Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1962-11-15
Cuban Doctors
TeIIof Probers
OF Red Lies
BY ROBERT X. WALSH
Star Staff Writer

BY ROBERT X. WALSH
Star Staff Writer
A masked Cuban doctor and
two other Cuban refugee physi-
clans testified today that the
Castro regime has labeled med
ical supplies from the United
States as being made in Soviet
bloc countries.
The disguised witness, who
appeared before the House
Committee on Un-American
Activities, identified himself
only as a surgeon who fled
from Havana within the last
eight months. With his head
completely covered except for
openings for eyes and mouth,
he said he masked himself to
safeguard members of his fam
lily still in Cuba.
The two other witnesses were
former pediatricians in Havana
who came to the United States
late in 1860. They were DR..
Emilio B. Soto, currently asso-
ciated with the Fairfax County
Hospital in Falls Church, and
DR.. Jose Tremols who said he
was employed at the out-patient
clinic of the Health, Education
and Welfare Department here.
Doctor Labeled Red
All three witnesses declared
that DR.. Martha Frayde of the
National Hospital in Havana
was a known Communist. Her
name came up at the House
committees hearing yesterday
on the Medical Aid to Cuba
Committee, an organization
formed in New York City last
year. r
Witnesses identified her as
having been the principal per-
son to whom the Aid Commit
tee sent medical supplies pur-
chased through voluntary con-
tributions totalling about $780,
900.
House Committee members
said they particularly were con-
cerned about testimony indi-
eating that some officers of
the aid committee had Com
munist backgrounds or pro-
Castro sympathies. The Cuban
doctors said today they knew
little if anything about the
Medical Aid to Cuba Commit
tee.
The mystery witness related
how he was watched by a Cas-
tro government agent while
performing an operation in a
Havana hospital. He said this
happened to him only once but
that he was reliably informed
that 1.-The Castro government
doesn't trust anybody and
watches all doctors"
He testified that the Castro
regime not only controlled
medical supplies received from
any source in the United States.
but also forced people to go to
government-controlled hospi-
tails to get medicine of any
kind. He said he personally
knew of at least one instance
where medical supplies from
the United States were mis-
represented by the Castro re-
gime as having been made in
CzechSlovakia.
Treated CastrO's Son
DR.. Soto revealed that he had
known the Castro family for
several years and treated Mr..
Castro's son, Fidelito, about 10
years ago.
Drs. Soto and Tremols en-
phasized that they had not been
in Cuba for almost two years
and that they never had any
sympathy for the Castro gov
eminent. They as well as the
masked witness said their
property had been seized by
the government in Cuba.
DR.. Tremols said he also
found evidence of "misdirection
of medical supplies in. Cuba"
to make it appear that the
United States was largely re-
sponsible for a shortage.
Propaganda Denied
Melitta Del Villar, 44-year-
old Cuban-born American citi-
zen since 1888, spent four hours
as a witness yesterday denying
that the aid committee or she
had any propaganda or I'M
American leanings.
She admitted that prior to
formation of the aid commit
tee in New York in October,
1861, she spoke and sang at
several Castro meetings in
and around New York. She
described herself as a singer
of romantic and gentle songs"
She acknowledged she once be-
longed to the Fair Play for
Cuba Committee, cited previ-
ously by the House committee
as a Communist-front group.
!. Under the acting chairman
ship of Representative Moulder
! Democrat of Missouri, the
. House committee opened two
, days of hearings yesterday to
determine whether changes
were needed in the Foreign
Agents Registration Act. The
, present law exempts organiza-
tons dealing only with the
sending of medical supplies to
foreign countries.