Agency: LBJ
Originator: CIA
Document date: 02/18/1963
Document type: DRAFT BRIEFING NOTES

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JFK Assassination System

Identification Form

Date:

8/26/201

Agency Information

AGENCY :

RECORD NUMBER :

RECORD SERIES :

AGENCY FILE NUMBER :

LBJ

177-10002-10015

NSF, UNARRANGED FILES, LA/CUBAN SUBVERSION, BOX 5

Document Information

ORIGINATOR:

FROM:

10.:

TITLE:

CIA

DATE:

PAGES:

SUBJECTS :

02/18/1963

3

elene under the John

Assassination Records

Collection Act of 1992

144 USC 2107 Notel.

Cased:NI 53244 Date:

06-13-2017

NEED SUBJECT ASSIGNED

DOCUMENT TYPE: DRAFT BRIEFING NOTES

CLASSIFICATION: Unclassified

RESTRICTIONS: 1A

CURRENT STATUS : Redact

DATE OF LAST REVIEW :

04/21/1998

OPENING CRITERIA :

COMMENTS :

v9.1

HH 53244

DooId: 32205166

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SECRET

DRAFT BRIEFING NOTES

18 February 1963

WEAPONS

I. In general, the Cubans appear to be following the

textbook for guerrillas in regard to provision of

arms.

We have strong evidence, from numerous

sources, that they are telling the guerrilla war-

fare

students and their leaders to obtain their

own weapons at home.

We have enough reports and

some good evidence, however, that there are just

enough exceptions to prove the rule.

A. Our agent who was in the original group of

Brazilian trainees said he was trained ex-

clusively in the use and maintenance of the

Garand M-I and M-3 rifles and the Browning and

Hotchkiss machineguns--all US weapons. His"

group was told that these were the weapons

Brazilian guerrillas would be able to buy,

steal, or take from the security forces at

home.

B. Similarly the Argentine trainee mentioned

earlier said their instructors told them Cuba

would not be sending weapons because there

was

a plentiful source of supply for any de-

termined guerrilla movement in its own home-

land.

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SECRET

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C. Leaders of militant groups in Venezuela, Brazil,

and Peru who have gone to Cuba seeking assistance

have been told by the Cuban leaders that Cuba is

willing to furnish funds, training, and technical

assistance.

Reference to weapons is pointedly

omitted. This

is reported to us by our agents

in these same groups.

D. We have within the past month again checked with

all of our stations in Latin America to review

what evidence we have of arms shipments from

Cuba.

There are several cases of radio trans-

mitters admittedly brought in from Cuba (although

in Venezuela so much radio equipment was stolen

last fall this was unnecessary). I have already

mentioned the weapons bought in Mexico for Guate-

mala with money from Cuba. In Peru, the guerrilla

trainees who were rounded up in the Huampani-

Satipo incident last March had been issued kits

containing a Czech rifle with a pistol grip, ap-

parently of bloc origin.

E.

Otherwise, however, in case after case guerrilla

hardware turned out to have been bought or stolen

locally, or smuggled in from the adjoining coun-

try.

We do not

have a single case where we are

certain of the Cuban origin of captured arms.

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-SECRET

II.

This is not to say that we are positive weapons have

not been sent from Cuba. Latin America has a long

tradition of smuggling, a long coastline, innumer-

able isolated landing fields and drop zones, and

inadequate security forces to control all such

channels.

A. Last

July a source in Costa Rica informed us

that he had just helped unload a shipment of 30

rifles from Cuba. We sent a reliable agent

back with the source to locate the rifles, but

apparently they had already been removed and

•hidden.

B. A Venezuelan Communist leader has been telling

guerrilla leaders that Cuba will soon send them

mortars. It is always possible, of course, that

he is fabricating to build up the morale of his

units, but we must also conclude that if he is

indeed making this up, he risks inevitable dis-

illusionment.

III. In summary, then, we have no hard proof that Cuba is

sending weapons to Latin American insurgents. We

have evidence that in principle Cuba does not intend

to do so at present. But we have no reason to be-

lieve that they will not or cannot if they feel it

necessary to do

sO.

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