—FOP-SECRET-PESAR- CUBAN INTERNAL SITUATION ~- cont'd Intercepted Cuban military messages of 7 December indicate that serious rain damage has occurred in both Pinar del Rio .and Oriente provinces. Five unidentified military units in Pinar del Rio reported the extent of damage to their defensive fortifications and facilities in messages to the operations officer, apparently at fourth army headquarters in Pinar del Rio. More than half the trenches had been destroyed, the shelters and command posts at most of the units reporting — had suffered serious damage,and division headquarters reported that, while its facilities were still in good condition, the roads leading to it will have to be repaired. Meanwhile, in - Oriente Province, intercepts indicate that torrential rainfall had caused the rivers to flood making travel diffi d had forced the closing of the Baracoa airport. (oe 4 2/SL[____R302-63, 8 December, .SECRET KIMBO) _.THE* PRESIDENT'S ASSASSINATION: - The Reuters correspondent in Madrid has advised the US Embassy that he has been queried by a New York client about an 8 December El Tiempo report that Spanish police have de- tained a Cuban national--45-year-old Enrique Pascual Ruedolo Gongora, alleged to have arrived in Spain via an IBERIA flight «from New York on 23 November--in connection with a plot against ~ the late President Kennedy. Local police have confirmed deten- “tion of Ruedolo. However, they claim that he arrived in Spain on. 29 November and to the best of their knowledge has abso- . lutely no connection with the assassination. They maintain * that he was expelled from the United States for undetermined “reasons and is being held because he has been unable to —- arrange onward travel to Cuba. CAS is pursuing the matter in. Madrid. . (Am Emb Madrid, 1155, 7 December, CONFIDENTIAL) ~” INSURGENCY AND CIVIL UNREST: A fire on 6 December on a farm near Cardenas, Matanzas Province, destroyed approximately one acre of henequen. The chief of the Matanzas Bureau of Public Order (BOP) informed -Havana in an 8 December intercepted message that the fire, "supposed to. be a e," ut out by the Cardenas fire } ' department. — 2/YJ] R146-63, 8 December, SECRET KIMBO) ~4- HW 55355 DocId:3274013277 Page 9
FOP-SECREF-PHEAR INSURGENCY AND CIVIL UNREST - cont'd oe ee cont | On 6 December the Department of State Security (DSE) unit in Moron informed provincial headquarters in Camaguey that on 5 December "they tried to shoot down the chief of the PURS in Velasco...he escaped unharmed. Full details will be sent by letter."' The message did not indicate to whom “they" referred. 2/YJ[___VT922-63, 6 December, SECRET KIMBO) The-militiaman who was arrested in Guantanamo on 3 December for suspected counterrevolutionary activities (see Daily Summary, 6 December) has been freed. Sector E headquarters _in Mayari Arriba informed First Army headquarters in San- tiago on 5 December that Esteban Mendez Almaguer and Jose Joiret Aria, both identified as natives of Quijada, were re- lea the DS The reason for their release was not given. fo] ovr R197-63, 6 December, SECRET KIMBO) The DSE unit at Ciego de Avila has captured one’ insur- gent and reports the surrender of another. On 6 December ~~. the DSE provincial headquarters in Camaguey was informed that the insurgent Demetrio Armas Izquierdo was captured near Jatibonico. The message stated that Armas "was reportedly active in.the Havana, Matanzas, and Santa Clara areas, and “ most recently.in Camaguey. He belonged to an insurgent band “led by one Carlo." The same message reported the surrender “. of Edmundo Almeida (see Daily Summary, 5 December), "previously “. associated with the bands. of Juan Alberto," to the DSE unit sat Jatibonico. . a “In addition, on 7 December Ciego de Avila reported the arrest of. Jesus Marquez, a 39-year-old resident of Jucaro. Marquez is said to have cashed an “out-of-circulation 50-dollar ob which he received from the US on 4 Décemb 63." a 2/YS R138-63, 6 December and 2/YJ, R140-63, \ 7 December, SECRET KIMBO) ‘. An undetermined number of residents of Vegas de .Palmas, San Antonio de las Veultas and Agiada de Moya, Las Villas Province, recently fled the country from an unknown point of embarkation... Central Army headquarters in Santa Clara in- formed Havana that the persons from Vegas de Palmas had been identified as: Lucina Manso, Rodobaldo Monteagua, and } .Moises Monson Garit, an ex-private in the revolutionary armed forces .. ention aS escapees were Feliz Perez, Inoes Lima. | _2/8L, R301-63, 8 December, SECRET KIMBO) HW 55355 Docld:3274013277 Page 10
HW 355355 —FOP-SEGREF-DINAR INSURGENCY AND CIVIL UNREST - cont'd In possible connection with the preceding item, 32 people attempting to flee Cuba were captured by Cuban security forces on 8 December. Fifth Army Headquarters in Camaguey informed Havana that a maritime patrol of the coastal vigilance observation post captured a boat carrying 32 individuals in the area of Cayo Mariquibay, north of La Bahia de Punta Alegre. On the boat, which had left Caibarien three days earlier, government agents found Cuban and monies as well as personal belongings. (USN 56, 2/SL, - 2303-63, 9 December, SECRET KIMBO) JEK Act 6 (1) (B) A trained clandestine source who is a-civil aviation expert with the Cuban Ministry of Transportation reports that several minor incidents of sabotage have been discovered on CUBANA aircraft. On 15 November a CUBANA IL~14 made a round-trip flight from Rancho Boyeros Airport to Nueva Gerona without a storage battery. The source comments that serious trouble would have resulted if one engine had stopped or had been feathered while en route. This incident may be related to various acts of subtle sabotage against CUBANA aircraft, such as stuffing exhaust tubes with rags or obstructing car- buretor intakes. _ In addition, the source reports that a CUBANA Britannia aircraft was sabotaged by Algerian personnel during a recent flight to Algiers. The hydraulic line was fractured forcing the crew to use manual controls to lower the landing gear for a Stop in Madrid. (CIA IN 75941, 8 December, SECRET NO FOREIGN DISSEM/CONTROLLED DISSEM) Press dispatches from Mexico City report that a leader of. the Revolutionary Students Directorate (DRE) announced that 126 Cuban militiamen had been killed in a clash with guerrillas 12 miles south of Sancti Spiritus, Las Villas Province. Angel Gonzales said that "belated underground reports just received" indicated that the clash took place in mid~September when a guerrilla force ambushed a militia unit and killed 11 militiamen. The guerrilla forces lost 18 men, including Negro guerrilla leader Andre Startabull and three captains identified as Carlos Roca, Julio Garcia, and Sergio Perez. The Castro regime then sent 5,000 men sup- ported by tanks, mortars,.and helicopters to destroy the guerrillas. After two weeks of fighting, the entire guerrilla unit was destroyed but not until 115 other militiamen had been killed. There is no confirmation from COMINT or other sources of any action of the magnitude reported by the DRE. (AP-131, Mexico City, 7 December, UNCLASSIFIED) -6- DocId:32401327 Page i1
HW 355355 CUBAN AIR FLIGHT CONNECTIONS: Spain has approved regularly scheduled Havana-Madrid flights by CUBANA airlines, according to an intercepted message of 7 De- cember., It was previously reported that the Spanish Government was unwilling to reduce these flights because it believes the connections are vital to Spain; however, the Foreign Ministry said it would limit CUBANA flights to Havana~Madrid-Havana with- out stops in Algiers or Prague, and would refuse landing to Soviet-built CUBANA aircraft. (See Daily Summary of 18 November.) It has also been reported that CUBANA is assured of capacity passenger loads for the Havana-Madrid service and plans. to pool air freight from all of Western Europe for delivery to Havana via Madrid; thus assuring full pa s both ways. (See Daily Summary of 4 December.) (NSA 2X/O T211-63, 8 December, SECRET SABRE; Background information: NO FOREIGN DISSEM) SHIPPING SUPPORT FOR CUBA: Argentina is reportedly attempting to stop one of its ships-- the SS ANAMAR--from delivering a cargo of coffee to Cuba, despite the fact that there are currntly no legal restrictions against Argentine Ships calling anywhere in the world. The ANAMAR left Brazil on 1 November with a cargo of Brazilian coffee, purchased by the USSR and destined for Cuba. (See Daily Summary of 8 No- vember.) The Argentine Foreign Ministry informed US Embassy of- ficials that it was determined to prevent the ANAMAR from going to Cuba because of potential unfavorable press reaction. Argen- tina wants to avoid legal and financial entanglements in the mat- ter; however, it is determined to stop the ship and iS reportedly even considering some type of provocation which would force the Ship to put into Puerto Rico. The owners of the ANAMAR are equally adamant that the ship will not go to Cuba; reportedly they had agreed to ship coffee from Brazil to some Central Amer- ican country to pay some back bills, and were only informed later that the shipment would go to Cuba. According to the owners, the ship is now lying off the coast of Brazil awaiting resolution of the problem. The owners reportedly stated they will sink the ship rather than go to Cuba. (Am Emb Buenos Aires 1017, 4 Decem- ber, CONFIDENTIAL) scene. Bet 6 (1) (B) DEVELOPMENTS: Se ernmen rom Washington on December that several apons found in have been impressed by the Cuban claim that the we Venezuela last month had actually been planted there by the United States. ~Te DocId:324013277 Page 12