AGENCY INFORMATION AGENCY: FBI RECORD NUMBER: — 124-10221-10299 RECORD SERI ES: HQ AGENCY FILE NUMBER: CR-SEE TITLE ORIGINATOR: FROM: TO: TITLE: _ DATE: PAGES: SUBJECT: DOCUMENT TYPE: ORIGINAL CLASSIFICATION: - REVIEW_DATE: STATUS COMMENTS: HW 509453 Docld: 327340906 DOCUMENT INFORMATION FBI SAC, AL DIRECTOR, FBI _ CR 134-25251-56X 09/28/1976 6 PAPER, TEXTUAL DOCUMENT Secret 08/17/1998 Redact RESTRICTIONS: JFK Act 6 (1B) JFK Act 6 (4) INC LHM Page i NEW CLASSIFICATION: UPDATE DATE:
| | . 7 "NoLASSIFLRD Date: ° pene SHON I tae Cf> ot Pega ite he ZS I EA Be 2 a G ¢ io) oO -E oP isp) urs ce A Nie E. AY OD: SEB mr ee OP) eee nee fr SSCA revel % Medea) fo. Voft fegrasl*Z0/3(4 | Te pp vepad Gok (3e ‘ fs = Guba (6) - (00: ALBANY) " (e ¢ furnished to the Bureau for transmittal to the CIA at the ee ess level. (U) .- _ £ . 4S Agents who conducted the interview were SA's | wy SOSEPH J DEYO and JAMES J. ROSE. (U) - 3 Be ‘Gio tltaled. | a, AA af inangpeorees of 9/27/76. 0-8 st8 Fed jer en | “i } ve ts > st ae ne ee ae shea! + AF anclosed for the Bureau is the on scTnal and Os : copies of a letterhead memorandum dated and captioned as AS aboye, which reflects the subject's interview of 9/17/76 at wee pf By theyt ica, New York, Resident Agency. » wie. . tg ? ie Bsge oe. roo Fe J ys e anclosed forfMiami are two copies and for#€hica (a) ~ | os Cg syone copy of the above déscribed LHM. (U) ee =a: if md me s = 5 . | renee cy are a thal : re ca eae we Contents of the LHM are self-explanatory and are Qeey , PS* bein eS Y hd rea z reflécts information concerning e Cuban Intelligence Service } 8 as well as a possible double ag situation™| i, - 25,2 a NN Albany continues to afford this sensitive investi- see ee a priority statugyand ¢ all qeuture developments in phiey gee will .be expeditiousze@brigudil) to. the. pos aake Ng EBEHO. Va ‘oe BY A5 ap jam: n ¢105-23589) Kae hicage (Enc. RN ie ~ 2 a sh Be This LHM has been cups "Secret" in that it h HY 50953 DBoctd: 32340906 Page 2?
Sa arama aa ao “ ‘ UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION (fee , Ne York 4:2) @&) C september 28, 976 REASON-FCIM ITS JP MANUEL LEONARDO. DE. ; 7 contained in this nemorandum >) is considered secret unless otherwise noted hereind U aL; fama i yah on September 17, “1976, MANUEL LEONARDO DE ARMAS, by ee Ie request, voluntarily appeared at the Utica ReSident Agency nee of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. (FBI) He was advised a mof the FBI's interest and jurisdiction in internal security week. e. Agee. /, Bo in matters as well as his constitutional rights as they appear on op ¥ an Interrogation; Advice of Rights Waivery DE ARMAS subsequently Sofi furnished the following COCR whicl/ was recorded with- _ > 2 is knowledge and consent. / VENEERS poo DE ARMAS departed Utica, Ne see York, in “March, 1975 for the purpose of obtaining employment in the Miami, Florida area. He subsequently gained employment as an investigator with “a firm named Preventive Security Service. DE ARMAS explained ‘that his grandmother presently resides in Caracas, Venezuela and that he left the United States for Caracas con Ocgz6ber 2, 1973, aan iste p a dir ctor of onal a BETANCOQURT.. of Venezuela. D'ARMAS stated that MARIA has been involved™in/the Leftist Movement , in Venezuela along with 4 brothers whose last names are GARCIA-PONCE’ who are considered the Leftist elite of that country. : pointed out that his primary reason for traveling to Caracas was to place himself in a position where he could be of assistance to _| the United States Government. He stated that in conversations with “ ARIA and the GARCIA-PONCE Brothers, they discussed numerous a illegal activities including the possibility of drug “traffic from = “Columbia. (4 AL) DE ARMAS returned to Miami on October 4, 1975 and discusse the overall possibility of establishing contact with the Cuban — Government with the FBI; but in view of the vagueness of his . ‘statements, there was little response from that agency. He then i) This document t Ne EETION TO SECRET pegrnmt ioe recommendations aa u) ‘the FEI. It _ DEQEASSHO RES Los A/OR, a EASEORPTEY, 9800 ANN ad, f Ais ower be ide your age e Lage “ ~ Heys currently residing in Cuba ee Motion Pictures, and the ex-wife of .BA A DATA ‘ease i A HY 50953 DBoctd: 32340906 Page 3
HY 50957 be described as an Assistant Y CIA source This information RBNANDE.Z whom DE ARMAS lary General. Counsel described as a functionary of “the in Miami, and also from oné .RICARDC functioned out of Caracas. Ye oy the information concerning this ‘individual is common ka in certain circles. A second individual, QRLANDOZGAR was described as a Cuban National in chargé“of the personat— security of the President of Venezuela and(2ise a CIA source ,¥6) and apparently in charge of security for heh levels of Venezuelan Government in general. VASQUEZ, according to DE ARMAS, established ac . in Venezuela Emho is also working for the PRE Rp¥hen asked how-he knew this claime at information is well known in Miami amoung Cuban emigre groups as well as in Cuba itself. He claimed that VASOUEZ has a target of the Cuban Government for the last fifteen years. The. tape was completed to the satisfaction of hisi Cuban Intelligence corroboraters and he described the finished product as a "bombshell". The tape was then submitted to FIDEL CASTRO for review and approval. CASTRO reviewed the film prior to its submission to the Political Bureau and after CASTRO's review it was sent back to their group for revision. A number of cuts were made in the video tape which is apparent Mhen viewed in that the tape in part lacks continuity. [t) Reference to ERASTOS FERNANDEZ and ORLAND GARCIA VASQUEZ was deleted from the video tape.” The purpose of these PASCUAL appears to have been the case officer handling E ARMAS, told DE ARMAS that CASTRO desired to speak to him after reviewing the tape. DE ARMAS was placed on standby to await a summons from CASTRO for interview. About 2 o'clock Eron[Pas fol ing morning DE ARMAS received a telephone call (Base was ypepvord any stress in Venezuelan-Cuban relations. from] PASCUA orming him that he would be right over to his Rotel rdom and at CA was ready for his interview. At about 2:30 a.m.{ PASCUA ed him up and drove him to the Plaza of the Revolttion. hey entered the building directly behind the statute of JOSE MARTIN proceeded to a fifth floor office occupied by CASTRO. Es (m) DE ARMAS' interview with CASTRO was brief and to the point. CASTRO was sympathic towards DE ARMAS' position but spoke as if the impetus for the press conference came from SECRET Boctlda: 327340906 Page 4 MORALEGANAVARETTE, who \/ 4) =f); However, DE ARMRS Claimed that, 2A. Gau Co Bha eal 16 Ss = \s £ t x eee ss a
RE fo LE _ARDO DE ah (A) DE ARMAS and that for his own reasons CASTRO wanted a number _of revisions made in the tape. CASTRO's attitude implied that he was permitting the DE ARMAS news release and pointed hat that release was purely voluntary on DE ARMAS' part. AL) DE ARMAS recalled, that again on his own, he made a statement at the beginning of the press conference in which he remarked that the statements he was making were voluntary. His interview with CASTRO lasted for approximately twenty minutes and he expressed a completely willing and positive.attitude to CASTRO in the release of the press conference. He did not object in any way to the revisions which CASTRO had found necessary. DE ARMAS' impression from his interview with CASTRO was that CASTRO attempted to convey the impression to him that he or the Cuban Government were doing DE ARMAS a favor in permitting him to make the press release. At this point in the. interview, DE ARMAS explained (a) that he did not feel that the information that he furnished in the press release was of any great damage to the United States Government in that it contained many obvious untruths a . misinformation. As an example, he purposely identi ied ; | FRED DUNCAN as an loyee of the CIA when he is actually | an emproyes of Dek fi)tie reiterated that his motivation throughou A) al Ais activity was to ingratiate himself with the Cuban a Government in order to place himself in a position whereby he could be of assistance to the United States Government. DE ARMAS . accepted full responsibility for all g is actions as. Sy noted throughout this entire affair. ¢ » | DBPARMAS noted that he had made some comments concerning: EELIx INEZ whom he identified as a Cuban exile who left Cubs some rime g the revolution and is connected with the Anti-CASTRO news media. DE ARMAS did not know MARTINEZ ‘and was simply briefed on his activities by Cuban Intelligence, which information was reflected in his news release. He also referred to He recalls having He referred ICARDO NAVARETTE, mentioned above, Pp ae which informagion was not aqeéeretéea from tne press en a rélease NAVARETTE, scoring to,DR ARMAS, was a State witness. in the case of DR,.ORLANPO A BOS CES | i } i } ‘ DE ARMAS stated ‘that the press release contained comments concerning the FBI in ams ; Florida, and specifically about an SECRET 17 | SAV as Os pe HY 50953 DBoctd: 32340906 Page 5
RES MANUEL LEONARDO DE ARMAS CK Qa) In regards to the ROLAL MASFERRER mn that Abdala considered MASFEPDER' as an obstacle to its efforts and had formulated plans for his assassination. The possibility of planting C-4 plastic explosive in his automobile was explored. after a number of discussions, of which DE ARMAS was privy, someone in Abdala made the: statement to forget about the plans to kill MASFERRER. DE ARMAS stated that shortly thereafter MASFERRER was killed when his automobile was bombed. After the bombing, Mr. ROBERT MILLS of the. FBI Miami, approached DE ARMAS and inquired as to any information he may have as to the bombing and whether he was personally involved in it. DE ARMAS advised MILLS of the discussions within ABDALA concerning the possible assassination of MASFERRER but denied any direct knowledge of MASFERRER's murder. . Mf) ; 7 | Cuban Intelligence were aware that DE ARMAS was affiliated _ with Abdala and they also believed that he had direct knowledge of the MASFERRER killing. As a result, during his debriefings, DE ARMAS ot attributed the receipt of plastic explosiye C-4 from BOB MILLS whom ee he purposely identified/asifa CIA officer Ag) then he claimed that he gave(iL) the explosives to Abdala*with the implication that Abdala was responsible for MASFERRER's murder. ré a | mn ee ; yy une Ch ouES & DE ARMAS claimed that an individual named ] = although claiming to be an anti-Castro Cuban in the Miani,"ETo Area, is a close personal friend of CASTRO and RAUL CASTRO. He is the director of an anti-Castro magazine wet the feeling in Havana is that he may be working for CASTRO. fa | . CAD ag. The bombing of WQBA Broadcaster MTU Le MoU ees Was 4 a ee also discussed with DE ARMAS. DE ARMAS claimed that Shortly after “| furnishing his press release he was naturally branded as a traitor by the Cuban Community in Miami. MOULION took the position ~ publicly that the full story concerning DE ARMAS had not come to . light and thereafter statements concerning his treason were unfounded at the time. About 3 days after his defense of DE ARMAS, his automobile was bombed. with the result that MOULION a lost both his legs. DE ARMAS had no knowledge of the bombing UB of MOULION's car. However, the offigijal Cuban sentiment is that, the bombing was performed by ELLITEGER is group. The Cuban _ + fell Government is elated over this be TO: ee PRIA who has alwasy been’ one of the leaders of the anti-Castro movement in Miami, had now resorted to radical terrorist action, fearful as many other anti-Castro Cubans. are, that the United States will resume diplomatic relations with Cuba,-~thereby recognizing the Cagftro Regime, DE. AgMAS stated that ivlaimed that i) Cuban Intelligence, specifically[/MoIsEs and MIKI #6 FILIPIO RIVERIA's group was responsible for the SECRET: 29 HY 50953 DBoctd:32340906 Page 6
a Be Ae also stated that Cuban TORZCH CRESPO instrumental in the bomb ssel off the bahamas which precipitated«: ‘DE ARMAS explained that all of the informatio C above bombing was forthcoming from conversatigng with -Cuban-Intelligence officers during his stay in Cuba. DE ARMAS disavowed ny knéwlédge or participation in any of the above described “kombings or other | bombings related to Cuban matters in the US.or abroad. He placed a great reliance in the opinions of oe ny @nce and attributed that to / what he considered to be an extens Paver) twork working in Maimi for the CASTRO Government. He advised¢ that! a& network furnishes the Cuban of ays. (% Aback from Miami of its vardvous operations within a matter of days. ) , vais ee Concerning ,OBLAND: So cuban Government feels / that the United States in some wey is protecting him, and considers / the Dominican Republic as being dominated by the United States. (, my DE ARMAS felt that he had accomplished his objective of te OiMeelf in a position of trust within Cuban Intelligence &.. “H@ wished to make this a matter of record with American igence as well as to place himself at their disposal. His only is that he be advised as quickly as possible as to his possible ion} by the United States Government. XHe stated that he , Sy # ‘directed by Cuban Intelligence to perform any acts , - ‘ ape uadm Whose noted above on their behalf. The Cuban , en@e officers that he identified never identified Saas being with the DGI but only described themselves as y . Cuban Intelligence. DE ARMAS was never shown any credentia or R a ena dgcuments which would identify them as such -a( & ' 4 : { 30* S HY 50953 DBoctd:32340906 Page 7