## Page 1

177-10002-10012

2025 RELEASE UNDER THE PRESIDENT JOHN F. KENNEDY ASSASSINATION RECORDS ACT OF 1992

JFK Assassination System

8/26/201

Identification Form

Agency Information

AGENCY :

RECORD NUMBER :

LBJ

177-10002-10012

RECORD SERIES:

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

AGENCY FILE NUMBER :

Document Information

ORIGINATOR:

FROM:

TO :

TITLE:

CIA

DATE: 02/18/1963

PAGES:

7

SUBJECTS :

NEED SUBJECT ASSIGNED

DOCUMENT TYPE: DRAFT BRIEFING NOTES

CLASSIFICATION : Unclassified

RESTRICTIONS: 1A

CURRENT STATUS:

Redact

DATE OF LAST REVIEW:

OPENING CRITERIA:

COMMENTS :

19.1

NW 50955

20

DocId: 32205169

Page 1

---

## Page 2

SECRET

Gula

18 February 1963

DRAFT BRIEFING NOTES

CUBAN SUBVERSION IN LATIN AMERICA

I.

Introductory Statement

The public pronouncements of Cuban leaders, the

daily record of events in Latin America, and reports

from our intelligence sources within Communist and

other left-extremist elements throughout this hemis

phere all agree on one salient conclusion: that

Fidel Castro is encouraging and supporting the efforts

of Communists to overthrow and seize control of the.

governments in Latin America.

A. Analysis

indicates that the immediate threat

stems less from the subversive efforts of tra-

ditional Communist movements than from Cuban

support of any and all active revolutionary and

terrorist movements.

B. These distinctions are not precise. In some

countries, Castro's original success has spurred

the established Communist movement to action,

and he supports it.

In others, the old-time

Communists may even oppose

radical action at this

time, and Castro works with more active and more

militant revolutionists.

SECRET

HW 50955

DocId: 32205169

Page 2

---

## Page 3

SECRET

C. In any event, we know of only two coun

tries-Mexico and Uruguay--where Castro

appears inclined for the time being to

forego inciting violence, and this only

because he wants a favorable climate for

his operations into other countries.

II. Even before the October missile crisis-and

with increasing rancor since then--Cuban leaders

have been exhorting revolutionary movements to

violence and terrorism, and supporting their

activities.

A. Cuban support takes many different forms.

We have occasional evidence of direct

participation by Cuban nationals, as in

the La Oroya disorders in Peru in December.

We know that some funds move, generally in

cash by courier, from Cuba to the revolu-

tionaries in other countries. While we have

not been able to come up with the kind of

airtight proof a court would require that

weapons move directly from Cuba to these.

same groups, we do know that Cuba furnishes

money to buy weapons, and that some guer-

rilla forces in Peru, for instance, are

equipped with Czech weapons which most

logically would come from Cuba.

-2=

SECRET

NW 50955

DooId: 32205169

Page 3

---

## Page 4

SECRET

B. But by and large, our evidence shows that

Cuba is not now attempting a large program

of physical support for Latin American rev-

olutionaries:

It is, rather, concentrating

on supplying the inspiration, the guidance,

the training, and the communications and

technical assistance they require.

C.

In essence, Castro tells would-be revolu-

tionaries from other Latin American coun-

tries: "Come to Cuba; we will pay your

way, we will train you in underground or-

ganization techniques, in guerrilla warfare,

in sabotage and in terrorism. We will see

to it that you get back to your homeland.

Once you are there, we will keep in touch

with you, give you propaganda support, send

you propaganda materials for your movement,

training aids to expand your guerrilla forces,

secret communications methods, and perhaps

funds and specialized demolition equipment."

Castro is not, as far

as we know, promising

these other Latin Americans any Cuban weapons

or Cuban personnel--either leaders, ad-

visers, or cadres. But he probably does

tell them: "If you succeed in establishing

-3-

SECRET

HW 50955

DocId: 32205169

Page 4

---

## Page 5

SECRET

something effective by way of a revolu-

tionary movement in your homeland, if your

guerrillas come down out of the hills

and confront regular armed forces, then we

may consider more concrete forms of assist-

ance."

D. So far, it should be noted, none of the

movements in South America has reached this

final

stage--and in fact even Castro's

Sierra Maestra guerrillas never had to fight

a pitched battle with regular military

formations which might have required more

advanced weapons than small

arms, grenades,

mines, and machineguns. In many ways, Cuba

under Castro is the Latin version of the old

Comintern, inciting, abetting, and sustain-

ing revolution wherever it will flourish.

III. Before going into more detailed evidence of Cuban

subversion in Latin America, I

should note that

Venezuela is apparently number one on Cuba's

priority list for revolution.

A. Fidel Castro said so to the recent meeting

of Communist front organizations for Latin

American women.

1. Che Guevara and Blas Roca both empha-

sized the outlook for revolution.in

Venezuela in speeches in January.

SECRET

NW 50955

DocId: 32205169 Page 5

---

## Page 6

SECRET

2.

• One of our established sources of proven

reliability, high in the ranks of the

Venezuelan Communist Party ((a veteran

party member and leader of the FALN)),

says the Central Committee agreed in Jan-

uary that a "peaceful

solution to the

present situation in Venezuela is out of

the question."

B. This same source reported that Communist guer-

rilla and terrorist operations in Venezuela

were placed under a unified command in late

1962, which coordinates activities with the

other militant extremist group in Venezuela,

the MIR. The result has been the creation of

the FALN,; or Armed Forces of National Liberation.

1. The FALN is currently trying to publicize

its existence by' such acts as the hijack-

ing of the freighter ANZOATEGUI, and by

acts of sabotage and indiscriminate shoot-

ings. These have also been designed to

dissuade President Betancourt from his trip

to Washington.

2.

I do not wish to minimize the violence in

Venezuela. The sabotage is the work of

-5-

SECRET

NH 50955

DocId: 32205169 Page 6

---

## Page 7

SECRET

3.

experts, and is being done with advanced

types of explosives. The shooting has

reached the point in Caracas where it is

not safe to go out after ten at night in

some sections of the capital. But it is

the opinion of both our people and the em-

bassy that this is not a threat to govern-

ment control. It is one thing for a group

of young men to race down a dark street

firing a

machinegun from a speeding car.

It is quite a different matter to stand

up to the armed forces, or seize and hold

government buildings.

We believe that Cuba has given guerrilla

training to more nationals from Venezuela

than from any other country. I shall ex-

plain in more detail later how we arrive

at our figures on guerrilla trainees. Our

best estimate now is that more than 200

Venezuelans received such training in 1962.

a .

Many of these are engaged in terror-

ism in the cities, and others were

rounded up and given long prison

sentences when they committed themselves

-6-

SECRET

NW 50955

DocId: 32205169

Page 7

---

## Page 8

....

SECRET

b.

prematurely last spring in a country-

side where the rural population strongly

supports the Betancourt administration..

One of our best penetrations of the Com-

munist Party in Venezuela tells us that

at present the unified command has less

than 150 guerrillas in the field, in

widely separated groups of is to 25 men

each.

-7-

SECRET

50955

DocId: 32205169

Page 8

---