(404-10179-10200 RETURN TO CIA Background Use Only Do Not Reproduce TRANSMITTAL SLIP) ep Ce | o7 the Ecawe rub. Drewes VU A the ong (betascgunt PRE, FaLire ic tie RODE NO. BULOING EARASON foaw ag 94] REPLACTS Fe we SAD WA pats 4a") FER 93 BMICM RAY $a LHC 6/6R
aay wea ie Jo March 1964 MEMORANDUM FOR THE RECOAD SUBJECT: Centact Report, Meeting with AMSMILE-1 DATE : 1k March 1964, 1830-2100 hours PILACE : Deake Zelbert's Restaurant PRESENT Subject and] as Ereitheisn oS 1. I scheduled this meeting for the sole purpose of coatinuing my quiet development of Subject begun in November 1963. The entere prise wae undertaken on a non-specific basis just to keep in touch with : Subject because of hie relatively pre-eminent position in the exile community. Before the instant meeting I had had brief discussiona with Lolten and Anderson, obtaining their concurrence with my idea that Subject could eomeday be a valuable source of insights into the ; operationa level ft had actually intended at this meeting to concentrate oa Subsect’s function in the ut found that the { discussion directed itself almost exclusively te the affairs of AMBANG-1. This fact waa the direct and accidental reault of my opening gambit to the effect of ' What's new?" in answer to which Subject complained that i since our leet meeting in January, Latin America seemed to be on the uo way to hell in a handcart and about the only two people who seemed to j. be doing anything about it were AMBANG and former Veneauelan i president Betancourt. 1 ahan't attempt to reproduce the two hours of General conversation but do feel that the importance of AMBANG by coupled with the nature of Subject'e views on him warrant a statement ' of what these wiews ars. 7f 2. Subject has known AMBANG for several years and has admired him through all the various eeasons of thelr. relationship. Subject wae first impressed with AMBANG'‘a organising talents at the time AMBANC took over responsibility for organizing the anti-Batista Havana underground from Faustino Peres. AMBANGe-l's talente as an engineer, according te Subject, have impreased nearly everyone who is od [So] Aarne \ a 31K
ee nam memeraaters p ° i : ! i | aware ofthem. Those two factors, the organizing talent ana ibe denonatrable engineering ekill are apparently wedded to a firm, judicious personality with the result that AMBANG ie an effective and appealing pareon to Cuban exiles of various stripe. Throughout the evening Subject reiterated his conviction that of all extle leaders who have emerged since the take-over of Cuba by Caetro, AM: BANG alone bas the ability and the profile to put tugether and jead a successful resistance enterprise. 3. Subject stressed repeatedly his conviction that whoever is to attempt to cause a serious crack in the ever-thickening ring of defanses on the island must have the kind of name which will conjure « positive image in the imagination of the average Cuban. This person must mean something, not only intarms of past affillations and present rulitary strength but in terma of the immediate and not so immediate future, to” those persons who, though net committed to the Castro revolution, have either benefitted alightly or are to und to it by virtue of their jobs. Subject ie certain these persons would not consider AMBANG to be a MeEenac g. 4. Subject claimed that he is not working with or for AMBANG and asserted that he had not conversed or corresponded with him for over half a year. Uf indeed Subject was leading me on, attempting to gel) AM BANG to me, he did so with a subtlety to which Iam definitely not accustomed. He expressed oa more than one occasion a fear that AMBANG might, {n his zeal to get something moving, commit himeelf to auch gf tight timing that he would be forced to undertake action at a moment which waa actually disadvantageous to Limself. He stressed . that even AMBANG's capital on the island is limited and that whatever movement is made to cash in on this capital must be calculated to have . the greatest possibie effect. re