FROM : Assistant Director For Administration
FROM: 26 March 1965 1530 GMT
SUBJECT : Guevara, Ernesto (Memorandum #63)
TO: Mr. Sanford T. Felter
Counselor To The President
Room 637, The Executive Office Building
Washington, D.C.
By Courier
In compliance with Presidential Memorandum to The Director, Subject: “Ernesto ‘Che’ Guevara,” dated 14 December 1964, the following information from your sources in Buenos Aires, Argentina, is relayed as received: (Reliability Scale: Not Applicable) .
Begin Intelligence Relayed:
Ernesto Guevara de la Serna has secretly moved into a single family residential building controlled by the Fight Against Bands of Counterrevolutionaries (Acronym from the Spanish, LCB) at Calle Hernandez 134 in the La Corona section of Havana. Neither his wife nor daughter are with him.
He has shaved his beard and the top of his skull, apparently to give the appearance of a smooth shaven bald-headed man. He has also been fitted with prosthetic devices apparently intended to change the appearance of his lips.
It may be that he intends to use the name Ramón Benítez and travel on a Brazilian passport, but this has not been confirmed.
End Intelligence Relayed.
Howard W. O’Connor
HOWARD W. O’CONNOR
SECRET
XIX
[ ONE ]
SECRET
Central Intelligence Agency Langley, Virginia
FROM : Assistant Director For Administration
FROM: 31 March 1965 1530 GMT
SUBJECT : Guevara, Ernesto (Memorandum #66)
TO: Mr. Sanford T. Felter
Counselor To The President
Room 637, The Executive Office Building
Washington, D.C.
By Courier
In compliance with Presidential Memorandum to The Director, Subject: “Ernesto ‘Che’ Guevara,” dated 14 December 1964, the following information from your sources in Buenos Aires, Argentina is relayed as received: (Reliability Scale: Not Applicable) .
Begin Intelligence Relayed:
Victor Dreke was taken afternoon of 30 March 1965 to the house at Calle Hernandez 134 in the La Corona section of Havana by Alberto Chivina, an aide to Castro. Dreke, who will be Guevara’s deputy, was introduced to Ramón Benítez, whom he either pretended not to recognize as Doctor Ernesto Guevara de la Serna, or actually did not recognize, which seems rather unlikely.
Dreke now has a Uruguayan passport in the name of Roberto Suárez Milían and Guevara one in the name of Ramón Benítez. Both are believed to be genuine Uruguayan passports furnished the Cubans blank. It is probable that other such passports have been made available by Uruguay, the Dominican Republic, and others.
When the masquerade was revealed, Dreke and Guevara finalized the roster of the personnel they intend to take with them to the former Belgian Congo.
The 113-man strong force was described by Guevara as a “column,” and will consist of a General Staff, three platoons of infantry and one of artillery. So far as is known the column does not have small arms or artillery.
Guevara and Dreke and a small, unknown number of others will probably leave tomorrow on the regularly scheduled Aerolineas Cubana flight to Prague, Czechoslovakia, and probably move from Prague via Cairo, Egypt to Dar es Salaam, Tanzania aboard a scheduled Czechoslovak Air flight to Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, as soon as possible.
A roster of the revolutionary column will be furnished when available.
End Intelligence Relayed.
Howard W. O’Connor
HOWARD W. O’CONNOR
SECRET
SECRET
URGENT
FROM : CIA LANGLEY 31 MARCH 1965 1605 GMT 03/5788
TO: STATION CHIEFS:
ALGIERS, ALGERIA
BERLIN, GERMANY
CAIRO, EGYPT
DAR ES SALAAM, TANZANIA
MONTREAL, CANADA
PARIS, FRANCE
PRAGUE, CZECHOSLOVAKIA
VIENNA, AUSTRIA
SUBJECT: POSSIBLE MOVEMENT OF ERNESTO “CHE” GUEVERA AND OTHERS
THE AGENCY IS IN POSSESSION OF UNVERIFIABLE BUT PROBABLY RELIABLE INTEL THAT ERNESTO “CHE” GUEVERA AND VICTOR DREKE, AND PROBABLY A SMALL GROUP OF UNIDENTIFIED OTHERS WILL DEPART HAVANA CUBA 1 APRIL 1965 ABOARD AN AEROLINEAS CUBANA FLIGHT TO PRAGUE, CZECHOSLOVAKIA, AND LATER FLY TO DAR ES SALAAM VIA CAIRO ABOARD A CZECHOSLOVAK AIR FLIGHT.
THE DIRECTOR PERSONALLY REPEAT PERSONALLY IS VERY INTERESTED IN CONFIRMATION OR DIS-PROVAL OF THIS INTEL INCLUDING ADDITIONAL DETAILS FOLLOWING: BOTH GUEVARA AND DREKE MAY BE TRAVELING ON URUGUAYAN PASSPORTS USING THE NAMES RAMÓN BENÍTEZ AND ROBERTO SUÁREZ MILÍAN RESPECTIVELY. GUEVERA MAY BE CLEAN SHAVEN, WEARING GLASSES, HAVE THE TOP OF HIS HEAD SHAVEN AND WEARING PROTHESIS TO CHANGE THE SHAPE OF HIS MOUTH.
THE FOLLOWING ACTION IS DIRECTED:
SURVEILLANCE OF CUBANA OR OTHER AIRLINE FLIGHTS ORIGINATING IN HAVANA CUBA AND TERMINATING AT OR PASSING THROUGH LOCATIONS ABOVE, PLUS GANDER NEWFOUNDLAND, WILL BE IMMEDIATELY ESTABLISHED AND MAINTAINED UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE.
CONFIRMING OR DISPROVING REPORTS PLUS ANY OTHER INTEL THAT CAN BE GENERATED IN RE MOVEMENT OR LOCATION OF GUEVARA AND/DREKE WILL BE TRANSMITTED BY THE MOST EXPEDITIOUS MEANS, INCLUDING SATELLITE, TO CIA LANGLEY EYES ONLY DIRECTOR CIA AND ASSISTANT DIRECTOR /ADMIN.
FOR THE DIRECTOR
O’CONNOR ASST DIR/ADMIN
SECRET
[TWO]
Camp David
The Catoctin Mountains, Maryland
1430 1 April 1965
The President of the United States was not in a very good mood.
For one thing, it was raining, and apparently was going to rain all goddamn day, and he had planned to shoot a little skeet, and he obviously couldn’t shoot skeet in a pouring goddamn rain.
For another, the President didn’t like what he was hearing about communist activity in the Dominican Republic from either the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the Chief of Naval Operations, or the Chief of Staff of the U.S. Army.
The Director had told him he considered it very likely that the government in Santo Domingo was very likely to be toppled by Communists, unless something was done almost immediately.
The Chairman had told him that he concurred with the Director’s assessment of the situation, and recommended military intervention before that happened, as it would be much easier to keep the government there in power than it would be to restore it to power after a communist coup.
The Chief of Naval Operations had told him that he concurred with the Director’s analysis, and the Chairman’s belief that military invention was necessary, and recommended that a reinforced regimental-size Marine landing force be formed and ordered to prepare for an invasion of the Dominican Republic.
The Chief had told him that he concurred with the Director and the Chairman’s analysis and their recommendation of preventative establishment of an American military presence in the Dominican Republic, but had to respectfully disagree with his good friend the Chief of Naval Operations about how to do that.
For both military and political reasons, the Chief said, it would be better to use the 82nd Airborne Division. There was no way that the sailing of a Marine landing force could be kept from either the press or the Communists in the Dominican Republic. That might cause the Communists to act sooner than expected, and that would (a) topple the existing government, and (b) very likely cause the Marines, when they arrived, to have to execute a landing on hostile shores.
There was always, the Chief went on, a regiment of the 82nd at Bragg ready to enplane on no more than twenty-four hours’ notice, and a second regiment would be available in another twenty-four hours.
The best way to send an American military presence into the Dominican Republic would be to jump an 82nd Regiment into Santo Domingo without warning, with of course the permission of the current government. On
ce the airport was secured, a second and a third regiment could be flown in. The Marines could thus land, without opposition, later.
The President of the United States did not like the mental pictures he was given of (a) some goddamn Dominican Fidel Castro giving the United States of America the finger; (b) parachutes filling the sky over Santo Domingo; or (c) Marines embarking from landing craft on the hostile shore of this goddamn banana republic.
“I want to think this over,” the President announced. “And it’s obvious we need some fresh thinking on the subject.” He turned to his secretary. “Send for Felter.”
The President’s secretary did not tell Colonel Sanford T. Felter much more than that the President wished him to go immediately to the Pentagon helipad, where a U.S. Army Huey would be waiting for him.
He arrived at Camp David one hour and twenty-five minutes after receiving the President’s secretary’s call, and was immediately taken into the presence of the President, the Chairman, the CNO, and the Chief. He was wearing a somewhat mussed gray suit, and a cotton raincoat that obviously was not up to keeping him dry.
“Tell me about the Dominican Republic, Felter,” the President greeted him.
“Sir, I don’t know much about the Dominican Republic,” Felter said. “That’s not in my area of responsibility.”
“Tell me what you do know,” the President said.
The telephone rang.
The President’s secretary answered it.
The President held up his hand to silence Felter while he waited to see if the call was for him.
“It’s the White House Signal Agency,” the President’s secretary announced. “For Colonel Felter. They have the Léopoldville secure satellite link open for him.”
“Tell them to reschedule—” Felter began.
“What’s that, Felter?” the President asked.
“Sir, I had a message from Major Lunsford saying that he had to talk to me,” Felter said. “So I asked the Signal Agency to—”
“Meaning he’s in trouble in the Congo?” Johnson interrupted.
“I think meaning, Mr. President, that Major Lunsford has something he considers important to say to me. Maybe he needs a decision from me. But if there was trouble, sir—if someone has been injured, for example—I think that would have been in his message.”
“Huh,” the President snorted.
“I’ll reschedule the link, sir,” Felter said.
“No,” the President said. He looked at his secretary. “We can put that on the speakerphone, right?”
“Yes, Mr. President.”
The President looked at Felter.
“Do not, do not, tell him where you are, or who’s also here. I don’t want him worried about saying the wrong thing.”
“Yes, sir.”
The President pointed to a second telephone on a coffee table, and pointed at the couch beside it. “You sit there, Felter, and talk at the telephone; you don’t have to pick it up, just push the speaker button.”
“Yes, sir.”
He sat down, still in his rain-soaked raincoat, and pushed the speaker button.
“Felter,” he said.
“Sir, we have your secure satellite link to Léopoldville. You have eleven minutes, twenty seconds of sat time left.”
“Thank you,” Felter said. “Open it, please.”
He pushed a button on the chronograph on his wrist.
“You there, boss?” Lunsford’s voice said, having been sent into space and bounced back off a surveillance satellite, then relayed to two speakers mounted on the walls of the room in Camp David.
“How are you, Father? What’s on your mind?”
“I need some more stuff, some more money, and your permission to kill the company man, and I need it yesterday.”
The President looked at the director of the Central Intelligence Agency, which was frequently referred to informally as “the company.”
“Tell me about the company man,” Felter said.
“The sonofabitch thinks he’s Eisenhower,” Father said. “He sits on his fat ass in the embassy and draws arrows on maps.”
“That’s the problem?”
“The problem is, he’s making assets available only to projects of which he approves. That means he’s got jeeps and three-quarter -ton trucks in a fucking motor pool in Léopoldville, while we’re—including Colonel Supo—riding around in requisitioned trucks, or walking. But, far fucking worse, the sonofabitch has the B-26s, the T-28s, and the C-47s in his fat little fingers and he told me flat out there is no way he’s going to let us use them. And we need them, Colonel, if this thing is going to work.”
“I’ll see what I can do,” Felter said, and looked at the director of the Central Intelligence Agency.
“If I had my druthers, I’d rather have permission to stick a spear up his ass and feed his corpse to the crocodiles,” Father said.
“What else, Lunsford?”
“I need at least two more—four would be better—L-19s and two pilots for each.”
“I’ll speak with General Bellmon as soon as we’re off, and get back to you.”
“And twenty fixed-station transceivers, fifty backpack radios, and plenty of batteries for them.”
“That can be arranged,” Felter said. “What about the money?”
“Supo wants to buy information and dead Simbas with money, which in the bush means gold coins.”
“How much are you talking about?” Felter asked.
The President picked up a telephone and spoke softly into it.
“Twenty-five thousand right now, and more later,” Lunsford said.
“I think that can be arranged,” Felter said.
“This link will shut down in fifteen seconds for a higher priority, ” the White House Signal Agency operator announced. “You are rescheduled for fifteen minutes at 2210 Zulu.”
Felter looked at the President.
“The Signal Agency guy tells me that’s when the next satellite will be available,” the President said. “In about an hour and ten minutes. I think that should give Felter enough time to explain all of this to us.”
“Mr. President,” Felter said. “May I respectfully remind you, sir, that Major Lunsford, at your orders, was not aware that anyone but me was on this end?”
“He’s one mean sonofabitch when crossed, isn’t he?” the President said. “I’d really hate to have him threaten to stick a spear up my rear end.” He paused. “Brief us on what’s going on over there, Felter.”
“Yes, sir.”
“You going to need a map?”
“I’d like to have one, sir.”
“Get him a map,” the President ordered. “And while that’s on the way, Felter, get out of that wet raincoat.”
Two sailors, a chief petty officer and a seaman first class, quickly replaced the maps of the Dominican Republic and Santo Domingo on a very elegant polished-wood, tripod-mounted map board with a map of the Republic of the Congo and its environs, then lowered a sheet of acetate over it.
Felter saw that the map board was equipped with grease pencils in four colors and a pointer. As he picked up the pointer, he saw that it bore an engraved plaque: PROPERTY OF THE OFFICE OF THE CHIEF OF NAVAL OPERATIONS.
He guessed, correctly, that the CNO had planned to use the map to describe how the Marines would go into the Dominican Republic. And he guessed, again correctly, that the Chief of Naval Operations did not particularly like a lowly colonel in civilian clothing using his map board.
“The insurrectionist forces,” Felter began, “known as the Simbas, are commanded by a self-appointed Lieutenant General Olenga. The Communists—not the Simbas themselves—refer to them as the Lumumbist Forces, after the late Patrice Lumumba, who, it is alleged, was assassinated in 1961 at the orders of Mobutu. So far as I know, Lumumba never laid eyes on Olenga.
"Following the Belgian jump on Stanleyville, and the roughly simultaneous military actions by the Belgians and the mercenaries of Major Michael Hoare
, the Simbas were pretty well scattered all over these four provinces—Equatorial, Oriental, Kivu, and Kasai.”
He used the pointer to indicate the locations of the several provinces.
“About the only effective Congolese officer dealing with the problem has been Colonel Jean-Baptiste Supo, like Mobutu a former sergeant major in the Belgian Force Publique. As of about ten days ago, Supo has been given responsibility for all the provinces, and our augmented Special Forces team is attached to his headquarters in Costermansville, which is over here near Tanzania.
“Colonel Supo believes that the bulk of the on-the-run Simbas are in the vicinity of Luluabourg, in Kasai Province. Even these people are not well armed, as the Belgian jump and the Belgian/Mercenary advance took place before the Soviets could organize a supply operation.
“Colonel Supo believes that the Cubans, when they arrive in Africa, will join the Simbas in the Luluabourg area, and that their first priority will be to first better arm, and then train, the Simbas.
“There are two possible routes for the passage of arms and men into the ex-Belgian Congo. One is through the ex-French Congo, Congo Brazzaville, and the other is from Tanzania.
“Colonel Supo believes that by concentrating his forces against the Simbas around Luluabourg, it will make supplying the Simbas from Congo Brazzaville very expensive, and that they will therefore use Tanzania.
“Using what frankly slender forces he has in Oriental, Equatorial, and Kivu Provinces, Colonel Supo plans to reduce or eliminate the pockets of Simbas, and interdict the supply of men and matériel from Tanzania with the assistance of Special Forces Detachment 17, as follows:
"There are at present in the Congo a Beaver, two L-19s, and an H-13, and Major Lunsford, as you just heard, has requested two, preferably four, more L-19s. The aircraft are available, but we’re having trouble finding enough black pilots and maintenance personnel. I gave General Mobutu my word that I would see that as many of our people as possible would be black.”
“You’re telling me, Colonel,” the CNO said, “that you think you can patrol—and interdict men and matériel—in an area that huge with half a dozen spotter planes and what, forty men?”
Special Ops Page 60