Transcript of 104-10275-10176.pdf
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14-Q0000 104-10275-10176} 2025 RELEASE UNDER THE PRESIDENT JOHN F KENNEDY ASSASSINATION RECORDS ACT OF 1992
2 Augubt 1963
MEMORANDUM FOR THE RECORD
SUBJECT: Meeting with AMBANG-]
1 1 mct with AMBANG-I on 27 July 1963 in Miami.
The {ollowing i8 2 rebume Of the bubinee0 transacted at that
meeting:
a, Requeet_for High _Exloeivee
AMBANG-l stated that in view 0 my outline
of etrategic target8 ineide Cuba during our labt meeting which
took Place in Washington on 21 June 1963, he had decided to
attempt a Babotage operal on agalnet the Havana power plant
He informed me that hc ha8 a man employed in thc power plant
In Havana who 18 capable O launching thie operation: In this
conneclion AMBANG-) aeked if we could make available twenty
pounda of high exploeIves well ae Bix t 0 cight thermite grenadee.
AMBANG-l a6ked if it were poscible to have the twenty pounde
broken Jrto 8maller Jole. In our Iurthcr dlecueejon Of this subfect,
It became a?parent that A-} would be willing to recelve the matcriel
elther in San Juan or Ineide Cuba, but that hc definitely preferred
the latter If thle were poe6ible: Like In mdet Other Instancee during
our converbation, I advised AMBANG-] that [ would need to dlecu88
thlo matter with my 8uperiore but that I could tentatlvely a8oure
hm of our ability and willingnese to furnieh the high explosiveo In
San Juan and po8eibly Ineide Cuba. At thb I auked AMBANG-]
U be could foreeee the nced for matericl of thlo type Inslde Cuba.
I told hlm that I aeked thlo question becauee 1f hle grOup wers
prcpared now or In thc ncar future for meaningful eabotage actlon
Jnolde Cuba it wae concclvable that we could begin the caching 0f
deadcd matericl {neide Cuba. AMBANG-1 aesured me that
7ix
40
Point
thoy
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were in a pobition t0 sabolage thc electrical in Havana. (I
did not ask, neither did he specify which plant. ) He did not promlse
Immediate action, addng thar he wanted to aesure himgell of the
details of the planned operation and the Bafety-odds of the man
involved A-} tben indicated that he would certainly be in a
Pobition t0 accomplish this miseion and others in the {uture and
would bc most grateful for any materiel we could put in Place:
1 Jeft thc matter with him with the understan that if it were
pobsible we would proceed with caching the high explosivee in
thc General arca of Havana: He assured me Of their capability
to €ertice retrieve the cache:
ba Request_fOr_Contact_in Guantanamo
AMBANG-l abked me f it would be poseible for u8
to arrange some mean8 for Rogelio Cisneros t0 visit Guatanamo
end talk to hi8 brother who i6 an employee of the Naval Bage and
another agent of theire likewiee cmployed there: The reagon A-l
gave the request was that they wighed to inform Ramon Cieneroe
Diaz 0f the JURE plans to begin the implementation of their plan
of rcsistance and overthrow of thc Caelro Regime. I advised A-l
that whereas 1 would Jook into this matter a8 I could tentatively
tell him that the chance8 Of accomplibhing thie were remote:
C, AMBANG-] Political Plans_
AMBANG-l informed me that hc wae planning at
this time t0 be in New York on or about 10 August and that following
this trip he intended to go to Santo Domingo and Caracas. In Santo
Domingo he hoped to set up a small base for operalions such a8 a
Bmall house On a Iarm ncar the shore which could be used for boat
travel to Cuba Once he had made 6uch arrangement8 he intended
to talk to Prebident Juan Boech telling him of the plan and agking
his acquiescence if not support: AMBANG-] intende to tell Boech
that he will not embarrae8 him and will g0 about his bueinese In a
Becurc and profeesional manner adding that It-he should embarraeo
Boech, the latter could disclaim him and A-l would desiet {rom
any further activity there:
So far a8 AMBANG-]'8 trip to Caracae i8 concerned, that _
WllI be principally devoted to orlentiog the JURE representation
Plant
ding
and
[or
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in that In addition, AMBANG-] will attempt to 8ce and talk
to Venezuelan Gorernment ofliciale including President Betancourt:
Some time after thie trip AMBANG-l intend8 to vibit
Central America principally Costa Rica and if be can procure a
viea, Mexico. The purpose Of all hie travel i8 the raising Of funde,
the general tightening Of his organization and discussione neccssary
to coordinate their efforts.
d Ieglation of_Cuba_
AMBANG-l made it exceedingly clear that the
lfeline to hi6 assets ingide Cuba had been 8ererely restricted
when PAA flight8 were suepended: Nothing could suit AMBANG-1
more than to have these flight8 reeumed AMBANG-]'8 obviously
great intereet in the regumpi on of these flights was the mogt eloquent
8tatement yet Of hi8 belief that he hae a network, or that he can
revive a network within Cuba. At least at thi8 etage of JURE
operations,. AMBANG-I doe8 not appear to conbider the infiltration
of manpower a8 necessary.
AMBANG-] gtated that the u6e of flighte from Spain and
Mexico to Cuba wag difficult and costly wherea8 the Miami-Havana
run had been mobt useful in maintaining contact within Cuba. It
wa8 AMBANG-]'$ opinion that the resumption of PAA flight would
be &n operational boom to JURE and that wherea8 he could Bee
Castro making some political capital out of the flight8, he believed
that some appropriate statement guch a8 "therc i8 no political
significance but only a humanitarian and compas8ionate rcaeon ior
the reestabliehment Of thi8 link, 16 would be sufficient to negate any
political advantage by Caetro.
AMBANG-l Phaging Qu: of hig Emgloxment
AMBANG-I gave mc to believe that he je cloeing
and giving Up hie pobition with the Corporacion de Renovacion Urbana
y Vivienda8 where he i8 employed a8 an engineer in charge of building
Pre-cast concrete houbee. AMBANG-] stated that during the paet
veek Governor Munoz Marin gave final authority for the erection
of & plant to produce theee housee in Puerto Rica: AMBANG-] je
city:
sbop
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torn with lhc thoughl Of leaving (hie prolcct which he belicvce
will bc moet euccceeful, and which woud asure hi8 livclihood,
but know8 that he mubt dcvote himbelf t0 (he fight againet
Castro. It ie obviou8 to me that AMBANG-] will within the next
two months phase out O thie employment t0 dcvotc fUll timc to
the liberation of Cuba.
JURE Radio Link
AMBANC-} agkcd me if I would bc able t0 absiet
him in the establishment Of a San Juan-Caracas-Miaml radio Mnk:
He explained that the JURE epent a great deal of money on
telephonic communicationg between theee points and wcre most
anxious t0 sct up a mean8 0f radio communication in order to
economize. 1 gues8 that AMBANG-] could tell from my reactlon
that I was not too sympathetic to hie rcquest 'for he withdrew it
almost a8 soon a5 he had made it. He went on to say that thje
wab a problem whch they could overcome and Iprebumc that he
wil 8eek to cstablish 8uch radio communications without our
a8Bi8tance.
8. Aerial Mape_%f_Cuba
AMBANG-] informed ne that tke JURE membership
had brought out of Cuba an entire Berics of maps ehowing road9 ,
bridges, industrial plante, et al, which they had copied by the Aero
Service Corporation ir Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. AMBANG-l
stated that they had received mobt of tbese photos {rom the Aero
Service Corporation but that the IOl were still missing: He
me the numbers Of thobe mi88ing and asked if we could procurc them:
I have Bince informed_AMBANG-] that it would perhape be bebt it
he could, or his organization, do thi8 instead but that we would
pay the travel 0f one of his men, Bhould this prove neceeeary.
Attached, hereto, i8 a copy Of the mibeing photos in question
h JURE Organization and_Strength
AMBANG-] informed me that the membership 0 the
JURE in San Juan wa8 now at about 500 members and that each
0f thege individuals makce a
weekly contributionto the organization
he
ha8
key
gave
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In Additton there arc largc JURE organigalione In Caraca8, Veaceucla
and Dallae, Tcxa0. Thcrc arc according to AMBANG-} , toka]
of thirty delcgallone In Lafin Amcrica, thc U. S: A. and Europc.
Ho cited 40 an examplc thc delcgation in San Francleco which had
recenlly purchascd a (YF cwriter fhrough {hc collection 0I grecn
etampa. Hc addcd that Rogclio Cieneros had travellcd to San
Francieco some timc ag0 t0 communicate wilh thal group and t0
tIghtcn its Organizational activitice.
i, AMBANG-l Aeks About ARTIME and thc Activitics
Jn Ccntra) America
AMBANG-] raised thc question 0f Manuel ARTIME'8
activitlee In Central Amcrica and particularly in Nicaragua. He
Btated thal any agGociation with Somoza would not help In crealing
the miglique and political coloration necessary t0 Inepirc revolution
and rcaietance Irom thc non-Communists clements in Cuba. Whcreas,
J had expected AMEANG-l to go into 2 harangue a8 to thc
positive damage that ARTIME'6 action8 with Sonoza could cauee,
he left thc mattcr at about thi8 point. I agrecd that thc Somoza8 did not
havc a Jiberal political reputation throughout Latin America, but
addcd that whatcver Cuban8 ca ld do from that or any vantage
againgt Communism in Cuba would in my estimation be helpful,
while I am eure AMBANG-] did nol agree #ith me, he did nol bay
Jn respect t0 ARTIME and Miro Cardona, wboee name entercd
Into the conversation Jater, AMBANG-) took a fairly objcctivc vicw.
He stated that Miro had arrived in San Juan and that hc wiohcd him
the bebt a8 he {igured he had 9(fered enough. Ineofar a8 ARTIME
wab concerncd 1 gathered that AMBANG-L might feel that the a68oci-
ation with Somoza would not do ARTIME any good in a poet-Castro
Cuba. Ae AMBANG-] ig couvinced that a government after Caetro
muet bc 0f a progrceeive libcral ARTIME wae dolng
hlmeelf any by identifying himself with thc Sornozae.
J: A Llst 0_Cuban Diplomate
Ae AMBANG-I had abked for a liet 0f Cuban Diplo -
mat8 abroad whilc We were in Pari8, Iadviscd him that euch 4 Ifot
had been preparcd and We would make it available t0 him: In thio
conncction he aeked IL we could include the addrcsaco f cach 0f tho
Cuban installatlone. Speaking of diplomats, AM BANG-J wanted t0
long
point
80.
stripe, not
good
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know If Ambacsador Gustavo Arcos had returncd {rom Prague.
J Informcd him (Jat I did not know. AMBANG-] wa8 most Inlcrestcd
to Iearn that Franqul'6 wilc and childrcn had aclually come out 0f
Cuba, and indicatcd that hc would inteneify his cllorte l0 maintain
conlact with Cuban Diplomat Cabrera Infante in Brueeele 86 a
meane toward the cventual recrutment of Franqul:
k AMBALG-L Rclation_#ith Jo.ge_Voleky
In conjunction wlth questione regarding propaganda
ecnt to Cuba, and the JURE'0 gcneral Plane in thie ficld, I aeked
A-} aboul hia relation with Jorge Voleky. A-} Btated tkat bc con-
eldcrcd Volsky {0 bc an extremcly ablc_ 8crioue newapaperman:
Hc added that whcreaa hc Baw Voleky [requently 0 hio tripe to
Miami, the latter did not work for him: A-] statcd that Voleky'8
work wa8 a full-time job which lelt him little time to do anything
elee_
A-] 8lated that JURE propaganda wa8 produced by a twelve
man board:
A-] addcd that the JURE expecled t0 shortly introduce &
etatement on it8 poailion into Cuba.
1, AMBANG-] Aske about Two Man Underwater Craft
A-l aeked {{ ] kncw anything about a two man type
craft which travcle through he water. Iprebume A-l wae talking
about the "sca-6lcd M I adviscd bim that I know little about thie
type crall, but in my opinion ite u8cfulneee for the type activtty
hc had in mind wab limited. AMBANG-] would u8e this cralt for_
the {Inal phaee 0f an Infiltration effort: A-] Btated that thle craft
wa0 bcing u8cd at the hotcl beacher in San Juan a8 a type Of eporting
activlty. I will adviee him that hc could pursue thle matter himaclf
40 all knowledge on thie subject Ie publicly avallable.
m. AMBANG-LTradned_In{SImple Scorch Sxztem
A WAVE tcchniciar " CuLvcr Ladd; under the name
0f Mr. Lane trained A-} to use a( mpre acorch Uuemol S/W. A-]
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7as 6ivcn ,ome cigbly pIlle wlth which he will bc sble t0 make
the "ink" used in tbis eyotem 0f S/ W. A-}) wa8 Pleased with the
syotsru: #eneialiy % campucitya hc wilt u8c ta6 systera to
communicatc wilh his chiel delegate In Parie and undoubt edly
Other Pertos In Cuba a8 er[Z 48 in the otbcr JURE delegatione.
D AMBANG-Lle_Writlog an Articic {or Cuadernoe
At the requcet Of German Arcicrc888, the famed
Colomblan intellectual, A-li8 preparing an articlc #hich i8 to be
Publishcd in Cuadcrnog: Thc article will dcal cith &e problem8
facing Latin America ad how can be resolved A-) will be in
eelect company 36 Arcicncga8 ha; a8ked a numbr of prominent
Latin American intcllectuals for their viewe.
Communication Bclwcen AMBANG-Land Caee
QLficef
AMBANG-} me thc [ollowlng adiresees at which
hc cag bc rcsched:
Corporacion de Renovacicn
Urbana Y Vivicnda8
PARADA 31
Ponce de Leon,
Hato
Pucrto Rico Telephonc No. 723-1671
(NOTE This i8 not AMBANG' 8 officc or home, bul that of &
[riend #ho is elways ablc t0 reach A-l. )
Aleo:
Mr . Jaimc Mitrani
1260 W_ 61 Placc
Hialeah, Florida
AMBANG-} wjb givcn thc {ollowing tacans of
contacting mc:
Mr. Afred Fernandez
P.0. Box 1J04, Main Poet Ollicc
Washinston, D: C. Talepbone No. 737-8294
AMBANC-! wIli ubc the Damc "Tony" 48 #sature In mall
to me;
thcy
8avc
Rey
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2 General Observatlona
1 belelve AMBANG-l i planning t0 rcturn t0 Cuba
Hc indicated that hc wowd &ive thc mattcr eerioub thought to
evcn go in, dieguieed, a6 4 lcgal traveller i( that road Wcrc
gencrally open, i. 6 1f rather large numbcre Of travellere were
going in via PAA flighte. Thio Jine ecemed a blt out 0[ charactcr
Ir A-l, {or it 8eeme unrealistic and bomewhat rcmindul Of Macauay'8
reference8 to thc statc 0f mind that exilee develop. I al8o dctected
sbat we congider t0 bc a bomewhat unrealietic apprateal of thc Cuban
bituation in A-1'6 estimate that Castro hae coneldcrably Ic88 than
40% of the Cuban pcople with hira. A-I may be Jobing more than &
littlc touch with Cuban rcality.
A-] remaina convinced that he 18 on the right track In
working for the eventual overlhrow 0 Cablro. He i8 convinced,
however, that two to three Year8 Je all the time left for actually
destroying the Cabtro regime, belicving that thcre will be a {avorablc
turn in the Cuban economic bituation by late 1965. A-] i0 likewiec
convinced that Caetro cannot add t0 thc improvcment of Cuba, to
tbe contrary that 00 long &8 the principal decieiona arc made by
Castro, the gencra] trend will be confueion arising from a fallurc
Co concentrate on Bpeciic problems unlil they arc corrected:
AMANG-I 18 Mkewiee convinced that the JURE i8 building
8 political group and general outlook which wIll have an impact on
Cuba for many yeare t0 comc. He i6 especlally concerned with thc
need to carefully conalder cach pobition 0 his groy In order t0
create the lagling imprebglon that JURE knowb where It 10 going
and that ite leaderehip I8 compobed of men who know how lo "run"
4 country withoul thc falec start8, confueion and chaoe Identificd
with the Caetro regime.
AMBANG-] Is Hkcwlse greatly concerncd wlth the nccceelty
of not creating an Jmprebelon Iubldc Cuba that the JURE will return
to metc out "fuatice. 16 It i0 cescntlal, A-] statea, to convncc the
general populace that thc overthrow O Cabtro will not rebult in &
bloodbath, rather that tha aole &lm io t0 pavc thc revolution that
hae been betrayed: Hc Ie anxloue that the People Ineide Cuba 860
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the JURE 28 a reepoatiblc, intelligent and dispxesianatc gro4p
which i6 capable 0f bringing t0 Cuba all tbat the revolution promiacd
Alfcase Rodricuer
SAS/ SO
Dictribution;
1 cIsAS
SASI Bolten; Heckeher;{4mor
Chrono
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