178-10002-10158 ener ns RR ER RE rR A —————nnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnenenrntananneyannyanat v9} AGENCY : RECORD NUMBER ; RECORD SERIES : AGENCY FILE NUMBER: ORIGINATOR : FROM: TITLE : DATE: PAGES: SUBJECTS : DOCUMENT TYPE: CLASSIFICATION : RESTRICTIONS : CURRENT STATUS : DATE OF LAST REVIEW : OPENING CRITERIA : COMMENTS : JFK Assassination System Identification Form Agency Infermation ROCKCOM 178-10002-10138 ASSASSINATION FILES A-I(G) CIA CORRES.--ASSASSINATIONS (1) Document Information CIA UNSIGNED FOR THE RECORD FIRST MEETING OF BRANCH 4 TASK FORCE, 9 MARCH 1960 03/09/1960 3 ANTI-CASTRO ACTIVITIES CLANDESTINE OPERATIONS CIA MEMORANDUM Unclassified Consulted Redact 11/03/1995 Minutes of meeting. 105 HW 50955 Docld:32204904 ‘Page 1 8/27/20 |
(TYPED AS 1S) EYES ONLY 178-10002-10158 S-E-C-R-E-T MEMORANDUM FOR THE RECORD SUBJECT: First Meeting of Branch 4 Task Force, 9 March 1960 PARTICIPANTS: Col. J. C. King, CWH; J. D. Esterline, C/WE/4 Office of Security; Col. B. H. Vandervort, OTR; [ Office of Communications; Mike Ting, Comptroller; Scudder Georgia Robert Macre, PP Staff; Ralph WwW, Brown, Office of PP Staff; Col, Charles Cocke, OF/MPD, TSD; Casimiro Barquin, DPD; Mr. E. A, Stanuli DDS; Mr. Logistics; WH/4/PM l. Mr, Esterline briefed the group on the current situation in Cuba with the report that an alert has been sounded to initiate Phase One of the unified evacuation plan in Cuba. He added that this group would be working largely together in operational programming and planning. “Col, King told the group that the DCI is presenting a special policy 2. ‘He mentioned growing evidence that certain ‘ “paper to the NSC 5412 representatives. of the "heads'' in the CASTRO Government have been pushing for an attack on the U.S, Navy installation at Guantanamo Bay and said that an } attack on ‘the installation is in fact, possible, Col, King stated that the first problem in this operation is how 3, To date, he said, we have been to reach the mass of Cubans with the truth. denied use of certain American islands that might be useful for either PP or PM activities, In addition, a number of Chiefs of State of friendly smaller countries are, at the moment, unwilling to ''stick their necks out further to support an operation directed at the overthrow of the CASTRO regime They are in fact, worried that their respective countries may soon be the victims of Cuban exploitation, He said that unless Fidel and Raul CASTRO and Che GUEVERA could be climinated in S84 package - which is highly unlikely - this operation can be a long, drawn-out affair and the present government will only be overthrown by the use of force. : 4, Returning to.the basic operational premises, Col. King said that the first problem is to reduce the base of support of the CASTRO Government with the masses (reportedly the regime now enjoys the support of between 60 and 70 percent of the population), An additional problem is that opposition forces have no real leader and are divided into many parts with some of them, st'sceptible to merger than others, Three groups appear to be satis- factory for initial exploitation and each of these has been asked to come up with names of potential candidates for paramilitary and allied training. After training, this group could become the instructor cadre to train additional | Cuban covert action groups. . : EYES ONLY S-E-C-R-E-T HW 50955 Docld:32204904 Page 2 AUVdGIT dod “Y aTWHyO aHL KOYa Lao ¢ SOLOH
i . EYES ONLY Joe S E-C-R-E-T 5. The DCI, Col, King said, has approved the training of the instructor cadre ata U.S, military installation. The principal installation under — consideration at this time is Fort Sherman in the Canal Zone which is under the control of the U.S. Army's Jungle Warfare Training Center, The DCI has "also approved the Phase Two training, that is the training of Cuban action | groups, in non-U.S. territory. A given area in one of the Caribbean countries has been offered and is under consideration. Col. King expressed the opinion that the minimum time that will be consumed in this training will be between 6 and 7 months, It is hoped that during this period the acceptable opposi- tion groups will have been merged and will have formed a government-~in-exile to which all trained elements could be attached. 6, Col, King, addressing himself to the enemy's capabilities and programs, said that CASTRO will unquestionably continue to train and arm various worker and student groups who can be mobilized into militia elements in support of the regular military establishment of Cuba. He added that reports indicate that CASTRO has more arms and ammunition available to him now than BATISTA had at the height of his power and warned that under no circumstances should we underestimate the capabilities of the enemy. He said that the Cuban operation would be far more difficult and complicated than the previous one conducted by this Division and that before this prob- | lem is solved, major operations will be necessary, 7. Capsulizing various intelligence reports, Col, King said the Cubans are now initiating operations with an objective of establishing revolutionary movements in the Caribbean area that are not limited to those countries that are under dictatorships, With Ambassadors acting as chiefs of operations, . the Cuban Government apparently hopes to overthrow the existing national - _ governments and establish in their place governments that are far left and that are friendly to, and if possible, controlled by Cuba, Naturally, he added, this is generally in line with the objectives of International Communism which are, and for some time have been, to divide the traditional solidarity of the Latin American countries to the detriment of U.S, national security and foreign policy objectives, 8, Interms of operational problems, Col, King stated that he knew of - no Latin American country whose people were less secure operationally than ‘Cubans, On the CI side, he said that it is known that CASTRO has more than 122 agents in the Miami area alone, 9, In summarizing the more immediate requirements and possibilities, Mr. Esterline said that the support of all offices represented at the meeting will be required on a continuing basis. He added that support from the Office of Security, Logistics, and OTR and others would be needed comparatively © soon in: 2 EYES ONLY SEO R-ET t HW 50955 Docla:32204904 Page 3 AUVdGIT Guod *y aTwusg5 aHL HOUT AdOOOLOHA |
| | HY 50955 — DocLa: 32209904" Page 4 ~ weekly. a . EYES ONLY S-E-C-R-E-T a. Assessment of potential recruits to the instructor cadre, b. Establishment of an operational base which will probably be located in the Miami area, The establishment of a secure base in a foreign country for the training of Cuban action groups, Ce 10. He said that while we are awaiting national policy authorizations, Branch is proceeding with its planning operations and is preparing two jects at this time, one to cover extensive radio operations which probably will include the establishment of a 'gray" radio transmitter and another ject for the development of air and maritime capabilities for the in-exfil- tration of men and materiel, ll, He suggested that the group of specialists meet here at the Branch The next meeting will be held on Tuesday, 15 March,* Although the overall Cuban project per se does not, as yet, have a cryptonym, Mr. Esterline explained the reasons for the formation of Branch 4 in WE Division and suggested that.use of "Branch 4'' in communications would be sufficient to “eestity the subject, 12, - He mentioned that the following Branch 4 personnel would bein contact with the participants at the meeting from time to time for planning the operational purposes: Mr. RoberttReynolds; DC/WH/4 Mr. David Phillips, Radio Operations Mr. Phillip: ‘Toomey} ‘PP Mr, Economic Action ‘Mr, Adolf*Lium Mr, ErsAyStanulis;’ Plans and PM Ops 13, Mr, Esterline indicated that an additional step in obtaining policy for operational support from other elements of the U.S, Government would be au @IVWaaAS AHL WOUA AdODOLOHA AUVdGIT duog taken tomorrow, Thursday, 10 March 1960, when certain WE and PP Staff personnel would confer with Captain Spore, USN, a member of the Staff of the Office of Naval Operations, Department of Defense, * 0900 hours 3 : ‘ EYES ONLY S-E-C-R-E-T