In these circumstances. the’Cuban-plotters have no confidence whatever L They urgently asked Espinosa to be their Z0~ between with reliable American officials, The “top security” man returned to Havana, while one representative of the plotters waited in Spain for an answer, +2 wee -- Espinosa hurriedly returned ‘to New York City. He called O'Brien of the New York FBI to ask that ‘the latter arrange fc ead -his to talk with some serious and relieble man from CIA, O'Brien did so.. Espinosa then told the foregoing story, and more, to a CIA men named "Hal", Hal impressed Espinosa as being intelligent and reliable, Espinose understands thet Hal or someone else went to Spain to check on his story, At all events, Espinosa wes assured CIA understood the urgency of the méttexz and that he would be called within a few days, A week hes paseed, However, no call has come and time is rapidly SECRET Sedation
14-00000 ee cteet manta omte te oe ro t i Ne SECRET “a - = running out. Espinosa's friends in Paris keep céliing hin, ceutiously asking whether there has been some "response", but Espinosa has had to keep putting them off, Meanwhile, the Cuban who was waiting in Spain for the answer has had to return. Espinosa keeps waiting to hear whether the Americans Will play bail with the Cubelag ‘group, The plot has lasted for over 16 months, and the plotters plan to go ahead very goon no matter whether the Americans “play ball" or net, One reason is that they almost have to go ahead now, for the plot will soon be discovered and then it will be entirely hopeless, Espinosa also referred to a jeweler by the name of TeppelZino (spelling?), located at 47th Street, in New York City, Teppe/Zino works for CIA and has frequent contact with the Cuban Ambassador, in Paris. The Ambassador regularly dis~ poses of jewelry and other valuables made available from Cuba, He does this through Teppeltino. However, the latter fools CIA, , For example, the Ambassador agrees to sell for $80,000. TeppelTino informe CIA the price 4s $110,000, and auietly pockets the difference, On the other hand, Teppeltino and CIA think the Cuban Ambassador does not know he is working for CIA, but the Ambassador does know. cee ee ee a Espinosa is determined to bring the very dangerous situation of the Cuban plot to the attention of some top level official in the United States Government unless he receives at least some reply from CIA. . Comment: Espinosa was not overly tense and did not indulge in his- trionics, but I felt he was quite determined to push this matter further if he did not get some response within the very near future. I cannot, and do not have to, judge his reli- ability on the basis of this one conversation, However, if had to guess at this point I would be inclined to accept mos ci what he said about actual events, But of course there are ell sorts of cbvious possibilities, including provocation. choked In accordance with what we agreed on, whiie Espinosa was SECRET re ee ee
74-90000 oy ees — 3 . ~4&- 7 waLtings t returned ana toid © at some iengrn tAat o£ course this was not the gort of thing got inte. Yowever » I added 4 that ft would see to it t t someone called im. = ether \ said that, unofficially» TL had © joyed ta ing wits him. Espinos4 geemed f mo1lified and remporarily reassured py this. However >» 1 doubt very ih he will wait longest than. two. OF three days more vefors making another attempt to head. ; 5) of Pe) 44 4