WITHHELD
Originator: CIA
From: WITHHELD
To: WITHHELD
Document date: 03/26/1991
Document type: PAPER - TEXTUAL DOCUMENT

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1704-10326-10103

2023 RELEASE UNDER THE PRESIDENT JOHN F. KENNEDY ASSASSINATION RECORDS ACT OF 1992

SECRET

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CDS :

/

19298CIAA

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58810308522352MSR

**** MTD REPORT ***.

91-3563687

T

MIDB

UPID

SECRET

FRP:

,,3.

CONF: NC/ PM

INFO: DOMDS, FBIS6, IRI, REY, MILTD, NC/ INTEL,

NCREPORT, ODPB, ODPD, ODPG, ODPR,

ODPS, ODPW, OPCTR/AFLA, OPCTR/USSR,

TDSORT, ZZA, FILE, ALA/MC/CC, ALA/PO/AF, ALA/PO/LA, ALA/SA/D, ALA/SA/N,

D/OMS-3, DOSO/AODCI, DOSO/IABCT, ICS/HC/LA, LDA/P, LDA/V, NIO/EUR, NIO/GPE,

INE@LA,-OMS/POD, OS/REG, OSO/SPG, OTE/ISO/LY,

SOV

(22/P)

91 3563687

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2622352 MAR 91

CIA 588103

CONTROLS:

ICE I I NOFORN NOCONIRACI UNINTER

CIA 588103

TO:

DIRNSA, DEPT OF STATE/ /INR, DIA WASHINGTON DC,

WHITE HOUSE

SITUATION ROOM, USCINCLANT NORFOLK VA,

DEPT OF COMMERCE.

SERIAL:

BODY:

PASS :

TD-00-B-321/02764-91

NSA FOR ZKZK OO DUS DE (FOR NSOC) .

CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY

WARNING:

INFORMATION REPORT, NOT FINALLY EVALUATED INTELLIGENCE

REPORT CLASS SECRET --WNINTEL --NOFORN - -NOCONTRACT

DIST:

26 MARCH 1991

COUNTRY :

CUBA

SUBJ:

BIOGRAPHIC AND PERSONALITY INFORMATION ON CUBAN

OFFICIALS

DOI:

JANUARY 1991

SOURCE:

U.S. CITIZEN WITH EXCELLENT ACCESS WHOSE PREVIOUS

REPORTING HAS BEEN GENERALLY

SUBSTANTIATED.

(THIS REPORT RESULTS FROM CONTACT BETWEEN A U.S. CITIZEN AND SEVERAL

CUBAN OFFICIALS WHO MOST CERTAINLY EXPECTED THEIR REMARKS TO REACH

U.S. OFFICIALS.I

TEXT: 1.

JORGE ((RISQUET) ) VALDEZ SALVANA, A MEMBER OF THE

POLITIBURO OF THE CUBAN COMMUNIST PARTY (PCC), USED AN EARLY JANUARY

1991 CONFERENCE ON THE CUBAN MISSILE CRISIS TO LAMBAST THE U.S. FOR

NOT INCLUDING CUBA AS AN EQUAL PARTNER IN MULTILATERAL NEGOTIATIONS

ON A WIDE VARIETY OF POLITICAL AND REGIONAL ISSUES.

RISQUET, WHO

HEADED THE CUBAN DELEGATION TO THE MEETING, STARTED HIS DISCOURSE

WITH THE PARIS CONFERENCE OF 1899 AND CONTINUED IN A VITRIOLIC VEIN

UNTIL HE REACHED THE LATE 1980S, WHEN THE U.S. RESISTED INCLUDING

CUBA IN NEGOTIATIONS TOWARD THE WITHDRAWAL OF CUBAN AND SOVIET TROOPS

FROM ANGOLA. (SOURCE COMMENT: IN PERSONAL CONVERSATIONS, RISQUET

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GAVE THE IMPRESSION THAT HE IS UNREPENTANT AND UNREFORMED--THAT HE

HAS BEEN COMPLETELY UNAFFECTED BY CHANGES IN COMMUNIST AND MARXIST

PHILOSOPHY, PARTICULARLY IN THE USSR AND EASTERN EUROPE.) JORGE

( (POLLO)) GARCIA, INTERNATIONAL DEPARTMENT OF THE PCC, SPEAKING

PRIVATELY IN A SEPARATE CONVERSATION, SAID THAT RISQUET HAD "GONE OFF

ON HIS OWN" DURING THIS SPEECH AND THAT HIS VIEWS SHOULD NOT BE SEEN

AS THE OFFICIAL CUBAN POSITION.

POLLO WENT TO CONSIDERABLE LENGTHS

TO ASSUAGE THE CONCERNS OF A WESTERN PARTICIPANT IN THE MEETING.

(SOURCE COMMENT: IT WAS ESPECIALLY INTERESTING THAT POLLO, WHO NEVER

SPOKE DURING THE CONFERENCE AND WHO SEEMED TO BE THERE IN THE ROLE OF

ASSISTANT, WAS THE ONE SENT OUT TO UNDERCUT THE DELEGATION HEAD.

THE

DISTINCT IMPRESSION LEFT BY POLLO WAS THAT RISQUET IS CONSIDERED A

HEAVYHANDED LOOSE CANNON.)

DURING ANOTHER PRIVATE DISCUSSION, RAFAEL ( (HERNANDEZ) ),

'CENTER FOR AMERICAN STUDIES, CONVEYED MUCH THE SAME MESSAGE.

HERNANDEZ TERMED RISQUET AN

"OLD THINKER WHO IS CERTAINLY NOT IN THE

LIBERAL WING OF THE LEADERSHIP."

HERNANDEZ ALSO SUGGESTED THAT

RISQUET IS ON HIS WAY OUT OF THE INNER CIRCLE.

POSITION AS PARTY SECRETARY DID NOT NECESSARILY MEAN THAT RISQUET WAS

NOT IMPORTANT, HERNANDEZ SAID, BUT SUBSEQUENT ACTIONS HAVE MADE IT

CLEAR THAT RISQUET IS NO LONGER AS INFLUENTIAL AS HE ONCE WAS.

(SOURCE COMMENT:

DURING A SIMILAR MEETING IN MOSCOW DURING LATE

1989, RISQUET MADE A POINT OF GIVING FORMER MINISTER OF FOREIGN

AFFAIRS ANDREY ((GROMYKO)) A BEAR HUG; GROMYKO'S FACE WAS FILLED WITH

AN EXPRESSION OF DISGUST.)

SERGIO ((DEL VALLE)) JIMENEZ DID NOT PARTICIPATE

EXTENSIVELY IN THE MEETING, DESPITE PREVIOUSLY EXPRESSED INTEREST ON

HIS PART. DEL VALLE GAVE A REPORT, IN SPANISH, ON THE MILITARY

ASPECTS OF THE CRISIS FROM THE CUBAN STANDPOINT AND THEN FADED FROM

THE SCENE.

(HEADQUARTERS COMMENT:

DEL VALLE WAS VICE MINISTER OF

THE ARMED FORCES FROM 1961 TO 1968.

HE SUBSEQUENTLY SERVED AS

MINISTER OF INTERIOR, 1968-1979, AND MINISTER OF PUBLIC HEALTH,

1979-1985. ANOTHER CUBAN PARTICIPANT INDICATED PRIVATELY THAT

RUMORS HAVE SURROUNDED DEL VALLE SINCE HE LEFT HIS MINISTERIAL

POSITION.

THESE RUMORS, ACCORDING TO THE CUBAN OFFICIAL, HAVE

FOCUSED CHIEFLY ON THE FACT THAT DEL VALLE WAS CONSIDERED NOT TOUGH

ENOUGH FOR THE JOB.

(SOURCE COMMENT:

FOR WHATEVER REASON, DEL VALLE

SEEMED TO STEER CLEAR OF THE REST OF HIS DELEGATION AND THEY STAYED

AWAY FROM HIM; THIS WAS NOTABLE BECAUSE THE REST OF THE GROUP

GENERALLY STAYED TOGETHER.

THIS SHOULD BE CONTRASTED WITH DEL

VALLE'S PERFORMANCE DURING THE 1989 MOSCOW CONFERENCE, WHEN HE WAS AN

INTEGRAL PART OF THE CUBAN GROUP.

BRIGADIER GENERAL FABIAN ( (ESCALANTE) ) FONT, PCC-CC, WHO

INITIALLY WAS IDENTIFIED AS THE VICE MINISTER OF THE MINISTRY OF

INTERIOR BUT LATER AS THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF THE MINISTRY OF INTERNAL

AFFAIRS, WAS ALSO PRESENT AT THE MEETING. ESCALANTE SPEARS NEITHER

RUSSIAN NOR ENGLISH, THEREFORE REQUIRING A TRANSLATOR., ESCALANTE

SAID THAT HE IS THE NEPHEW OF ANIBEL ( (ESCALANTE) ), WHO WAS PURGED

IN

1962, WENT TO MOSCOW, WAS REHABILITATED,

RETURNED TO CUBA, AND

FINALLY PURGED AGAIN IN 1968.

ESCALANTE'S FATHER WAS A LEADER OF THE

INTEGRATED REVOLUTIONARY ORGANIZATION (ORI). (HEADQUARTERS COMMENT:

THE ORI WAS THE PRECURSOR OF THE PRESENT-DAY PCC.)

THESE POLITICAL

PROBLEMS WITH HIS RELATIVES DID NOT CAUSE PROBLEMS FOR ESCALANTE, HE

SAID PROUDLY, BECAUSE CUBANS ARE ABOVE MAKING PEOPLE SUFFER FOR THE

FLAWS OF THEIR FAMILY.

WHEN ASKED ABOUT HIS AREA OF RESPONSIBILTTY

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AT THE TIME OF THE CUBAN MISSILE CRISIS, ESCALANTE SAID THAT HE WAS

"HEAD OF COUNTERESPIONAGE OF A SECTOR" AND THEN EXPLAINED THAT HE WAS

CHIEF OF COUNTERESPIONAGE FOR THE U.S.

(SOURCE COMMENT: ESCALANTE

LOOKS TOO YOUNG TO HAVE HELD THAT POSITION IN 1961 OR, ALTERNATELY,

HE HAS BEEN VERY WELL PRESERVED.) ESCALANTE INDICATED THAT HE MADE A

PERSONAL RECONNAISSANCE MISSION OF CUBAN EMIGRE CAMPS IN CENTRAL

AMERICA IN OCTOBER 1960 AND DESCRIBED THE TRIP IN SOME DETAIL.

HE

ADMITTED THAT CUBA WAS RESPONSIBLE FOR A NUMBER OF UPRISINGS IN LATIN

AMERICA DURING THE 1960S AND THAT IT DID IN FACT INSTIGATE SOME

REVOLUTIONS WHICH NEVER QUITE GOT OFF THE GROUND, INCLUDING ONE IN

VENEZUELA. CUBA WAS NOT, HOWEVER, RESPONSIBLE FOR THE FAMOUS 1962

ARMS CACHE. CUBA DID SUPPLY THE SANDANISTAS, ESCALANTE

STATED.

5.

ESCALANTE BOASTED THAT HE WAS RESPONSIBLE FOR

"INTERROGATING" ALL SUSPECT "CIA AGENTS" DURING THE 1960S.

ALONG

THESE LINES, ESCALANTE SAID THAT THERE WAS EXTENSIVE CUBAN

INFILTRATION OF U.S. ACTIVITIES IN MIAMI DURING THE 1960S, INCLUDING

THE MONGOOSE PROGRAM. WHEN ASKED HOW MANY CUBAN AGENTS WERE IN MIAMI

AT THE TIME, ESCALANTE SAID THAT HE DID NOT KNOW SPECIFICS.

IN FACT,

HE SAID, NO

ONE DOES BECAUSE CUBAN RECORDS FROM THE PERIOD WERE SO

HAPHAZARD.

HOWEVER, HE STATED ASSURINGLY THERE WAS NO HIGH-LEVEL

CUBAN ASSET IN THE U.S. GOVERNMENT IN 1962, ALTHOUGH HE QUALIFIED

THIS BY ADDING THAT HE HAS LITTLE KNOWLEDGE OF "POSITIVE

INTELLIGENCE" ACTIVITIES ABROAD.

ESCALANTE ADDED THAT HE BELIEVES

"SOME ELEMENTS OF THE CIA OPERATIONAL ARM" IN COMBINATION WITH THE

MAFIA WERE

RESPONSIBLE FOR THE ASSASSINATION OF U.S. PRESIDENT JOHN

F. KENNEDY.

ADMIN:

ACQ: (JANUARY 1991)

DISSEM: FIELD: NONE.

WARNING: REPORT CLASS SECRET - -WARNING NOTICE-INTELLIGENCE

SOURCES OR METHODS INVOLVED--NOT RELEASABLE TO FOREIGN NATIONALS--NOT

RELEASABLE TO CONTRACTORS/CONSULTANTS.

RECORDED REPORTING OFFICER. ALL PORTIONS CARRY CLASSIFICATION AND

CONTROLS OF OVERALL, DOCUMENT:

END OF MESSAGE SECRET.>

ORIG: NC/NCPM

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