! ) | nv fi05- 956059 eu SECRET : ECHAITE's third ana last phase of training was conducted at aflarge hacienda Set Ov%®,on a huge piece of land: This property 4s located s¢Gberacodftn the road leading to. Mariel and Piner del’ Rio. Here ECHTRTE was instructed¥in the Gismantling, the assemb yY ond firing of machine guns, the M-3 ; rifle and ALS caliber istolgs}f He was élso taught the fundamentals - . of (explosives) now to make ponds dithe setting of Suge s>» tne Llace--. ’ ment exposivelfn order to obtain veired Gamnag “Now to Lowy : @ Geffen how t9 use [iolotov cocktails) ECHARTETts instruct yd for This phase of. training was a whit® Cuban male, about age 60, eI about 5'8" tall, and about 175 pounds ir weight ®&’ Here again Lott ECHARTE never learned the name-of this instpyucftor. This was the 4 only location where BORE REE Gbserved others dergoing the same oad i training ¥ At various times ™ HARTEXObserved four. to six others} C$) whoRappesred to be Cubans, each being trained’ py a separate ol inStructor. The trainees never came in contact or very close I View of each other and ECHART ! IARTE neyer Jearned the identity of the others who were being trained’ § {>>¢ es re. ie ECHARTE believesothers were probably trained at the OR) | | (Gene locations he reported her the pr2viously mentimed phases of his treining, but they appz ently wer: intentionally#scheg at later or carlier hours than he report:>d so that (Cuban G- kept the trainees fron learning the idenvity of each others oe led ) we One day in the course of this training ECHARTE visited (3 RODRIGUEZ) at his pifice, here was another man present. When : SCHARTE entered {RODRIGUEZ urned to the other individual end sai de | ° "Here's one of the men 2 { { t | vidual who was introduced as MARCOS | BRAVOKS) On looking back ECHARTE feels guite certain t let he pag being wdined to ve @ Guerrilla fighter] in Latin Se RH BS vant you to meei" and introdu ed ECHARTE - by nage to the other indi |! oo ifter ECHARTE had been in training ebeutusix nonths, Dg he was told to report tof RODRIGUEZ YS) ther, he g a, (RODRIGUEAeo14 Sone him that FIDEL CASTRO had decided that MANOI, RAY ~ leader“of JURE, an anti-Castro organization. headquartered in ‘Puerto Rico, was ~ °*: | causing the Government of Cuba (GOC) too mudi troubTe ena Bf FIDEL CASTRO had ordered Cuban G-2 to select the best man alia 1d give him the assignment of assassinating MANOLO: RAY, . Groostounz aid he considered ECHARTE the dest man and was: giving his assi i . at Le a?) co ment to him. & ) HW 45937 DocId:32304241 Page 16
/ ! , ' : . sae . es 9568 SoH yi ; SECRET - * [Roprrwueg) a instructed ECHARTE to purchase @ boat and to locate about 24 neople who' wanted to escape from. Cuba and to . plan an escape with these individuals. ECHARTE was to create ~ the impression “het it yas a legitimate attenpt to escape from Cuba although RODRIGUEZP Promised ECHARTE that Cuban G-2 would make the necessury arrangements with coastal patrols,at the _ . selected departure point, so that no unfavorate incident would tal: occur. The money to purchase the boat was furnished to ECHART a by Cuben G-2 and ECHARTE was assigned the code name "POCHO," SiH o ? ? ECH JARTE's ¢ est assoc late at that time in Cuba-was = Bantlo conon pina foes he was one of the individuals” “ECHARTE Cu) app loached to " scape with him. -However, [CORON gis not a very Cus cour ageous individus and he expressed fears as to the consequences in the event the escape was thwarted. In order_to . convince (CORON,Rihat he should go along, ESHARTE finally tol adgconoiase(U} that the escapé*had the blessing of Cuban G-2 and that the a coastal guards would be removed from the point of departure (M) a at the appropri ‘te hour of escape and that safety wes assured ? - ECHAR@E an Zonoiifenen set out to find and purchase Cul @ suiteble crafi... They were not immediately able to locate - such a@ boat and after several dgys of searching, ECHARTE became “- irritated. At this point@CoronMtated "Tomorrow there will be cu) | just the boat we need agyvertiséd in the aewspaper. You'll see." “.¢ | The following dey oxo ans running to SCHARTE waving the Cujy | | newspaper saying, “I told you. Here is jug the boat." Suddenly, ECHAR‘'E felt that possibly#COROMWas also working ror Cut Cuban G-2 and that he knew beforehand that that particular _ advertisement would appear in.the paper. ECHARTE andfCORO} vent CU], to see the fisherman who advertised the o0at and agein ECHARTE had the feeling that the fishermen who was offering the boat for ale was also either working for or teking instructé om vk J Cuban G-2. The boat, "Leda" was then purchased. (& he ECHARVE end CORO! ue) began sslecting their companions oo for an escape by sea. Some of the individuals approached: were personal friends and others were referred by friends To. give ae the escape plan & legitimate aurea, all individuals approsetled (x yy, to participate in the escape were told that they woud have to pz - peregy SECRET . ; ; - HW 45937 DocId:32304241 Page 17
Oo. ~~ 4 heir proportionate expenses for the trip ‘to cover the cos of the boat. At that time ECHARTE was acquainted with one JOSE ARRANGACTA who had recently escaped from prison. ECHARTE | (if) helped [Ee cae ions wif + “eluded ARRANGACIA in the planned escape bege Give a legitimate appeerance to the Ok x . [In one of ECHARTE' s last conve Ronrrcveg efore the departure took place fR {RODRIGUEZ ssured ECHARTE that in the event he needed assistan in feturning to , eure after killing MANOLO RAY, he (RopRicunz tould send a sage to one cf his egents such as “Tito the barber" to assist BCHARTE in every way possible. The implication was that "pito the barber" was a Cuban G~-2 agent locateé in either the United States or Puerto Rico. ECHARTE Sin knowledge of the full identity of "Tito the barbe Roparcusg Sersonat ly furnished ECHARTE $4, 000 in ‘United States currency, just prior to ECHARTE's departure from “a Cuba, to cover ECHAR RPE s services and exrenses on this assignment ECHARTE said he arrived in the United Stetes with $5, 006 ed 4 States currency of which $1,000 was his cwn money. Cx) BOK) When .the yy OF depar re arrived and the coast ne cleared of guarés QfDANTLO aseayeis or) unnecessary delay in a] departure by insisting upon Griving into countryside to pick * up a Chinese millionaire who, according Loe ORO} ad a elton CU] ; dollars banked in the United Stetes and was willing -to_» | heavily upon safe. arrival in the United States. Wher foro) Cu) ‘ returned to the departure point, it was cark and his cdr lights — . . were apparently spotted by a peasant. Be police were called by the peasant end they capturedmCORONfeid others on the beach CU) and fired their guns eat the boat. ECHARV'E fled in the boat with about 10 others. ECHART® does not know for certain whether other tet individuals in the boat were Cuban G-2 agents but thinks it possible. Cain) Coe At thet particular time ORLANDO PANTOJA was Chief of “the Coastal Defenses. ECHARTE feared thet if PANTOJA or one of his assistants heard the shots being fired, he would. believe that an actual escape was taking place and would either fire coastal guns at ECHARTE's craft or send boats ou‘, to capture it. Consequently, ECHARTE took 2. Giversionary course out to ‘& ) (Bye) HW 45937 DocId:32304241 Page 18
his training. Upon arrival at Miami, ECHARTE telephoned YoortevE Pans told him of his safe arrival. ECHARTE then proceeded alone to Puerto Rico and located the residence of [RODRIGUEZ ) ECHARTE saidgne Was supposed to utilize either code}6) m : rs (SECRET Sy WY ffl05-9568 (1) | ‘ ECHARTE arrived at Miami, Florica, with the assistance of the United States Coast Guard (USCG) in late February, 1964, exact date unrecalled. He said that his preparations for the escape, including purchase of the boat and organizing the escape group, had taken about six or eight weeks time. after “he completed MANOLO RAY. He placed RAY under surveillance in order to of weeks he sent {two plain ‘text etters \to his mistress in Cuba. He identified her as OLGA PER VALLE and said she resided at Campanario #22, apartment 17, Havena, Cuba. | FCHARTE had arranged with his mistress prior to departure from Cubs, &o have dl her take any letter she received from ECHARTE. directly toe determine his day to day n texehet and_habits. Within a "eave, ORD or Secret inkgPfn his messages but in both of these instances felt it was unnecessary to do so, and he merely indicated in the lain textBkhat he had located MANOLO RAY, had hii under observa- ion and that everything was progressing catisfactorily. ECHARTE tated he scon Jearned after his arrival in the United States,. nad gina, wedfne ther censorship nor a wetch on United States mailyend, therefcre, he felt Gecret 3 inks] end use of the Goa vere unnefessa ae So 9) ne ) ECHARTE estimated that he had remained in Puerto Ri:co *., approximately 25 days and that this involved a lapse of period of about three - fovr months from the time he had received the assignment to assassinate RAY. ECHARTE séid he concluded that. circumstances had chenged and that RAY was no longer e per aha threat to the Cuban Government, and that tc murder him would be an “unnecessary apd dangerous step for W)o.° take. He said that ei thereupon hesent a enirdk lai texyrrettcr to his: mistress which it. he knew woul@™be delRverd* to RODRIGUES rd therein Stored thet his mission was impossip le cancdmethat he was abandoning it. . ECHARTE ‘added that even prior to tne time before he left Cuba, he contemplet- ead not fulfilling this mission but merely accepting the assignment as a means of getting.out of Cuba. He also stated that after he observed RAY with his two children he feli that assacsinating hi would be absolutely brutal and that his heart softened for RAY, HW 45937 DocId:32304241 Page 19 ce ce