MEMORANDUM: MEETING WITH MR. MANUEL "MANOLO" RAY
Agency: CIA
Originator: CIA
From: WITHHELD
To: RECORD
Document date: 1/9/61
Document type: PAPER-TEXTUAL DOCUMENT

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57. B.

Icke

ABORANDE: CE GETTITICH

SIB." BOT

" looting vite to lamal tienolo" RAs

Instratod to assure RAXe

No that 30l persinally hold te 1a hieh rogard and

thes anlle "we" are not breting any individunl or

pao is the politloal sense, to do have sympathy

wid dis progran and his sins.

Be T'st sue" are proparod to muger hin whatover materia

ansitano ho nonda eni ose isssibly ues.

That si 11e

se archenim of the Fronte souid have to bo usod f

he sallrory of such materisis, alnos no thor noohan

sor cla purpose promontiy etisto, this ild not mean

• E'at 3?. RAY nood bo behoides to the Frento.

Thes se understood la is pierring to rotura to Cuba.

se saal that this would be a ise novo, and

so juantly urge him to do so In this concotio

a see propred to offer tis a cormundaator and otho

Bin': as assistenco so thas be can maintain contoot

vite sla peoplo.

2o I had plaani to so MuT on his rette ton Puerto Rico on

me to rotura so Eatana on the soralag of j Janury 1961.

Consequanty, "y nooting with RAI was poetponed until last erming

when an noraliant. was rade through iNGER to moot with bin

, * the letter's apartent.

Cur rootine aral epprartantely lyne hourg - roughly Ant 7 8o 10 p.I.

to covera! a vira mungo of mbjoots. " highlignte of rich

mall try to ever in sucosoding pungarha.

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1a HIS TRIP TE SAl JUlk, lio made only passine reforazoos to hia tri

to rusrte Rico.

le rentioned that he hail a rory

"Iss talk with

Gov. !'!I0% larin-for whon he exprossod mat nimiratios.

Sovaral

times during the evening'a seasion to Indloctad ta: he vould 11ke

to see the ruture cube follow tho lath of grto 11oo end out

"o alan seid that ho hac

o inforrod with ex-"residont of Costa Rica, Ur. jose iscuedü, whom

he found vory arnoosuulod with ragoat to futuro develorente 1n

Lutin Amorioay tho Influnnoo which G.S.Ri still oxarts on tie

minds of prost mmbers of poordo.

ill oomantnd that shile alnost all

of the government now uno C'ST for viat he l8. a crudeal dictator.

there are nany, tany people who still view his as a poruler londer

who le trying to help his peoplo.

l'uch more In the propagenda lino

1u noonasary le snid to presont Cisile to tho poorlo in a truor 11ght.

In this connoction ho said that the !li' horos within she next three

sols or 80 to no juire bronlenoting facilitios In Costa Rica

anonuela, and parlapa aoquire a ship fron utich pronaraja coul

be dimsoninatod.

So ATTITUX TO ARO TIE FRENE. MAY fools that the Prento has I1ttlo

to offer the people of Cube for sie ruture.

For oxenple. ho suld,

there lo croat discontent In the Cuban Robal Ary whier could be

oxploitod If thems ilasident olonents could hamy sous assurenos that

they wore Jaying down their lives for i vortimilo cause.

FU.Y

does not fool that the aotion and oompoultion of the ID Inailros.

such confidendo. He dil not mention any rams spocifloally arong

tho STUD wi:lah would ropresent a "roturn to the past" bit ho 111

may that ono of tho Exocutivo l'embora (lead of a lepartent, I

alieve 1a hou he put it) had been a big tine contracter durine

TISTA's rogine and that when RAY took ovor the 11n1a1y of l'ubl1

orke under rooldent Untutin, he learned thee this sane contraoto

ind provounly promanted a bill and collected 300, 000 pasos for 1

publie works projoot which was never indortakon.

Instoad of having the

an jalled, Rad said that le a !Inlator of Pubila oris serol.

noisted that the job be dono.

l'e domentod that he (RiT) would

nou probably "have to pay for thia." I promme ho mesat that thie

him that he le not lapry but there la l1ttlo he con do about it bacaune.

"ho lo there."

RAY roponted son of to umal-critlotus of the FRD'-.

"high living," potty polition, "enrybo!s rocolving a salary," and the

"obuloun Inot" that the U.S, Covornt 18 ploting up to tab.

T-18

ho said was fine with the: 2y becauso It was cauning Mall lusion)

Duhans within anl vithout Cuba to turm to t!'o 'Re as the only rope.

No vas justo frank in at ting that miilo to 15 willing to "Dooporato"

with tho Fronto, ho dil not vant the !?l' to boorme Identiflod in the

Suban wind with the Fronto, and thus Itsalf hoo me dinonalitod et rough

"assoolation."

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PICE BISE AHIS MONS

ison I told fAI that so were troparod to

rovide him entorial support ani thee mila much of this cateria

mupport would have to be delivered by she fonto rochania this vouid

not nocessar liy sake hin beholden or jaos his undor obligation so

the Fronto, he saliod and sull that this 1s what I say, but this is not

the way it works.

hed boen negotiating for an air drop to a group in the Booarbrays,

that ir. B, ral ame down and to thought their difforonces had bren

pretty ruch resolved, and is, 5, had toll tr. N9Va00 that there

had been a moating of minis.

at cotors, and with owrything all sat

for the drop, to 18 - at the elevents, lour (ho said "thrao days 650")

told that the arms nust boar the stloter of the Frento, otherwise

"no urm8." Ls sald that tile vas abslutoly macceptable to tir.

He sald he did not Insiat or pertiourly ask that the runa be

Identifiod with "IR!" atioters, so tharofare he oould not me ary

Justifiention for inalating that the arma boar the TD lubel.

sale that his group has done all the operational planting for the srop,

courdere have gone baok and fort betwen lavana and the Esoarbrays,

mape have bean drawn up. De'a have boes erpenged. and now he 18

told that the equirent which he had been told vas boing supp lod

to his rroup must bear the label of the rival triD.""

It la obvivaa

that while ve aay that va look umon tho Ironto as a non-political

euping of marious oppositios tours, RAY looke uron tha Fronto as

the politioal crganization of Jony ViROM and I parsonally do so%

fool sanguino that any anount of arpimation will charge his

thinking in this rogard.

Here, ani elsewher during our coaterest'os,

I notad a certain a ouit of Intrenalgasee and la0% of toleranos on

the part of RlY which does not bode vols for. the future, unless he

can be male to malise that his group and following are not the sole

repository oi virtue, honesty, arretonos ant oat Intontions.

RAY

la an Idealiot. lo treins of a jeroorablo Cubs, tree of corrurtion.

ruled by -en wo are selflessly lallo-tad to the renotion of the

prarel voltara.

whom I saii to JI that Tony VRONA and other

lenders of the 17D vould say :hat they too stand for them tings. he

again salled and said:

The curlous thing la that they do not come

out and say unequivocally tint they stead for theme things.

Instead tley say ve ars Cubera - vo sre not Engllahmon, va an not

Americans, we are not Germona - lo are Cabana. What they coen to ory.

he went on

1a that solfia'nosa, sore corrurtion, ot coters, 18 part

of the Cuban nais up and that d'is balre do oase 18 19 unrealiatio

and Impraorloal to think that Cues cas dupire to a Jerooraoy

based on Intocrity and Miseni tonasty such as wi hava in the lnitos

states. or ingland, or other -or sivancod jo-oorioles of lastory

Suropo.

le feals that the poorle of Cube your for such a lenocrudy

and troy do not sos the chancs al MillIont 11 to compositio a

Cha Frento.

Traretoro ho wishas to sibaty 1a she !RP thoan mon toes

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7.

on the scaie that 1a nooded to sahievo sucossa.

to the NiP to inspire the

confidance of the reople by bringing topsther those persona and elezents

who the people trust and sno are not identified sith the corrupt

past.

The people o? Cuba, he said, cannot atand another disappol trent.

Their hopos must not bo raisod again, only to suffor another batrayal.

FRIVISIORAL GOVERUCINE. I brought up tha subject of a prorisional

rovernant. o gor rment in exile, but irefaced oy marka by saying

that I was arly szprossing my personal views

I said:

"Don't you

roel that the problem of mose atlaker goas cn the sis drops, and who

geta crodit for this or that.

would to resolnd 11 an hasembly of

Opposition Groups very to nost and to denocratically alect a provinional

govermment, composod of honest, compotent nen of unimpeachable rooord.

which rould ropresent all the divered opposition groups and which would

raise the hopes and proviue the 1111 to fight to the Cubana In Cuba

ho pro ancortain nas confuaod with respot to the futuro?"

lo said ho vas opposed to a coalItion roverment rado up of represontativos

of vorious political parties as a provictor.

goverment bocause he

ras sure such a goverment would not bo ablo to provide the united

conest, nos-partisan type of leadora ip which. will be roquired following

the fall of CASTRO, He vould profer a goverment of "intogration"

rather than a government of "ooalition.", By that he said he neant

that the best qualified nen would be ashod to serve their country in

an apolitioal ospaoity.

That these mon would be nosured by their

personoe, cor:petence, roputation, eto., and little or no concer

should bo civon an to thoir po itionl affiliations.

A govorient

composed of such -en would quickly win the respect of the Cuban poralationg

these men could get on with

the job of so nutruoting the country.

completely subordinsting purtlaan politieal conside-ations, sinoe

such zen would not be po'itically mmbitious,: "oreover, & governent

oopoand of much, outstanding ten would vin the om idenos of foreign

countries which wruld be toro dieropod to grant loana siloh. w171 be an

urgent nosesaity fro the mry stigt.

So far an the roarmment 11901f

1a canoorned, 1t would be apolitical. The verious po ition) partion

ind thair enlars vould ba ime to merare for the oming election -

whether they bo in 6.

12 or 18 ronthe at which tino the Cuban people

In free elections could locido vilor poltioal anrty it vanted to

I asked RAY wo would deleot those son

And at stet juncture of the

atrugale againot G':.RO viuld a frorladonal comraant, sirear.

a little fussy - probably Intortionaliy -on Chia polnt.

He alonrly

Indientod that sone work tal alraaly boon accosplinted on the anitor

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of apprond-ing illely onndidatoa.

He said more would be don in

& asked 1l this uce to be a inf s'ow - or wether

the lo-deng of the FIl and other Cuban olements vould bo consulted.

tie Indlostal chat thia was the pian . that paneral apromont would

be sought - sal shat all groups would be fre to sugest candidates.

Howover, to felt 1t was quito rosaible, for example, that the mD

could sugress candidatos who vould not neat the furiot atanderda

sat and would havo to ba rofooted. He was not cloor

as to uto void erreied this power of voto - but I gather that he folt

that the IRP WIch roprosonts or will rerosent (in his sind) tho

party which comands the greatest rosrect within the country, would

exercise this prorogative.

Aa I say, ho saa a little fuszy on this

point he rey not havo wished to tip tis hani. or he may have falt that

1t was a little penatura for him to discuss this mattor at groator

B.. CONSTITUTICH 3E 3940.

I said to RiY, "I undiratand you do not wunt

to rotain the Coastitution of 1940."

le alled at this. Ho said

this question bas been put to hin befors. Often bolliparently.

Howover, he said, each time that he has axplained why lo foolo that

the Constitutioo rust bo ravritten la has anded up convinoing the

person in ques:lon that cortain fantures of the Conatitution of 1940

aro dither imortablo, unde ocratio or obsolete.

moonle so rat wanted us our the Constitution have ovor road the

Constitution asl therefore do not know whit they are talking about.

Ho said the Coastitutlon le not 11li the Anorican Constitution

which sots out 1ts rooopte in general toras and covers basie

questiona of goverment.

The Cuban constitution is a long, urbling

document that astes goes into minuto detal?a of rules and roguintiona

which have no place in the basio low of the land.

wanted to male 1% absolutoly clear that he "lovog" thoss rovision

of the Constitutlon unich quarantoe individual LIbertles, private

property, ote. Lovever, there are other parts of the Constitution

sich are lorrao seablo.

With respect to Agrarian Reforu, he pointed

out, the Constitusion ro quires immediato paysent in ens..

In no country of the world has an agrarian progres boan carried out

with irmedinto arsh paymento.

Not only dood tha, govarment not have the

mony to carry cut suet a crogram, but 1f It Iid 16 would result in

inflatios and a sarious dialoertion of the donoy.

The electoral

Jaws, he sald, are very complex

and those raleting to apportlomment

of the Congress era nly rosult in corruption, I rotaried

"Toy

man thoy are vritten in suor a voy that they invito corruptioni

"ore t'as that, they foroe corruptlos," lle said under the

present not to coo tas to olthor bo a milionadie or be able to borror

200,000 pasos («a" chas aocurt oornitmonts) in orier to be oleotod to

He asid ta would lito to soo this art of the C-ostitution

vritton alog the trarioss 11208. Also, he snid the lina salating to

the raíning of remence are aruhalo.

le said shet in anor to ne juire

monay for a glian mean, a apocifio tar sust ba arpllai designed

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to provido that money. le said that what is nooded are revor taxon

but wore senoral taxoa which will provide the rovenue neaded withou

9.

10°

but that it wouid bo toro praotioable to vito a

vorkable Conatitution providing all the fumentoes of a denouruay

bat oniting a lot of the irrolovant ant unvoriable featuroa of the

HIS FORS NA PLANS.

I said I undorstoal that he vas planine to roturn

to Cube and ankod

If thia ias corroot.

Ho sald ho and others of t1a

stop plan to return at the appropriato timo but first la vantad to be

suro that he hal nalled dom certain politiesl and support mattors here.

He said ho was hopeful that tha "nolitieal" consideratione - which he

Indiented (without alrification)

vors going quite satialuctorily

would bo satisfactorily sonaluded in "two wooks or so."

WESING.R

asked: "Do you rean after 20 Januury"" R.Y emilad but made no reply.

He sald that he hed hopod that ho had sottled the matter of the loglationl

mpport when ho talked to lir. B last, but 1t now appoars that it la

not settled and that they nay have to return to Cube without thia

support.

He said ho was leaving for Now York on 9 January and would

cousin thore until Saturday, 15 daruary.

He sald he oould be ranchod

through Raul C:IB.S,

I told him that I thought le should roturn, as

moon as he oould, and that wo sore rapared to sisist hin in erary vuy

possible, Incluling providing lim with s'comuloator. He sald we had

alroaly trainod a com untoutor for his soup who hud been inflltrated

Into Cube and ho windered were that man was at tho prosont tire

whether in luvana or the hille.

leither I nor WIESINGIR could enlichten

his on this point, exoopt to say that he us safoly in Cuba.

During the entire inter low. with no axooption. RY vag hie unual

quiet. more-spoken cold.

Hovovor, ho 1i1 g'ou erotion when he asled me.

11' I thought omeone ma tryine to sabotar hin offorts to mirply the

rosistanos groups in Cubd.

For axmmple, he first brought up

and it

was most obrious that it le a rattor of great conoory so tis. the

mattor of the plano, maps, oto., for the IRP aotion arainst the Isle of

Pinos.

le said a corerully coorlinated plan had monial or.

That

sARJUll diaouased 1t with "inny," That DiR!IN asked "JIgny" 1£ the

map and othor pupors could bo iollerod in Cube within 43 hours.

"JIry assured BARJUIN that they oould and B:1l?'INl landed then ovar.

RAY sald that BIR WI'i orred In doing this as thay bad there oun

Pao111t1os for transitting the rapers.

The payers navor arrived at

their dostination, nor have thoy aver boon loard fro grain. As a

consojuance, a plan of prout luvirtanon had to bo adarlonod, und an

Irroplacoable opportunity loat.

io was extronely agitatod ston lie

talkod of this rattor and althoupt si! 23 and I attemptod to

ascurs hin that to vas at hone abolaral aal tet there vere no

"oar'unlota" trylne to rustrilo !1e colvitlos, to not:eless 1a

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worked up on the lasus and will not bo content until he has a

matiafactory explination.

Now, te saya.

* 58 cory nod to think

minute?" He was aired nothine could bo farther fres the truth, but

still this to a conorote example of lia ballof that ha has not raceived

tha support that he has boon load to bellove ho will molve.

IRP IT:I SCS OROANIZATION.

group being organiznd undor HIsSiNG:R'a pullenoo.

could not civo this muttor his unirilod attention.

nd sald that s'"wiN has boon eiron no othor rosionsibilitles. bu

hat he has sought out othor regiossibliltles on his oun union an

tine taking.

assigaing a

n the nuts and bolta.

to carry out orders.

that he could bo proponitioned on the aubject.

aftor consultrtions, sight wiah to seo hin again.

gloome another not torether and that I could roach him throug

CHIBAS during the eurrent woek.

Yamed 1. Noel

2537

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