Evening star., 1963-01-25
Daily U. S. Scrutiny Shows No Influx
OfWeapons to Castro, Says Kennedy

able materials being introduced
into Cuba at this time.
He also added that the Bay
Of Pigs invasion by Cuban ex-
lies In April, 1861, had been
discussed at some length, al
though 1t had no direct rela-
ton to the Soviet military
build-up in Cuba.
There have been estimates
the Russians have as many as
$1,000 troops in Cuba, some Of
them combat forces, plus wide
" varying estimates Of the
number Of purportedly civilian
"technicians" in addition TO
that total.
Keating Says 10000
Senator Keating, Republican
Of New York, has said his in
formation is that the combined
total Is 10000.
Chairman Morse said If the
time ever came when a military
buildup Of offensive weapons in
Cuba threatened the United
States or Latin America, you
can expect the United States
to take what action is neces-
sary," as the President did last
october In the crisis over Rus
sian missiles in Cuba.
Yesterday at his press con-
ference President Kennedy
gave the latest official view
and statistics on continued
defensive" Soviet military ac-
tivity in Cuba since the re-
noval Of offensive missiles in
October.
And he emphatically sup
ported his brother, Attorney
General Robert r. Kennedy, in
saying that no United States
air cover was planned Or with
drawn from the ill-fated exile
invasion Of Cuba.
President Kennedy gave the
outline for Mr.. Rusk's testi-
mony when he told reporters
that "the best information we
have Is that one ship has ar
rived since the October crisis,
which may have arms on it,
possibly military cargo"
He said that there is no
evidence that this ship carried
any offensive weapons" and
that in this sense there has not
been any military buildup.
The President went on to
give the latest statistics on
Soviet military personnel in
Cuba. He thought that prob
ably about" 4,500 Soviet tech
nicians had been withdrawn
with the offensive missiles.
approximately $4,000 or $1,000
Russians still remain to operate
the SAM tantiaircraft missile)
sites and other technical equip
ment, he said.
Some organized units, pre-
viously described, are still on
the territory of Cuba, Mr.. Ken
nedy added. They are exer-
cising and building some bar
racks.
u. s. Scrutiny Continues
There is no influx of mill
tary equipment, other than the
ship and, as I say, our scrutiny
Of Cuba is daily" the Presi-
dent concluded, apparently re-
ferring to continued United
States high altitude recon-
Nuisance flights.
The President moved on to
more partisan ground when he
rejected claims that his admin !
istration promised and then |
withdrew air cover to the |
Cuban exiles in 1861.
Obviously, If you are going
to have United States air COW
err" Mr.. Kennedy said, you
might as well have a complete
United States commitment, |
which would have meant a full
fledged invasion by the United
States"
That was not United States
policy in April. 1861, he added.
The President said much Of
the confusion is due to the use
of the words "air cover" He
said the invading brigade had
its own B-26 planes which did
not provide planned protection
on the invasion beach.
Cuban Air Strike
Mr.. Kennedy maintained
that an air strike which was
postponed from the Monday
morning Of the invasion to the
afternoon was also by brigade
bombers flown by pilots based
not in the United States, not
American planes"
He said it was necessary to
distinguish between this type
of exclusively Cuban exile "air
cover" and any United States
air cover"
Adding to the air cover con-
troversy was an article yester-
day by publisher Jack w. Gore
in the Fort Lauderdale (Fla)
News telling Of a meeting of
Florida newspaper executives
with Mr.. Kennedy soon after
the abortive invasion.
THE President told us that
plans were made to protect
the invaders from the air but
that we made the decision not /
TO use air power" Mr.. Gore
wrote. "The President ex-
planned that he decided against
supplying air cover because
U. N. Ambassador Adlai Ste
venson had complained that
any such action would make
a liar out Of him in the U. N"
President Kennedy flatly
denied Mr.. Cores account OF
the conversation with the
Floridians. Today Mr.. Gore