HW 355355 _—FOP-SECRET-DINAR DAILY SUMMARY 25 November 1963 This summary of significant information has not been coordinated outside the Office of Current Intelligence. It does not representa complete coverage of all current reports received, nor does time permit the complete evaluation of all reports which are included. CONTENTS FIDEL CASTRO'S SPEECH: Castro's two-hour speech on 23 November was what he termed an "objective analysis" of the implications of President Kennedy's assassination. The speech reflected an appre- hension that US policy toward Cuba may now become even tougher. He said the President's death was “serious and bad news" and sought to insinuate that "ultrareactionaries" ‘in the US are exploiting the assassination--and may have been responsible for it--as part of their campaign for a “more "aggressive" US policy against Cuba. (Page 1) MILITARY DEVELOPMENTS: The Cuban defensive military alert, ordered immediately after the news of President Kennedy's death, remains in effect. (Page 2) OTHER CUBAN REACTIONS TO THE ASSASSINATION: The chargé of the Cuban Embassy in Chile says there is no doubt that CIA or "other Yankees" assassinated the Presi- dent and that therefore a third world war will start. (Page 2) The Cuban UN ambassador issued a statement early on 23 October expressing "profound displeasure" with. which Cuba received news of the President's death. (Page 3) asked his[_ | for "all the data you have on Lyndon B. Johnson™ and the reply was sent immediately. (Page 3) ~ . “JFK Act 6 (1) (B) DoclId:324013279 Page 3
JEK Act 6 (1) (B) OTHER CUBAN REACTIONS TO THE ASSASSINATION - cont'd The Cuban instructed a number of Cuban on 22 November not to make "any statements." (Page 3) Che Guevara, in a 24 November speech, warned Cubans that “everything indicates that in the next months and years world peace will be threatened" as never before. (Page 3) CUBAN SUPPORT FOR EXTERNAL SUBVERSIVE ACTIVITIES: The Venezuelan Government plans to hold a press confer- ence on 26 November revealing the Cuban origin of the arms cache found in Venezuela early this month. (Page 3) di HW 55355 Docld:32401329 Page 4
HW 355355 FIDEL CASTRO'S SPEECH: Fidel Castro's two-hour speech on 23 November was what he termed an "objective analysis" of the implications of President Kennedy's assassination. The speech reflected an apprehension that US policy toward him may now become even tougher. He said the President's death was “serious and bad news" which could lead from "a bad situation to a worse situ- ation." He pointed out that President Kennedy's alleged promise not to invade Cuba had been strongly attacked by those “ultrareactionaries" in the United States who, he said, are now uSing the assassination to create a climate of "anti- Soviet, anti-Cuban hysteria" designed to pressure the new President toward a Cuban policy "highly prejudicial to the interests of peace and of mankind." Castro began his speech by stating that he "and the immense majority of human beings" react with "repudiation" to the assassination, which is not "a correct method of struggle." While the death of the imperialist system would make Cubans happy, “the death of a man, even if that man were our enemy, cannot make us happy...we must not confuse the systems with the men.'' He Said,''we always cease our belligerency at death; we always bow’with respect at death, even if it has to do with an enemy." Castro declared that the assassination can only benefit ‘those ultrarightist and ultrareactionary sectors, among which President Kennedy could not be counted." These “most reaction- ary forces are now breaking loose within the United States," he declared. President Kennedy was a strong president who was able to control these pressures, but the new US president, because of the circumstances inherent in his assumption of the presidency, will not have the same strength and authority, Castro said. a Castro then read a series of US news dispatches referring to the Castro-Communist affiliations of the accused assassin. He said this was all part of the "reactionary" effort to create a climate of “anti-Soviet, anti-Cuban hysteria" in the United States. This climate of hysteria, he said, is designed to face the new President with an irresistible pres- sure toward a "more aggressive policy." Castro then devoted considerable time in an attempt to throw doubt on the guilt of the accused assassin and to in- Sinuate that Oswald, whether guilty or innocent, was actually a tool of the extreme rightists. "Is he really guilty? Is he a scapegoat? Is he a psychopath? Or is he perhaps a tool of the most reactionary US circles? Who is this man? -l- DoclId: 32401329 Page 5
HW 355355 EN | | , —FOP-SEGCREFDENAR FIDEL CASTRO'S SPEECH - cont'd oY eee cont ad Why did he go into action precisely when circumstances were least favorable for a left-wing fanatic to assassinate the US President?" Castro stated that his investigation of the "reports, statements, and publicity" on the Fair Play for Cuba Committee in the United States failed to indicate that there was any chapter in Dallas or New Orleans and that "we never in our life heard of him (Oswald), Castro then re- ferred to US press reports on Oswald's attempt last summer to "infiltrate" the anti-Castro Student Revolutionary Directorate in the US and to DRE statements that Oswald was thought at that time to be "an agent of the FBI or the CIA." "They (the DRE leaders) must know, because they have many dealings with them, what FBI and CIA agents look like," Castro stated. Castro then declared that, while Oswald may or may not be guilty, it is nevertheless possible that he was "an agent for the CIA or the FBI, as those people suspected" and could have been "a tool of the: most reactionary sectors which may have been hatching a Sinister plan, which may have plotted the assassination of Kennedy because they disagreed with his international policy." "What is behind all this? What sinister maneuver are they hatching behind all this? Who can be re- sponsible for the assassination of President Kennedy? And who benefits from the assasSination...except the worst reaction- aries?" Castro warned that it is not possible at this point to answer these questions, "but we do say that it is suspect, that.we must be cautious and vigilant and alert." Castro closed with the usual expressions of confidence that the Cubans will be ready to meet any new crisis with resolution. (CIA FBIS 06, 24 November, OFFICIAL USE ONLY) - MILITARY DEVELOPMENTS: — eee The Cuban defensive military alert, ordered immediately after the news of President Kennedy's death, remains in effect, but no unusual Cuban military activity has been noted. (NSA, various internal military intercepts, 22-24 November, SECRET KIMBO) OTHER CUBAN REACTIONS TO THE ASSASSINATION: EE BOO LNAL ION A clandestine source reports that the chargé of the Cuban Embassy in Santiago de Chile said that there is no doubt that the CIA or "other Yankees" assassinated the President and that, aS a result, a third world war will start. He also emphasized the need for Cuba to prepare for a possible US invasion. (CIA Santiago de Chile, TDCS 3/565,826, 23 November, SECRET NO FOREIGN DISSEM) -2- DoclId:324013279 Page 6
HW 355355 “9p sperer DINAR OTHER CUBAN REACTIONS TO THE ASSASSINATION - cont'd ENE SUN = CONT A Carlos Lechuga, Cuban UN ambassador, issued a statement early on 23 November stating: "Despite the antagonisms exist- ing between the Government of the United States and the Cuban Revolution, we have received with profound displeasure the news of the tragic death of President Kennedy. All civilized men are always saddened by happenings such as this. Our delegation before the United Nations desires to express that this is the sentiment of the people and the Government of Cuba." (UPI New York, 23 November, UNCLASSIFIED) Cuban, dispatched a message to oa Shortly after President Kennedy's assassination asking to "please send me at once all the data that you have on Ly. Johnson including his political connec- tions, .etc."- replied immediately: "biographical data on Lyndon Johnson are in cable 24 of Prensa Latina in UPI dispatch 169 and supplements." _He 2 o referred. _-to "Who is Who" which he had sent..the|~—"~ earlier and said he will cable additional information later. (NSA 3/0[-—-YT1382-63 and -T1381-63, 23 November, TOP SECRET DINAR) .|dispatched a message Stating only "do not make any statements." This was probably an attempt to prevent any comments on President Kennedy's assassination until the official Cuban line could . be established. (NSA 3/0. T1380-63, 23 November, TOP SECRET DINAR) Che Guevara, in a speech on 24’November, expressed apprehensions similar to those stated by Fidel Castro the night before. Guevara blamed President Kennedy's assassination and the killing of Oswald on reactionary forces in the United States and warned Cubans that a new, tougher policy against Cuba will be forthcoming from the United States. “Everything indicates that in the next months and years world peace will be threatened by the most unscrupulous, ferocious, and warlike monopolistic oligarchy--and with the most murderous potential -~-that the history of humanity has every known,' Guevara said. (CIA FBIS, 25 November, OFFICIAL USE ONLY) CUBAN SUPPORT OF EXTERNAL SUBVERSIVE ACTIVITIES: A DDE OEE BUSS I ES A Venezuelan Government press conference tying the arms cache found in Venezuela earlier this month to Cuba is scheduled for Tuesday, 26 November, according to the US Embassy in Caracas, This is to be followed by a report to the OAS, probably on 2 December. (Am Emb Caracas 601, 24 November, CONFIDENTIAL) -3- ~TOP SECRET-DINAR DoclId:32401329 Page fF