COVERTACTION INFORMATION BULLETIN

PREMIER ISSUE JULY 1978 FREE

CONTENTS

3 WнoWE;:ARE

WHERE MYTHS LEAD ТО MURDER, ВУ 4 PHILIP AGEE

THROWING А CASE: ТНЕ TRIAL OF 8 ARMANDO LOPEZ ESTRADA

"RESEARCHING CONSUMERS": ТНЕ 15 MARKET FOR DEST AВILIZA TION

RECENT NEWS 22

NAMING NAMES 23

PUBLICATIO~S OF INTEREST 24

Cove~tAction lnformation Bulletin, Number 1, J uly 1978, puЬ\ished Ьу Covcrt Action PuЬ\ications, Inc.,.a District of Columbla N<::i.~profit Cor­ por~tюn, Р-?· ~ох 50272, F ~t~eet Statio~, Wa~hington, DC 20004. Telephone (202) 296-6766. А\\ rights reserved; copyright © 1978, Ьу Covert Actюn PuЫ1cat10ns, Inc. Perm1ssюn to reprшt w11\ Ье liberally granted. Typography Ьу Агt fог People, Washington, DC. \ .

DIRTYWORK The CIA In Westem Europe

For the past several years, beginning in 1974, new "enemies" have haunted the Central lntelligence Agency - joumalists and ex-agents. These people are bent on exposing the CIA's unscrupulous tactics so the American puЫic сап see what the CIA has spawned and what is being done under the deceptive cover of "national security.~' John Marks, Victor Marchetti, Morton Н. Halperin and especially Philip Agee have shown consideraЫe courage in informing the world about the seamy side of American espionage. They have opened much of the secret portfolio, ranging from the routine planting of phony news stories to assassination attempts and the overthrow of legitimate governments. In this startling book а comprehensive picture of the CIA emerges. More important, the aнthors explain the simple 'i.vay in which any competent researcher can reco~nize the people behind the dirty work - thus breaking the "cover" of thousands of CIA agents around the \vorld. Diтty Work is а major expose of the CIA - what it does a:nd \vho does it - on а scale never before revealed.

PHILIP AGEE, an ex-CIA operative, is the · Agency's 1шmber опе пemesis and aнthor of the best-selling lnside Th? Сотрапу: CIA Diary. LOUIS WOLF is а journal­ ist \vho has

DIRTY WORK: Order Form SPECIAL OFFER .... 1 --Please--.- send me а сору- ot-Dirty- -Work.- Му- check- or- money order for $24.95 (U.S. funds, please), is en­ 1 clo$ed. This startling and invaluaЫe new expose of the CI~, just 1 puЬlished, lists for $24.95. Ifyou order your сору thi:ough Name: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~- the йJvertAction Information Bulletin, and at the same 1 Mailing Address: ------time subscribe to the Bulletin, we will give you а $10.00 discount from the cost of your subscription. Just send the 1 enclosed order form in along with your subscrip1ion Ыank. 1 1

2 CovertAction Number 1 (July 1978) WHOWEARE

price, we have aпanged for а special offer for our readers. One and а half years ago the last issue of CounterSpy If you order а сору of the book through· us-see the ad on Magazine appeared. Although the scope of coverage, the page 2-we will give а $1 О rebate on all charter one-year depth of research, and the impact of CounterSpy around subscriptions to the CovertAction Information Bulletin. the world were on the rise, personal and political disputes If you are in the United States, tbls is the full price; if you . coupled with CIA harassment led to an impasse among the are overseas, you will only have to рау the postage. · sta~f. Those of us who had been working most closely with . Pbll Agee left the magazine to continue research, and others stayed on, ostensiЬly to continue the magazine. They were not successful. · We have felt, since the beginning, that there is an im­ portant and vital role to Ье played Ьу the sort of exposes for which CounterSpy had become world-famous. We decided that the dissemination of such information must resume. That CounterSpy and its uncovering of CIA per­ sonnel and operations around the world were so violently hated Ьу the Agency was our best endorsement. The com­ pliments and encouragement we received from progressive people everywhere convinced us that we could not leave this void in the mosaic of struggles against the U ..::). intel­ ligence comp\ex. We begin modestly with а small Bulletin which we in­ tend to puЬlish approximately Ьi-monthly. This first issue is being distributed at no charge. We are confident that there will Ье sufficient subscribers to make this puЬlication а permanent weapon in the fight agairЩ the CIA, the FЩ, military intelligence, and all the other instruments of U.S. imperialist oppression throughout the world. We know that the information and the research is there, crying out to Ье published and d1sseminated. We encourage everyone to keep in touch with us, to cor­ respond, to submit leads, tips, suggestions and articles. We w~ try to track down all your leads. Most especially, we will never stop exposing CIA personnel and operations whenever and wherever we find them. We are particularly anxious to receiye, anonymously if you desire, copies of U.S. diplomatic lists and U.S. embassy staff and/or tele­ phone directories, from any countries. One of our group was а CIA case officer for twelve А major step in that battle has already been taken. Two years; two others worked in finance and support for the of our group, Pbll Agee and Lou Wolf, have edited and pre­ CIA for nine years; the rest of us have devoted much of the . pared а new book, Dirty Work, just puЫished Ьу Lyle past several years to direct research on U.S. intelligence Stuart, Inc. Тhis book describes in detail how to expose operations ..We hope that we can put this experience to CIA personnel, includes· dozens of articles from many valuaЫe use through the pages of the CovertAction Infor­ countries wblch have d.one just that, and presents, in mation Bulletin. We hope you will agree, and will support Appendix form, detailed Ьiographies of more than 700 us. . undercover CIA and NSA personnel lurking in embassies and military installations in virtually every country on earth. PbllAgee We urge all our readers to study this book, and the. simple Ellen Ray methodology it sets forth. And, of course, to let us know Bill Schaap the results of your own research. · Elsie Wilcott The book, which is at present only in hardcover, is un­ Jim Wilcott fortunately expensive. Wblle we recognize that the years of Lou Wolf research which went into it, and the expensive, complicated and lengthy printing which it involved, justify such а cover

Number 1 (July 1978) CovertAction 3 WHERE MYTHS LEAD ТО MURDER

Ьу Philip Agee

Copyright © 1978 Ьу С.1. PuЫications, Inc. backers explained the idea to the Arnerican Congress, afraid even in those early days of getting dragged-into un­ wanted foreign adventures, the CIA was needed to find out what а possiЫe enemy was planning in order to protect the [This article is а slightly modified version of the intro­ United States from а surprise attack. Americans at the duction to the book Dirty Work: The С/А in Westem time still shared а vivid memory ofthe unexpectedJapanese Europe, Ьу Philip Agee and Louis Wolf,just puЫished. It expresses much of the philosophy of the attack at Pearl Harbor, and with the likelihood that the new CovertAction Information Bulletin.] enemy-the Soviet Union-would soon have atomic bombs, no one could really doubt the need to know if and when an attack might соте. Тhе real success in watching the Soviets, however, came Today the whOle world knows, as never before, how the from technological breakthroughs like the U-2 spy plane U.S. government and U.S. corporations have been secretly and spy-in-the-sky satellites, and the job of strategic intel­ intervening in country after country to corrupt politicians ligence fell increasingly to the technically sophisticated U.S. and to promote political repression. The avalanche of re­ National Security Agency. The CIA played а part, of course, velations in the mid-1970s, especially those concerriing the and it also provided <;:entralized processing of information CIA, shows а policy of secret intervention that is highly and data storage. But in its operattons the CIA tended to refined and consistently applied. put its emphasis on. covert action-financing friendly poli­ Former President Ford and leading govemment spokes­ ticians, murdering suspected foes, and staging coups d'etat. men countered Ьу stressing constantly the need for the CIA This deeply involved the Agency in the internal politics to retain, and to use when necessary, the capabllity for of countries throughout Westem Europe, Asia, Africa, the executing the kinds of operations that brought to power Middle East, and Latin America, as well as in the Soviet the military regime in Chile. Ford even said in puЬlic that Ыос. And even where CIA officers and agents did act as he beli.eved events in Chile had been "in the best interests of the Chilean people." And even with President Carter's human rights campaign there has been по indication that the CIA has reduced or stopped its support of repressive dictatorships in Iran, Indonesla, South Korea, Brazil, artd other bastions of "the free world ." The revelations, though, have not only exposed the operations of the CIA, but also the individual identities­ the names, addresses, and secret histories-of many of the people who actually do the CIA's wщk. Yet, with all the newly availaЫe information, шалу people still seem to be­ ------lieve the myths used to justify this secret political police force. Some of the шyths are, of course, actively spread Ьу my former CIA colleagues; others соте from their liberal critics. But whatever the source, until we lay the myths to rest, they· will continue to confuse people and permit the CIA-literally-to get away with murder.

spies, gathering intelligence information, they consistently Myth Number One: Тhе ал is primarily engaged in gather­ used that information to further their programs of action. ing intelligence information against the Soviet Union. The CIA's operatives will argue that the ultimate goal of This is perhaps the CIA's longest-playing myth, going discovering Soviet and other govemments' intentions re­ back to the creation of the Agency in 194 7 and the choice quires live spies at work in places like the Kremlin-that the of the name "Central Intelligence Agency." As the Agency's Agency exists to recruit these spies and to keep them alive

4 CovertAction Number l (July 1978) and working. А Penkovsky or·two snould Ье on the payroll have given the greeп light to so many covert operations. at all times to keep Amenca safe from Russian adventures. But why were the operations necessary? And why secret? This argument may influence some people, because theo· The operations had to Ье secret, whether they involved retically, spy satellites and other fomls of monitoring only political bribes, funding of anticommunist journals," or give а few minutes' warning, whereas а person in the right fielding of small amlies, because in every case they implied place can report on decisions as _soon· as they are made, either government control ofsupposedly non-governmental giving perhaps days or weeks of warning. Such а spy might institutions or violation of treaties and other agreements. In also Ье of great value for the normal conduct of relations­ other words, hypocrisy and coпuption. If the government whether in negotiations, cooperation, or confrontation. was going to subvert free, democratic, and liberal institu­ Nevertheless, the vast CIA effort to recruit officials of tions, it would have to do so secretly. importance in the Soviet F oreign MinЩry, Defense Ministry, KGB, and GRU has never had significant success. There have indeed been defections, but these, I was told in the CIA, had nothing to do with the elaborate traps and snares laid out Ьу the CIA around the world. They resulted from varying inotivations and psychological pressures operating on the official who defected. In this respect, the CIA's strengthening of repressive foreign security services, neces­ sary for laying out the snares (telephone tapping, travel control, observation posts, surveillance teatns, etc.), can scarcely Ье justified Ьу the nil recruitment record. Today, notwithstanding receпt "reforшs," the CIA re­ maiпs primarily ап action agency-doiпg and поt just sпoopiпg. Theirs is the grey area of irtterveпtionist actioп betweeп striped-pants diplomacy and invasioп Ьу the Marines, and their targets iп most couпtries remaiп largely the same: goverпments, political parties, the military, police, secret services, trade unioпs, youth and student organizatioпs, cultural and professional societies, апd the puЬlic iпformatioп media. ln each of these, the CIA coп­ tiпues to prop up its friends апd beat dowп its епещiеs, while its goal remains the furthering of U.S. hegeшony so . that American multinational сощрапiеs сап iпtensify their exploitatioп of the natural resources and labor of foreigп laпds. Of course this has little to do with strategic intelligeпce There is, however, а more basic reason for the secrecy­ or preveпtiпg aпother Pearl 1-larbor, w11ile it has а lot to do and for the CIA. Successive administrations-together with with the power of certaiп privileged groups within the American-based multinatioпal corporations-have continu­ Uпited States and their friends abroad. The CIA spreads the ally demanded the freest possiЫe access to foreign markets, myth of "iпtelligence gathering'' in order to obscure the labor, agricultural products, and raw materials. То give meaning of what the Аgепсу is really doiпg. muscle to this deшand for the "open door," recent presi­ dents have taken increasiпgly to using the CIA to strengthen Myth Number Two: Тhе major рrоЫет is /ack of control; those foreigп groups who cooperate-and to destroy those thal is, the С/А is а "rogue elephant." who do not. This has been especially clear in countries such This myth comes not from the CIA, but from its liberal as Chile under Allende, or Iran 20 years earlier under critics, тапу of whom seem to believe that all would Ье Mossadegh, where strong nationalist movements insisted on weli°if only Congress or the President would exercise tighter some form of socialism to ensure national control of econ­ control. Yet, for all the recent horror stories, one finds little omic resources. evidence that а majority iп Congress want the responsibllity The CIA's covert action operations abroad are not sui for coпtrol, while the executive branch coпtiпues to insist­ generis. They happen because they respond to internal rightly-that the Ageпcy's covert action operatioпs have, U.S. requirements. We cannot wish them away through with very few exceptioпs, followed the orders of successive fantasies of some enlightened President or Congress who presideпts апd their Natioпal Security Couпcils. As fomler would end American subversion of foreign peoples and Secretary of State Kissiпger told Represeпtative Otis Pike's institutions Ьу the wave of а wand. Not surprisingly, the lпtelligeпce Investigatiпg Committee, "Every operatioп is U.S. Senate rejected Ьу а very wide margin а legislative persoпally approved Ьу the Presideп t." initiative that would have prohiblted covert action pro­ For its part the Pike committee coпcluded in its official grams Ьу the CIA. report, first puЬlished in "leaked" form Ьу the Vil/age Only prior Jadical change within the U.S., change that Voice, that "all evideпce in hand suggests that the CIA, far will eliminate the process of accumulating the value of from being out of control has Ьееп utterly respoпsive to the foreign labor and resources, will finally allow an end to iщtructions of the President and the Assistant to the Presi­ secret intervention abroad. Until then, we should expect deпt for National Security Affairs." more intervention Ьу the CIA and multinational corpora­ So the proЫem is said to Ье with the presidents­ tions-not less. Increasingly important will Ье the repres~ Democratic and RepuЫican-who, over the past 30 years, sive capabllities of the Agency's "sister" services abroad.

Number 1 (July 1978) CovertAction 5 Myth Number ТJzree: Weakening the С/А opens wider the officials in foreign countries, especially since the killing of door for Soviet expansion and eventual world domination. the CIA Statjon Chief in Athens, Richard Welch. CIA This myth is peddled especially hard at times when liberation movements make serious gains. Former President Ford and Dr. Кissinger used it frequently during the CIA's ill-fated intervention in Angola, and wc:; continue to hear it again as liberation movements seek Soviet and Cuban help in their struggles against the apartheid policies of the white Rhodesians and South Africans. The proЫem for America, however, is not "Soviet ex­ pansionism," despite all the anticommunism with which we are indoctrinated practically from the c:radle. The proЬlem, rather, is that the American government, preeminently the CIA, continues to intcrvene on the side of "friends" whose property and privilege rest on the remnants of archaic social systems long since discredited. The political repression re­ quired to preserve the old order depends on American and other Western support which quite naturally is turning more and more people against the United States-more effectively, for sure, than anything the KGB could ever concoct. As Senator Frank Church explained in an interview on British television, "l'm apt to think that the Russians are going to choose [sides J better than we will choose nine times out of ten. After all wc're two hundred years away from our revolution; we're а very conservative country ."

Myth Number Four: Тhose who attack the С/А, especially those who have worked in the intelligence community, are traitors, tumcoats, or agents of the KGB. This has been the Agency ·s chief attack on me personally, and I'm certain that the fear of being tarred with the same brush is keeping many CIA veterans from voicing their own opposition. But as with earlier efforts to find the "foreign hand" in the American · antiwar movement, the CIA has failed to produce а slнed of evidence that any of its major American (or European) critics are in the service of any foreign power. · Would-be "reformers" of the CIA have also discovered spokesmen-and journals such as the Washington Post­ how the Agency reacts to criticism. According to Represen­ tative Pike, the CIA's Special Counscl threatened to destroy were quick to accuse "me and CounterSpy magazine of having "fingered" Welch for the "hit," charging that in Pike's political career. In а conversation with Pike's chief puЫishing his name, we were issuing "an open invitation investigative staff person, the Special Counsel was quoted to kill blm." The Agency also managed to exploit Welch's thus: "Pike will рау for this [directing the vote to approve death to discredit and weaken those liberals in Congress the committee report оп the CIA]-you wait and see. I'm who wanted only to curtail some of the Agency's more serious. ihere will Ье political retaliation. Any political obvious abuses. Subsequent research, noted in Dirty Work, ambltions in New York that Pike had are through. We will destroy him for this." makes abundantly clear that CounterSpy had nothing to do with the Welch killing. CIA veterans must not intimidated the Agency's Ье Ьу The result of thc Agency's manipulations isn't hard to false and unattributed slander. We have special responsi­ а predict. The CIA, for all its sins, came out of the recent Ьility for weakening this organization. If put at the service investigations strengthened Ьу the Ford "reforms," while of those we once oppressed, our knowledge ofhow the CIA the Congress may attempt to pass an official secrets act really works could keep the CIA from ever really working that will attempt to make it а crime for any present or again. And though the CIA will brand us as ••traitors," former government official ever again to Ыоw the whistle people all over the world, including the United States, Ьу making puЬlic classified information. No more Penta­ will respond, as they have already, with enthusiastic and effective support. gon Papers. No more Watergate revelations. No more С/А Diaries. Nonetheless, the naming goes on. More and more CIA Myth Number Five: Naming individual С/А officers does people can now Ье held personally accountaЫe for what little to change the Agency, and is done оп/у to expose in­ they and the Agency as an institution do-for the real harm. nocent individuals to the threat of assassination. they cause to real people. Their military coups, torture Nothing in the anti-CIA effort has stirred up more anger chambers, and terrorism cause untold pain, and their backing than the puЫishing of the names and addresses of CIA of multinational corporations and local elites helps push

6 CovertAction Number 1 (July 1978) millions to the edge of starvation, and often beyond. Тhеу 3. Check the names as suggested in the various ar­ are the Gestapo and SS of our tjJne, and as in the Nuremberg ticles in Dirty Work, especialiy John Marks' "How to Trials and the war in Vietnam, they cannot shed their in­ Spot а Spook." Watch carefully for persons caпied dividual responsibility simply because they were following <щ the Foreign Мinistry's Diplom{ltic and Consular а superior's orders. Lists, but who are rnissing from the recent Вio­ But apart from the question of personal responsibility, graphic Registers and Foreign Service Lists. Most ·or the CIA remains а secret political police, and the exposure these will Ье CIA people purposely left off the State of its secret operations-and secret operatives-remains the Department lists. most effective way to reduce the suffering Феу cause. Al­ 4. After narrowing down the list of likely suspects, ready а handful of journalists and former intelligence of­ check them with us and with other similarly oriented ficers have managed to reveal the names and addresses of groups. CovertAction lnformation will follow up on hundreds of CIA people, and even the Washington Post­ all leads, and puЬlish all the information it can con- wblch condemns us for doing it-has admitted that our firm. · efforts added greatly to the CIA.'s growing demoralization. 5. Once the list is fully checked, puЬlish it. Тhen We also noticed frorn our own investigations that the Agency organize puЬlic demonstrations against those narned­ was forced to step up its security precautions and to trans­ both at the American Embassy and at their homes­ fer many of those named to other posts. All of this disrupts and, where possiЬle, bring pressure on the govern­ and destabilizes the CIA, and makes it harder for them to ment to throw them out. Peaceful protest will do the inflict harm оп others. job. And when it doesn't, those whom the CIA has Of course, some people will always raise the cry that we most oppressed will find other ways of fighting back. are "trying to get sorneone killed." But, as it happens,. violence is not really needed. Ву removing the mask of Natщ:ally, as new CIA people replace the old, it will Ье anonymity from CIA officers, we make it difficult for them necessary to repeat the process, perhaps every few months. to remain at overseas posts. We hope that the CIA will have And as the carnpaign spreads, and the CIA leams to correct the good sense to shift these people to the increasingly the earlier and more obvious flaws in its use of State De­ smaller number of safe posts, preferaЬly to а desk inside the partment cover, we will have to develop new ways to spot CIA headquarters at Langley, Virginia. In this way the CIA them. Already the Agency has gotten the State Department will protect the operatives named-and also the lives of to restrict circulation of the all-important Вiographic their potential victims. Register, and it is likely that the Administration will in From the old song and dance of the "intelligence gather­ future place more of its people under cover of the Depart­ ing" to the claim that "those whoexpose are the murderers," ment of Defense (for example, in military bases, and in these five myths won't simply vanish. The CIA-and its Military Assistance Groups), the Drug Enforcement Agency, allies-will continue to propagate them, and the CIA's and the multinational corporations. critics will have to respond. We must increasingly expose In rare cases, the CIA may even attempt changing the these myths and the crimes they cover up. identities o.f certain operatives. Nonetheless, the CIA will But besides debating, there is much more that we can always need а secure base in embassies and consulates to dO-especially in furthering the exposure of the Agency and keep its Шеs and communications facilities, and there are its secret operatives. The CIA рrоЬаЫу has no more than rnany ways to identify the CIA people in these missions 5 ,ООО officers experienced in running clandestine opera­ without relying on puЫic documents. tions and it shoul.d Ье j:юssiЫe to identify almost all of Within the United States, ·people can help this carnpaign those who have worked under diplomatic cover at any Ьу supporting the groups struggling to stop covert inter­ time in their careers. Dirty Work lists mainly those named vention abroad. There is also the need for continuing re­ as CIA operatives in Europe; we hope additional volumes search into current CIA operations, and new prograrns to can Ье published on the CIA's people in other areas. All identify and keep track of all the FBI special agents and that is required is а continuing effort-and а novel form of informers, military intelligence personnel, and the Red international cooperation. Here's how: Squads and SWAT groups of local and state police depart­ rnents". 1. In each country а team of interested people, in­ Together, people of many nationalities and varying cluding journalists, shoulcl obtain а list of all the political beliefs can cooperate to weaken the CIA and its Americans working in the official U.S. Mission: the surrogate intelligence services, striking а Ыоw at political Embassy, consulates, AID offices, and other U.S. repression and economic injustice. The CIA can Ье defeated. installations. This list can Ье acquired through а The proof can Ье seen from Vietnarn to Angola, and in friend in the host Foreign Ministry, in the Amщican all the other countries where liberation rnovernents are Embassy-or Ьу other means. rapidly gaining strength. 2. The tearn should then get past editions of neces­ We can а11 aid this struggle, together with the struggle for sary puЬlic documents-U.S. Foreign Service Lists socialisrn in the United States itself. and Вiographic Registers (both puЬlished Ьу the Department of State) from а local library, and the Diplomatic List and Consular List puЬlished regularly Ьу every Foreign Ministry. The Diplomatic and Consular Lists will contain the names and addresses of the higher ranking members of the official mission, including some of the CIA people.

Nutnber 1 (July 1978) CovertAction 7 THROWING А CASE: ТНЕ TRIAL OF ARMANDO LOPEZ ESTRADA

"The testimony will essentially Ье this. On approxi­ The CBS Documentary mately August 15th of 1977 at approximately The opening scene can Ье pinpointed. On June 1О, 1977, 10:00 a.m., Special Agents vi' t!1e United States CBS-TV aired Bill Moyers special: "CBS Reports-The Customs Service we11t to the hous.:- of Pedro Gil а CIA 's Secret Army ." The show documented the paramili­ at 52 Northwest 58th Avenue in Miaшi, Florida, tary roles of certain segments of the Cuban exile com­ just а short ways off Flagler Street. munity in the United States. It reviewed the preparation "At that location, which is а house, or а house that and implementation of the CIA-directed invasion at the Вау is fairly close to the street, а single family dwelling, of Pigs in 1961, the ignominious defeat of the benighted there was а boat parked on а traiJ.er in the driveway. invaders, and the subsequent recruitment Ьу the United "The evidence will show that th,is is а 23 Formula States government of the veterans and sympathizers of the outboard boat. fiasco into bands of terrorists hell-bent on attacking Cuba "At the time the agents went there they met Mr. and overthrowing the government led Ьу Fidel Castro. Gil and after а brief conversation wiф Mr. Gil, The TV correspondent of the Miami Herald reported they boarded his boat and searched it. this in llis review of the show: "What they found on the boat then becomes the subject of the evidence in this case. "The Kennedy vengeance began, reports Moyers, "They found on the boat one 20 mm. cannon., one as soon as the members of the Brigade 2506 captured .50 caliber machinegun, one .30 caliber machinegun, during the invasion were ransomed months later . two Browning rifles, five weapons that are commonly ВоЬЬу Kennedy gave top priority to the CIA's mus­ known as AR-15 Colt rifles, two of which Цаd been tering of а secret army, based in Miami, to start converted to fully automatic. covert sabotage operations against Castro and his "Approximately ninety rounds of20 mm. ammuni­ regime. It was called 'Operation Mongoose.' tion and thousands of rounds of additional ammuni­ "А CIA agent, Grayston Lynch, was its recruiter. tion to fit these other weapons."1 An Army general, Edward Lansdale, was its military director. "The CIA virtually dropped 'Operation Mongoose' Thus begins the prosecutor's opening statement in the Ьу 1972, but few involved were aware of that .... trial of four Cuban exiles charged with unlawful possession Now ... the onetime CIA soldiers are simply pro­ of unregistered firearms. Never once did any of the four ceeding 6n their own, conducting their own war ."2 deny that they. possessed the weapons, or that they were The Moyers show had interviews with various members intended for an armed raid against the RepuЫic of Cuba. of Brigade 2506, including Armando Lopez Estrada, the Four days latet, on January 10, 1978, they were acquitted. "Chief of Military Operations" of the Brigade. 1t also ex­ What happened, and why? CovertAction lnformation posed to U.S. audiences some shocking scenes filmed in а Bulletin oЬtained the complete transcript of the trial, never warehouse in Miami which was stacked floor to ceiling with before availaЫe, and carefully studied it and the surrounding weapons. Two exiles-one of them as it turns out being events. The conclusion is inescapaЫe that the acquittal was Lopez Estrada again-were Шmed in the warehouse stand­ foreordained, and that the Central Intelligence Agency and ing proudly in front of the weapons with sacks over their the Department of Justice were responsiЫe. What is also heads to disguise their identities. clear is that the Carter Administration's alleged detente It was а difficult time, diplomatically, for such а show with Cuba, well before the recent Shaba incident and to air. The U.S. and Cuban administrations were negoti­ Brzezinski's ravings, was hypocritical at best, and, on some ating the lessening of tensions, cultщal exchanges, and the levels, а simple lie. mutual opening of Interest Sections in each other's country. At the same time, right·wing forces within the United 1united States v. Pedro Gil, Armando Lopez Estrada, Juan States were decrying any improvement in relations, self­ Raimundo Агее and Jsidoro Pineiro Castineira, No. 77-481-Cr-JE, interest notwithstanding. Ironically, the same day that the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida, CBS documentary was aired" Senator R0ward Вaker -was Official Transcript (hereinafter "Transcript"), January 6, 1978, Part 1, рр. 5-6. 2мiami Herqld, June 10, 1977.

8 CovertAction. NumЬer 1 (July 1978) quoted as saying, "1 think this is the worst time in history Armando Lopez Estrada, 38, Juan Raimundo Arce, 37, and to Ье cozying up to Cuba."3 Isidoro Pineiro Castineira, 38, were also arrested. They were Despite sentiments such as Baker's, it was clear that all charged with possession of unregistered firearms and vio­ something had to Ье done. The Cuban exiles had it, and lation of the Neutrality Act. То this day, Pedro Gil has they were flaunting it: Warehouses full of weapons in never made any puЬlic statement about the case. The others, downtown Miami. Cuban exiles. bragging about armed however, from the day of the arrests, admitted that the attacks. BomЬings and killings around the world. And weapons were theirs, said they had been given to them Ьу Brigade 2506 stage center, and proud of it. But, as we the CIA, and proudly proclaimed that they were for use · shall see, what was done Ьу the U.S. government was little against Cuba. The Miami Herald noted: more than show.

Astonishingly, nothing ever happened to the warehouse "Lopez Estrada confirmed that the boats and full of weapons. PresшnaЬly it is still there in Miami. CBS weapons were part of а plan to attack Cuba. Не said was never questioned, never subpoenaed, nor were the one boat was to Ье used to transport the weapons to cameramen and still photographers from many newspapers, а fourth 'intermediary boat' somewhere outside the all of whoш saw the inside of the warehouse. Had the par­ U.S. limits. Lopez Estrada said that he didn't feel that ticipants been \eft-wing activists instead of right-wing the group was doing anything wrong since the attack terrorists, one сап imagine what would have happeпed. was to Ье launched from outside the United States. Because of the puЬ\ic outcry, though, some kind of 'lf 1 take weapons outside the United States to Ье iпvestigatioп-surveilling апd following \eading Brigade used outside of the United States, is that wrong?' he 2506 members-was conducted, апd as the Assistant asked."4 United States Attorney explained to the jury some nюnths Following the arrests, Roberto Carballo, President of later, on August 15, 1977, two months after the TV show, Brigade 2506, called several meetings to gather support the Customs agents searched Pedro Gil's boat. Thus began for the defendants in the Cuban exile community and to the trial that, in the final analysis, might just as well never raise funds for their defense. have taken р\асе.

Тhе Arrests Brigade 2506 Pedro Gi\, 41, was immediately arrested. Shortly there­ The Brigade, with perhaps 500 active members, is com­ after, based on fingerprint identifications and interrogations, prised of veterans of the Вау of Pigs and other sympatblzers.

ЗJbld. 4Jbld., August 16, 1977.

NumЬer 1 (July 1978) CovertAction 9 They are а powerful force in the Miami area, where well Tbls meeting, which was apparently conducted under upwards of 100,000 Cuban exiles reside. А Мiami city police and FBI surveillance, and which may have included Commissioner is а member, as is the state Democratic an informant, centered on the murder of Letelier and Party Chairman. А few years ago, when the Brigade held several sabotage actions. No police action followed this its "First Congress," Miami Mayor Maurice Ferre and U.S. meeting. Representative Claude Pepper wer.e featured speakers. What is more, it is puЬlic knowledge that Carballo and On the day of the arrest, the Miami Herald news story Lopez Estrada were also present at the secret meeting in pointed out that the Brigade was "well respected" in the July of 1976 in the Dominican RepuЬlic which organized community. Ironically, the editorial in the same issue of the Coordination of United Revolutionary Organizations the Herald took а less-laudatory position: (CORU), which claimed credit for the heinous bomЬing of "Until the mid 1960s, overthrowing Fidel Castro а Cubana Airliner in October 1976.7 seemed to Ье the official policy of th~ United States government. Toward that purpose an agency of the government armed and supported а group of exiles in an abortive attempt to invade Cuba. Other efforts were made to depose the Cuban dictator. "But the policy gradually changed, and in recent months the rate of change appears to have increased. Most Cuban exiles-many of them now citizens of the United States-find the changes in policy hard to accept. Some merely grumЫe. Others take their cues from the fiery oratory of demagogues who promise to tum back the clock. And а few-a tiny number, really-take the law into their own hands."5 They did more than take the law into their own hands, though; they seemed to have ignored it with relative im­ punity. On June 29, 1976, there was а meeting at the New England Oyster House in Coral GaЫes, Florida, involving, as а recent Penthouse Magazine article put it, two Chileans, two Cuban exiles, and an American.6 lt now appears that We will retum to the terrorists-no "tiny number" Ьу the participants included Hector. Duran, Bernardo de the way-and to the Chilean connection, presently. But Torres and Armando Lopez Estrada, from the Brigade what of the Miami trial? After so many years of openly 2506; General Juan Manuel Contreras Sepulveda, the defiant and illegal behavior, Armando Lopez Estrada and notorious then-head of DINA, the Chilean secret police;and three of his colleagues were charged with possession of un­ Michael V. Townley, the American who conspired with registered weapons and violation of the Neutrality Act. the fascist, paramilitary Patria у Libertad against the regime The Neutrality Act Charges On January 4, 1978, the day before the trial proper was to begin, on the motion of the defense attomeys, United States District Judge of the Southem District of Florida Joe Eaton severed the Neutrality Act charges from the case. The Neutrality Act count ofthe indictment charged the defendants with planning, from the United States, to attack Cuba, "а country with which the United States is at реасе." This particular phrase, essential to а Neutrality Act charge, was at the heart not only of the defense motion to sever, but of the entire trial as well. And this is because (as the defense incessantly pointed out to the judge and jury) of PuЬlic Law 87-733 passed Ьу the Eighty-Seventh Con­ gress and signed Ьу John F. Kennedy on October 3, 1962. It reads:

"Resolved, Ьу the Senate and House of Repre­ sentatives of the United States of America in Con­ gress assemЫed, "That the United States is determined to prevent of Salvador Allende, became а DINA operative after the Ьу whatever means may Ье necessary including the соир, and was directly involved in the murder of Orlando force of arms, the Marxist-Leninist regime in Cuba Leteli~r_ (}Щl Ronnie Moffitt in September of that year. from extending, Ьу force or the threat of force, its aggressive or subversive activities to any part of this 5/Ьid. hemisphere. 6Ernest Volkrnan and J ohn Curnrnings, "The Assassination of Orlando Letelier," Penthouse, July 1978, р. 52, at р. 59. 1Miami Herald, August 16, 1977.

1 О CovertAction Number 1 (July 1978) "То prevent in Cuba the creation of an extemally With the express approval of ВоЬЬу Kennedy, he took part supported military capability endangering the security in dozens of invasions and attacks against Cuba. Не also of the United States, and spent several years in the early I 960s in. the United States "То work with the Organization of American Army, while receiving рау from the CIA. All this time, States and with freedom-loving Cubans to support O'Donnell pointed out, he handled many weapons and was the aspirations of the Cuban people for self­ never, obviously, told that he had to register them. determination."8 Some time later, Lopez Estrada was given а map Ьу а member of the CIA which gave the location of an arms This Resolution~this Cold War Monroe Doctrine-is cache on а small island in the Bahamas, not far from Cuba. still on the books despite three unsuccessful attempts to There he went with some friends, dug up the weapons, and repeal it. And beca1,1se, Judge Eaton said, "it calls for the brought them to Miami for cleaning and for an attack overthrow of Fidel Castro," he withdrew the Neutrality against Cuba to Ье launched from soine place outside the Act charges until the prosecution could ptove to him that United States. Yes, the defense agreed, Lopez Estrada and Cuba was "а country with which the United States is at his friends had these weapons, but they never dreamed реасе." So far, there has been no disposition of those they had to register them. They were still proceeding under' charges. The case which w~nt before the jury in Miami in ВоЬЬу Kennedy's personal orders given seventeen years January did not include Neutrality Act charges. Neverthe­ before. And, yes, the defendants were familiar with PuЫic less the Act and this Resolution were constantly refeпed Law 87-733, and that, to them, was the law of the land, to. 'Although the defendants were merely charged with regardless of any so-called detente in the late l 970s. possession of unregistered weapons, the defense. continu­ It was only because of the CBS-TV show that these ally implied that the United States was at war w1th Cuba, defendants-"scapegoats" -were before the court at all: and that the defendants were simply well-meaning patriots. "That documentary did not go far towards ce­ The Trial menting relationships with Cuba. А good faith effort towards the cementing of those relationships with And so, Jerome Sanford, Assistant United States Attor­ Cuba had to Ье shown. ney for the Southem District of Florida, commenced his "Armando Lopez Estrada, Mr. Pineiro, Mr. Arce prosecution of the four Cuban exiles for the knowing and and Mr. Gil, the evidence will show you, are that unlawful possession of unregistered firearms. good faith effort to show Fidel Castro we mean The prosecution's case was simple. Sanford proved that business. the weapons and ammunition were found on Pedri Gil's ''Тhе arrests were applauded from the front boat in front of his house; he proved that they were in pages oftheMiamiHeraldby Fidel Castro. working order; and he proved that they were not registered. "Не, in his own words, said this is а step in the Не also proved that the fingerprints of the other three were right direction towards cementing relationships be­ all over the weapons and the boat. Не even demonstrated tween the United States and Cuba. That is why we that the defendants did not deny that they were their are here."10 weapons, and, in fact that they intended to use them to attack Cuba. Unfortunately, Fidel Castro had no idea how little Edward O'Donnell and his partner Donald Spain repre­ good faith there was. As а knowledgeaЫe Miami reporter sented the defendants. Although they were well-known put it to CovertAction, "The prosecutor was ordered to Miami criminal lawyers, their entry into the case was some­ bring the charges, but he sure wasn't ordered to get а what unusual, because Spain had been an Assistant State's conviction." Attomey who had prosecuted many Cuban exiles in the local courts. But at present he is well-ensconced in the Тhе Peculiarities of the Trial exiles' legal defense teams, and is representing Guillermo There are а number of instances in the trial which do Novo Sampol, а key figure in the Letelier-Moffitt assas­ not ring true to an experienced criminal lawyer, or indeed sinations, on а parole violation charge. Не is also the lawyer anyone familar with criminal law. In order to highlight for Alvin Ross Diaz, like Novo one of the New Jersey them, we give а brief overview of the proceeding. The exile terrorists, charged with possession of explosives, prosecution's case was uneventful. The defense first pre­ firearms and drugs. sented Lopez Estrada himself, the only defendant who took O'Donnell presented the defense's argument in his the stand. Не testified about his Вау of Pigs history and opening statement. Не concentrated on Lopez Estrada. subsequent meetings with high officials, his training in the Не was trained, he told the jury, Ьу the CIA for the Вау of Army, and his twenty-six commando raids against Cuba. Pigs invasion. Afterwards, he was brought to the United But he also testified that his last payment from the CIA States to meet Robert F. Kennedy. "Armando Lopez was in 1965, and his last raid was in 1963. Не did testify Estrada personally met with Robert F. Kennedy and was that he had remained in contact with Grayston Lynch until asked if he wanted to continue his fight 3gainst Cuba, the the present time, and was still in contact with him. (Lynch, Castro Communist regime that was in eXis.tence in Cuba at in fact, was present at court for the entire trial, and test~­ 9 that time. His reply was in the affirmative." Then he even fied on behalf of the defendants.) Lopez Estrada also test1- met President John F. Kennedy, in addition to many CIA fied that he had received the map of the weapons cache in agents -who trained him in the use of various weapons. 1976 from а man he knew only as "Red ВоЬ," whom he 8rranscript, January 6, 1978, Part Il, р. 99; January 9, 1978, had known in 1961 as а member of the CIA, and whom he Part 1, рр. 87-88. 9тranscript, January 6, 1978, Part 1, р.·95. lOJЬid., р. 101.

Number 1(July1978) CovertAction 11 assumed still was. Не said that the weapons ''were very sented Ьу one side refuses to answer relevant questions put dirty and in very bad situation because 1 think, if 1 recall Ьу the other side, that side can move to strike the entire correctly, that the weapons were hidden in 1966."ll testimony of the witness. А vigorous prosecutor, one would Finally, he mentioned in passing that he had been to the think, would have taken that advantage. Yet the cross­ White House in 1976 to meet with an aide of President examination of Lynch was very brief, virtually insignificant, Ford. and touched on no sensitive areas. It would seem obvious What is important to remember is the following: except that had the prosecutor gone to the heart of the matter of ,for the alleged meeting with "Red ВоЬ" in 1976, Lopez the CIA's dealings with Lopez Estrada and the others, and Estrada testified to по substantive contacts with the CIA its providing them with weapons, he surely would have since 1965; he also testified that the weapons had been hit on а number of areas where Lynch would have refused buried for 11 years, and were very dirty; and he men­ to answer. And at that point he could have had his entire tioned, regarding 1976 simply that he had been to the testimony striken from the jury's consideration Ьу the White House. All of these points figured prominently in judge-something which has а substantial impact on ajury. the subsequent crumЫing of the government's case. But the government passed up the opportunity. The defense called only one other witness, Вау of Pigs Grayston Lynch veteran and Brigade шember Roberto Perez, who briefly reiterated the same experiences as Lopez Estrada, particu­ The defense then called Grayston Lynch, CIA case larly the meetings with ВоЬЬу Kennedy and other high officer for the Вау of Pigs invasion and Brigade 2506. officials in the 1960s. Perez didn't know "Red ВоЬ," but Lynch testified about Lopez Estrada's training, particu­ said he was always paid Ьу "Grey Pete." Perez, much to larly with respect to weapons, pointing out that the weapons the chagrin of the defense no doubt, also testified that he provided to the Brigade Ьу the CIA in the early 1960s were had not been involved in any raids since 1962, and didn't not registered so they could not Ье traced. Не also testified know anything about any other raids. that although some operations planned Ьу the exiles re­ At this point the defense rested. The prosecution was ceived express approval, and some express disapproval, now faced with а relatively simple credibllity case which "there were some that we neither approved not disapproved. should have hinged on several points: First, were these ... (11 f they didn't bother anything they just ignored them."12 weapons rcally given to Lopez Estrada Ьу the CIA? If not, did Lopcz Estrada and the others really believe they lt was during Lynch's testimony that the first legal were? And even if they thought so, did that constitute а puzzler arose. The following colloquy occurred during the legal excuse? direct examination: At this point, the prosecution was entitled to bring on "Q. Could you indicate to the ladies and gentle­ rebuttal witnesses, presuшaЫy to stress that the CIA had men of the jury how these weapons are acquired Ьу no involvemcnt with the defendants, and had not planted the аgелсу before distribution to the people that these weapons for them or provided а map to them. And work under you for training purposes? there was а further peculiarity here. Lopez Estrada showed "А. 1 don't think, 1 do not thiпk 1 could answer the map to the court, and iпsisted there were still explosives that. on the island, and that he would lead anyone to it who "Q. Why would you Ье unaЫe to answer that to waпtcd to see them. There is, however, no indication that the ladies and gentlemen of the jury? any such cache really existed, поr апу iпdication of any "А. 1 think it is classified information. comшunication with the government of the Bahamas to "Q. Have you taken а certain oath as а member of check on this location, much less to warn them of live the Central Intelligence Agency? explosives lying in а hole on an island. Tfiere were а number "А. Yes, 1 have. of ways one might have proceeded to punch holes in the "Q. All right. Does that oath preclude you fro111 defendants' story. The prosecutor, however, called Robert commenting on matters affecting national security? Barteaux. "А. Unless it has been brought out before. "Q. The question that 1 have just asked you is а Robert Barteaux matter that has been brought out before in which If therc was а sandbag thrown in this case, Barteaux was . there is some type of puЬlic record on it. it. Не took the stand as Edward Cohen, Assistant General "А. Yes, but 1 could not co111111ent on it, neither to Counsel of the Central Intclligence Agency, joined the confirm nor deny it. prosecution tаЫе. Не identified himsclf as follows: "1 am "Q. And you are restricted Ьу your oath to the chief of the information processing group of the informa­ United States Government from doing so? tion services staff of the Director of Opcrations of Central "А. That's right."13 Intelligence Agency ."14 This was the first clinker. Know­ O'Donnell, conducting the defense, had already be­ ledgeaЬ!e journalists have indicated to CovertAction that labored Lynch's refusal to answer certain questions more Barteaux was in fact an operations case officer, that there than he should have. And in any other trial the exchange was no such thing as the title he gave to the court, that it would have waved а red flag in front of the prosecutor. was made up for the occasion. (Whether this would consti­ There is а well-known legal doctrine that if а witness pre- tute perjury is proЬ!ematical.) Barteaux stated, "Му duties are to manage that part of 11 /Ьid., Part II, р. 23. the organization which conducts name traces and handles 12тranscript, January 9, 1978, Part 1, р. 94. 13/Ьid., р. 85. 14JЬid., fart 11, р. 29.

12 CovertAction Number 1 (July 1978) the records for the Director."15 What then was he asked: "ТНЕ COURT: Не can answer if he knows. Do you know whether he was? "Q. Upon request, sir, did you perfonn such а "TlIE WIТNESS: Yes, 1 do know. name tracing to one Annando Lopez Estrada? "Q. Не was, was he not? You paid him right up to "А. 1 did. 1974, did you not? ''Q. Did you come across his n_ame? "MR. SANFORD: Objection, again going beyond­ "А. 1 did. "THE COURT: Let's say that he is. We are going "Q. And, did you determine frorn your records to allow the question and the answer. You can whether there had been any contact between your answer the question. agency and Mr. Lopez Estrada in 1976? "ТНЕ WITNESS: What was it? "А. In Мау of 1976 Mr. Estrada called the agency, "ТНЕ COURT: You paid him up until 1974? Lopez Estrada, excuse me, called the agency on the "ТНЕ WIТNESS: Не received rnoney through puЬlic phone, а puЫished number, and refused to '74."19 give us any subject matter which he would like to discuss and that, after consideraЫe effort, the call was tenninated because we did not know what he wanted to talk about."16 Here was the second clinker. Why on earth did the prosecutor ask this question? АН it did was estaЬlish that Lopez Estrada had in fact been in touch with the Agency as late as 1976, and open the door to embarrassing cross­ examination Ьу the defense. In fact, as the defense attomey correctly pointed out when he then succeeded in having Lopez Estrada recalled to counter this testimony, "lt is not true rebuttal." 17 Barteaux was then asked if he had conducted а name check for "Red ВоЬ ," and indicated that he had, and that there were no records of any such name. This, and this alone, would seem to Ье what he should have been called for, if he were а legitimate witness. But his cross-examination was mind-boggling. Consider O'Donnell's opening questions:

"Q. Sir, did you look for the nаше of Grayston Lynch in your records? "А. Grayston Lynch? "Q. Yes. "А: 1 don't believe so, no. "Q. Do you know hirn to have been а fonner CIA agent? "А. No, 1 do not."18 Here we have the head records keeper for the CIA, who knows all about Lopez Estrada, and, as we shall see, Pedro Gil, and he doesn't know who Grayston Lynch is, the same Here is where the prosecution's case went down the Grayston Lynch whom the entire world knows of as the drain. Pedro Gil never took the stand. Up until this point CIA man in charge of the В ау of Pigs. Technically, however, there was no testimony of contact between the defendants employees of the CIA are case officers and members, and and the CIA since at the latest 1965, except for Lopez "agents" applies to non-employees engaged Ьу case officers in various ways. It is likely that Barteaux was answering the Estrada's poignant reunion with "Red ВоЬ" fifteen years question literally, deliberately mis\eading the court-a ~fter the Вау of Pigs. Robert Barteaux, records keeper, JUSt happens to know that Pedro Gil received payments typical CIA practice. until 1974. It is as if the CIA and the Justice Department In any event, Barteaux's concluding testimony on cross­ dragged up, from the bowels of the building at Langley, examination was perhaps the most damaging single item for the one person who would put into evid.ence just what the the prosecution in the entire trial. It follows: defense wanted to but couldn't. Contacts, actual payments "Q. Sir, as custodian for the Central lntelligence Ьу the CIA to one of the defendants continuing for thirteen Agency, are you aware that Mr. Pedro Gil was in the years after the Вау of Pigs. employ of your agency until 1974? According to one observer at the trial, the CIA lawyer, "MR. SANFORD: Objection, Your Honor, beyond Edward Coh,en, ostentatiously tensed in his chair and glared . the scope of the direct. at Barteaux when he testified about the payments. One wou\d think that the Assistant General Counsel of the CIA 15/Ыd. would Ье more circumspect, unless, of course, he was 16/bld. playing to the jury. 17 Ibld., р. 40. 19 /Ьid., рр. 38-39. 18/Ьid., р. 31. CovertAction 13 NumЬer 1 (Juty 1978) The prosecutor's final weak argument was structured соте out? Then, of course, there is the whole political around the irnplausibllity of Lopez Estrada's testimony, context. ridiculing the idea that instructions seventeen years before about different weapons and operations and from different people, could apply today. Не made the argument; but it Political Conclusions hardly had the same impact when the defense reminded the In the final analysis, then, what is United States policy jury that Mr. Barteaux, the government's own witness, towards Cuba, апd what is being condoned under the eyes the CIA blg shot, had told them that Pedro Gil continued of the government? The activities of the exiles have been in the рау of the CIA for so many, many years.20 known for years. Except for the breaks in the Letelier case, which are tentative at best, virtually nothing has been done. The Weapons Whether the prosecutions in the assassinaiion case will lead There is another oddity in this trial which involves the to more than а handful of convictions is doubtful. Brigade weapons. Lopez Estrada testified that they had been buried 2506 is alive and well. And, it seems, still being supplied. since 1966 and that they were very dirty. But Joe Crank­ . It is possiЫe, as they claim, that the CIA is not at present shaw, the Miami Herald reporter who covered the trial, was supplying much in the way of arms or money to the exiles, in past years an infantry officer, and he looked at the although one can never Ье sure. It was а shock to many weapons closely. lt was hard to believe, he told CovertAction, when Robert Barteaux testified that payments were being that they could have been buried on а swampy Caribbean made up through 1974. But, since 1973, there has beeri а island for eleven years. The bores were clean and unrusted, new factor in the equation: Chile; with no pitting, and they were still covered with cosmoline, It is no secret, even before the Townley link became the packing grease used for new, unused weapons. Yet there known, that the Chilean junta was amenaЫe, even eager, to was no testirnony at the trial about the actual condition of use Cuban exiles for its dirty work, and to рау them in weapons and fuпds for their trouЫes-weapons and funds the weapons, or their appareпt ages. lt sceшs that по опе that they -could use against Cuba with Pinochet's Ыessings. close to the case believes that thcre was а cache оп that From as early as 1974 it was clear that DINA was working island, or that these weapoпs came froш such а place. with Cuban exiles, handing out assignments and trans­ shippiпg weapons in paymeпt. An Analysis of the Trial One пеw

14 CovertAction NumЬer 1 (July 1978) "RESEARCHING CONSUMERS": ТНЕ MARKET FOR DESTABILIZATION

Iн the fall of 1977, а select group of more thaп 450 resi­ Ьееп made iп desigпiпg the questioппaire to eпsure that dents of Кingston, Jamaica found on their doorsteps one you сап пever Ье ideпtified from your respoпse." morning some young people armed with а new kind of wea­ Without апу doubt, this statemeпt is aii outright lie. Not pon in furtherance of the CIA/multinational-inspired war опlу were the respoпdeпts, as the letter admits, "specially against democratic socialist Prime Мiпister Michaei Manley. choseп," but also each persoп aпsweriпg the questioппaire This time the weapon was not the guns and explosives was giveп а "Questioппaire Number" Ьу the iпterviewer to which had become commonplace during the well-known de­ write iп the Ыапk which was provided. This сап опlу mеап staЫization attempts against Manley's left-leaning govern­ that there exists а master list of respoпdeпts, апd this пum­ ment, but а long, seemingly innocent questionnaire, which ber епаЫеs the aпswers to Ье recorded, correlated апd aпa­ on closer inspection proved equally chilling in its imp!ica­ lyzed with respect to their пames апd addresses. iEveп if tions for the future of the economically plagued and each persoп's пате апd aпswers were поt to Ье piiпted iп violence-torn island. опе of Kiпgstoп 's daily papers, the guaraпtee of anoпymity CovertAction Information Bulletin obtained а сору of is pateпtly false. We shall discuss the implicatioпs of this the questionnaire, amblguously entitled "Consumer later. Research Progect: А Study of Three Communities in Additioпally, the "Dear Respoпdeпt" letter iпdicates Kingston, Jamaica," and with the assistance of а former that those who prepared the questions were well attuпed to CIA operations officer and an academic expert in social the formidaЫe political developmeпt апd awareпess of science and opinion research, we have examined the docu­ Jamaicaп citizeпs today. Anticipatiпg this, the letter ment in detail and come to the conslusion that а new overt emphasizes rather defeпsively: "The project is in no way ingredient has been added to the covert war against Jamaica. соппесtеd with апу government аgепсу, neither will the lt is higbly likely that this project was conceptualized and results Ье made availaЫe to such апаgепсу or orgaпizatioп. initiated as а method not only to recruit new CIA informers The results will Ье used for educational purposes опlу апd and agents on the island, but also to poll various strata of will better explaiп how people like you feel about тапу the island residents as to their williпgness to accept or par­ products you buy апd mапу of the social and ecoпomic ticipate in а foreign-inspired or supported соир. proЫems that all Jamaicaпs face. What you will tell us may Jamaica, as we reported in the Winter 1976 issue of help lead to changes iп these areas that will benefit people CounterSpy, had been subjected to а campaign of destabll­ across this wonderful land of ours." ization similar to that which toppled the Allende govern­ lt is implicit in the above statemeпts that the govern­ ment in Chile, and this new method of operation may Ье ment referred to as having no involvement in the question­ but а continuation of that policy. What follows is our study пaire is the Jamaican government. This is undoubtedly true. of the questionnaire and some attempt to analyze its real But the letter does поt even hint, nor would тапу of the meaning. respondents Ье aware, that in fact governments of other

The Recipients countries-the U.S. government, the CIA, and the multiпa­ А "Dear Respondent" letter attached at the begiпning of tional corporatioпs they protect-have а great deal of the questioппaire thanks the recipients for their "wi!1ing iпterest in the answers to the carefully prepared questions. participatioп" in answering questions which are "the results of years of research and much effort which has gone into Who ls Behind The Questionnaire? their preparation." The more than 450 subjects of the re­ Тhе project is ostensiЫy being directed Ьу Lee Roy search are assured in the letter: ••1n апу eveпt, your re­ Duffus, а 39-year-old Jamaican-born graduate ofNew York's sponse will Ье completely anonymous. Every effort has . Pratt Institute, where he received а B.S. in Mechanical En-

NumЬer 1 (July 1978) CovertAction 15 gineering, and Purdue Uнiversity, where he received an M.S. (Ь) · Inclination to accept foreign aid and economic in Industrial Administration. In 1971 Duffus began а Ph.D. guidance versus real Jarnaican political and economic;: prograrn in Operations Management, but after he comJ?leted independence. his coursework, he retumed to Jamaica to work with Exxon (с) Inclination to accept foreign corporate investment, Oil Company as chemicals manager at their Кingston re­ profits, and imports, as well as foreign products as prefer­ finery. Duffus cancelled his in absen.tia academic status in aЫe or superior to Jarnaican products versus negative January 1973 to continue with Exxon at least through feelings toward foreign imperialism. 1975, and рrоЬаЫу until mid-1977. After setting up the Following are some of the questions and an effort to questionnaire and supervising the initial interviewing of analyze them: respondents, he went to Nassau, Bahamas, for а few weeks as а "consultant" in an undivulged field of work. Не then 5. ln the interest of fairness to all, it would Ье bet­ returned to Кingston for а short time to check the progress ter to use foreign soldiers for police in this coun· ofthe project, and then on to Purdue, wh·ere, in early 1978, try in the event of internal disorder instead of he re-registered in the Ph.D. program. Duffus went back Jamaican soldiers or police. once more to Кingston in late January for about two weeks, apparently to pick up the completed questionnaires. 17. An international police force ought to Ье the only group in the world allowed to have weapons. 20. 1 don't see· why it's so important that this country should Ье free to determine which system of government it wants.

40. lt is ridiculous to say that no other nation has а right to tell Jamaica how to manage its own affairs. The strength of feeling in the answers given to these show how receptive the respondent would Ье in the event of direct political, economic, or military intervention in Taking into account both Duffus' academic training and Jamaican affairs. the technical nature of his employmen.t with Exxon, it is 3 ..lt .is silly to love one's country more than any unlikely that this man was really in chзrge of such а large­ other just because you were born there. ·scale, politically sensitive project on his own. Clearly, а research project of this magnitude, involving the design 14. 1 don't feel patriotic because 1 see too many and printing of the questionnaire, design of the computer flaws in my country. program, hiring and coordinating employees to conduct the over 450 interviews, the required computer time, and 16. 1 don't care which country live in as long as the correlation and analysis of the data, could not have 1 am happy. been paid for out of Mr. Duffus' pocket. Yet, when 18. Our countty is рrоЬаЫу no better than any reached Ьу а New York Times reporter, one of Duffus' other. academic advisors said that indeed Duffus was conducting such а study as part of hjs Ph.D. thesis program, and that 22. 1 don't know much about other countries, he was paying for it entirely out of his own pocket. but 1 ani not satisfied with this one. 24. One should strive for loyalty to mankind before The Questionnaire considering Joyalty to any particular country. The questionnaire contains 133 separate questions, 30. 1 don't feel any special pride in being identified many of which include sub-parts, tota\ling 415 items re­ with Jamaica. quiring answers. No small wonder the letter apologizes that "unfortunately, all questions must Ье answered ...com­ 31. The high cost of living and other hardships far pletely and honestly ," reinforced further Ьу а "please an­ exceed .the benefits which Jamaica derives from swer all questions" printed at the top of each page. being an independent country. The scope of the statements and questions contain such 42. lt is unreasonaЫe to ask Jamaicans to accept а high degree of po\itica\ content that even а layman under­ economic hardships jщt to ensure that the coun­ stands this is not the kind of "consumer research" Ralph try remains indepeщlent. Nader, for example, might undertake. Part 1 contains 48 questions with а 9-point scale from "strongly agree" to 43. Jamaicans should Ье willing to accept any "strongly disagree." The gist of the questions, most of sacrifice that ensures that the country remains which are suggestively phrased, is to р\асе the respondent independent. on а scale measuring Jamaican nationalism versus accep­ These statements are made to assess whether the "con­ tance or positive feelings about foreign political domina­ sumer" (respondent) is nationalistic, loyal, proud of their tion and foreign imperialism. The respondent's attitudes are heritage and identity, or оп the other hand, how anti­ assessed in the following areas: Jamaica and anti-govemment they might Ье. lt would Ье (а) Inclination to emigrate (especially to the U.S.) difficult for the respondent to feel neutral toward these versus being firmly rooted in Jamaica. statements, so they are effective in deriving the kind of

16 CovertAction Number 1 (July 1978) PLEASE ANSWER ALL QUESTIONS Strongly Strongly Statement Agree Disagree

11. Joтoico should have greoter consultation with тоrе experienced nations in develop­ ing its Lows. 1 23456789 ()

12. Joтaica was better-off Ьefore lndependence. 123456·789 ()

13. lттigrotion should Ье controlled Ьу an inter­ national orgonization rather than Ьу each counhy on its own. 1 23456789 ()

14. 1 don't feel patriotic because '1 see too тапу flaws in ту country •· ' 1 2 з 4 5 6 7 8 9· ( )

15. All prices for exported or iтported products should Ье set Ьу an intemQtionol trode comтittee. 1 23456789.. (} 16. 1 don't care which country 1 live in os long 1 23456789 (} as f ат hoppy. • 17. дn internotionol pol ice force ought to Ье the only group in the world al lowed to hove weopons. 1 23456789 (}

18. Our country is probaЬly no better than any other.

19. Everyone who loves his country has о duty to serve it Ьу cooperoting with his fellow citizen in building the country for the · Ьenefit of ol I. 1 23456789 (}

20. 1 don't see why it's so important that this country should Ье free to determine which system of govemтent it wonts. 1 23456789 ()

21. 1 would prefer to Ье а citizen of the world rather than of ony particular country. 1 23456789 (}

22. 1 don't know тuch aЬout other countries, Ьut 1 от not satisfied with this one. 1 23456789 ()

23. 1 would prefer to Ье an American rather than а Jaтaican citizen. 1 23456789 ()

А Page From the Questionnaire NumЬer 1 (July 1978) CovertAction 17 infoпnation that obviously is being sought about his or corporations. Statement 41 is especially interesting because her attitudes. it is difficult to answer either way and not Ье caught in the middle. 7. Jamaica should have greater consultation with 1. Jamaican Art should Ье preserved at all costs. more experienced nations in developing its foreign policies. 4. 1 would never trade my Jamaican citizenship for that of any other country. 8. The easiest route to economic development is Ьу imitating more developed countries. 19. Everyone who loves his country has а duty to 11. Jamaica should have greater consultation with serve it Ьу cooperating with his fellow citizen in building the country for the benefit of all. more experienced nations in developing its laws. 26. No duty is more important than duty to one's 25. An international committee оп education should have full control over what is taught in all own country. countries about history and politics. 38. Loyalty to ·one's moral convictions is more im­ These statements probe the respondents' views about portant than loyalty to one's country. independence and national sovereignty as compared to the virtues of' outside direction in developing the laws, domestic 48. lf ;;ill Jamaicans are self reliant then the entire and foreign political-economic policies of the country, and nation will Ье self reliant. the virtue of imitating other. countries' systems. Depending Of the 48 statements in this part of the questionnaire, on the rest of the answers given, this latter group could these are practically the only ones which can Ье categorized then Ье interpreted as demonstrating а propensity either as being phrased in а positive tone. Yet, each ofthem has а toward free-enterprise capitalism or in favor of socialism. built-in yar

28. lf 1 could obtain а permanent visa to go to the 34. Censorship cari never Ье justified .in а free country. United States 1 would leave Jamaica as soon as As with а number of other statements in the question­ possiЫe. Answers to these two statements clearly will help the naire; this one is deeper than it seems. The respondent's project evaluators to determine the person's readiness to se~se of idealism is being tested against his or her willing- · leave Jamaica forever. Because the U.S, is specified in ness to accept or promote an authoritarian approach. The answer can in turn Ье correlated with the attitudes expressed statement 28, this is а surreptitious way of drawing out political sympathies vis-a-vis the United States. about the system of government in Jamaica today.

27. lf 1 сап help it 1 would not fight for any country. 12. Jamaica was better-off before lndependence. This statement is not presented solely to discover 32. Jamaica was bet-ter off before independence whether the respondent is а pacifist, or even а coward. It from England. could Ье expected to provide а small number of respondents These two statements take а reading of the respondent's who might take up arms jn military or paramilitary activity views about Jamaica's colonial relationship with the United (on behalf of а country other than Jamaica) if the oppor­ Кingdom. As with statement 28, this isolates the U.К., tunity arose, and who if ассерtаЫе on other levels, might apparently with а similat intent in mind. therefore Ье recruitaЫe. 33. Any foreigner who sees an opportunity to invest his money here and does so should Ье free to do 6. 1 am not happy with everything 1 see in Jamaica whatsover he likes with his profit, so long as he and because of this 1 would consider leaving this obeys the Laws of Jamaica. country to live in another that is more suitaЫe.

35. Since foreign companies invest а lot of money in 1О. Regardless of the benefits to the country, 1 am Jamaica it is only fair that they Ье allowed to unwilling to work in any -capacity that is not in take their profit out of the country. my Ьest interest.

37. Non Jamaicans should Ье allowed to own land in 29. 1 would like to go from country to country and Jamalca if they .desire to do so. settle down where 1 am happiest. 39. lt is not important if any business is local or These statements seek to evaluate the degree to which foreign owned, since they both serve the country. the respondent is interested. in personal gain and comfort. As in the previous case, they can also Ье applied to gauge 41. The need to develop local industry is not а strong the person's recruitabllity as а kind of mercenary (in а enough reason to deprive people of the variety of military or other capacity). , products availaЫe through import. Once again, the power of suggestion. is employed. These 36. ln gener.al, imported products are superior to statements are designed for one purpose: to provide а gauge locally produced products. of the respondent's acceptance and positive liking of or opposition to active involvement in the Jamaican economy 44. There should Ье а greater variety of brands in Ьу foreign investors, both Ьу individuals and multinationцl the products availaЫe at the supermarket.

18 CovertAction Number 1(July1978) •. 45. lt is not necessary to sell more than one brand of any product in а small country such as ours. 46. ln general price is more important to me than which country а product was made in.

47. lt is Ьetter to buy Jamaican made products whenever they are availaЫe than to buy im­ ported products. These statements begin to look at the respondent's orientation towards imported consumer goods or, put more Ыuntly, their predisposition to Ье bribed Ьу the availability of such goods. The person's attitudes in this area ai:e also assessed in the latter parts of the question­ naire.

Class Analysis Part 11 of the questionnaire draws from the "anony­ mous" respondent а wide range of hard data which can Ье used to estaЫish quite precisely their economic and social class position in J amaican society. Not only the nor­ foods, ladies clothing, and portaЫe electric fans) in terms mal questions like age, marital status, number and ages of of five countries ofmanufacture (Jamaica, the U.S., United children, type of dwelling lived in, educational level attained, Кingdom, Trinidad, and Japan). This particular section also and occupation are asked. It demands to know first the measures the person's honesty and consistency, first with comblned weekly income of the respondent and his or her regard to Jamaican products (Ьу asking the same questions spouse, and then three questions later, as if to cross-check twice about products produced there), and then Ьу making against the first answer, the respondent's annual income. the respondent answer the same question all over again for Question 26 asks, "In general, would you say that you all the products and all the couцtries, but this time slightly belong to the: 1) Lo\ver lower class; 2) Lower class; 3) Mid­ re-phrased with а ranked 1 to 5 scale of "how favoraЫe/ dle class; 4) Upper middle class; 5) Upper class." This is not unfavoraЫe they (the same five countries) appeal to you as just an idle question. It leaves us more than an inference as а source" of the products. to what is the fundamental underlying dynamic of this The final section of the questionnaire seeks the same self-proclaimed "consumer research project" -to force kind of information about the respondent's partiality toward "willing" and "anonymous" respondents to reveal what are, the U.S., United Кingdom, Japan, and Trinidad, as compared in anybody's book, intimate details about their lives and to Jamaica. This time however, the range of variaЫes is made consideraЬly wider than just the consumer products feelings. of the respective countries. The intept of these queries is The respondents are asked about their reading hablts, to probe the attitudes and affinities felt Ьу the respondent which newspapers and other publications they read, and toward rival imperialisms. Take the following for example: which parts of the new.spapers they read (i.e., political Compared to Jamaica, would you say that in (the four news, other local news, comics, international news, sports, countries)- · editorials, Ьirth/death notices, society, horoscope, etc.), (1) The Government is more/less/equally effective; measured оп а scale from "extremely interested" to "not (2) Workers ate more/less/equally reliaЫe; interested." The respondent is asked to apply this same {3) People are more/less/equally self reliant; scale and another "extremely informed" to "uninformed" (4) Life is not as hard/harder/just as hard; scale to their awareness of local and international political (5) People are more/less/equally intelligent; and economic events. (6) The educational level is higher/lower/about the Fifteen countries are listed (U .S., Ethiopia, Japan, same; China, France, United Kingdom, Guyana, Soviet Union, (7) People do not have to work as hard/work Mexico, Germany, Trinidad, Nigeria, Egypt, Brazil, and harder/work just as hard; Cuba), and the respondents are asked how many times (if (8) tife is more/less/just as relaxed; any) they have visited each. Then: "Given а choice of а two (9) People are more/less/about as trustworthy; week, all expense paid trip to any of the above listed coun­ 1(1 О) People are more/less/just as interested in tries, which would you prefer to visit? Why?" Another helping each other. esoteric question that yields the researcher consideraЫe in­ sight into the respondent's political-cultural orientation and The Big Question: Why? sophistication. Part III is the only part of the questionnaire that deals То try to understand why а 39-year-old Jamaican who with what traditionally might Ье called "consumer research" worked until recently as а technician with one of America's (products, prices, quality, etc.). lt is designed to measure largest conglomerates was conducting an irrefutaЬly political feelings about Jamaican vs. other products. lt seeks out the "consumer research project" far afield from his own back­ respondent's preferences ( on а "Satisfactory"-"Unsatisfac­ ground or work in the fall of 1977 in Kingston, Jamaica, we tory" scale) of eight different consumer items (spray must give some brief indicators of the political climate pre­ deodorant, vitamins, mirrors, jewelry, toothpaste, canned vious to and during the period of the project.

Number 1 (July 1978) CovertAction 19 In the pre-independence Jamaiea, the two major political Jamaica und{:r diplomatic cover, including the then Chief of parties, Alexander Bustamente's Jamaica Labor Party (JLP) Station, Norman М. Descoteaux. ·Shortly after returning to and Norman Washington Manley's Progressive National Britain, where he and his family had lived since 1972, Agee Party (PNP), were much the same. Both were tied in with was served with а deportation order. After а protracted the leading labor unions on the island, and advocated na­ eight-month struggle which affected а broad cross-seciion tionalism and independence within .the Commonwealth. of British puЬlic opinion, he was finally deported in June After independence in 1962, the JLP government proceeded 1977. Coincidentally, at this same moment, the "Con­ to maintain good relations with both Britain, with whom it sumer Research Project" was being readied. was tightly allied economically, and the United States, It is clc:щr that around this time in Jamaica, as the State whose tourists were а щajor source of income, and whose of Emergency was lifted, а new approach was undetway: aluminum companies, since World War 11, had been essential extensive economic destabilization. Foreign loans became to the local economy. ln 1972, when the govetnment more and more difficult; the importation of foreign prod­ switched to the PNP, and Norman Manley's son Michael, ucts became harder; credit was cut off. And the Interna­ also а union leader, became Prime Minister, little changes tional Monetary Fund made it known that it was willing were foreseen. to consider loans to Jamaica only if certain preconditions llowever, two years after entering office, Manley shocked were Шled. Meanwhile, the right-wing, which controlled the conservative elements in the country Ьу announcing the the JLP, and maintained а powerful minority in the PNP, new program of the PNP-"Democratic Socialism." from began to increase its attacks on the Manley governmen[ 1974, Manley has attempted to chart а moderately socialist The local press, which was controlled entirely Ьу the con­ course, nationalizing portions of the aluminum industry, servative, wealthy few families which dominated the local banks, sugar cane plantations, and the like. Early on he economy, became nearly rabid in their condemnation of made what in the eyes of the U.S. government, and especi­ democratic socialism. ally the CIA, was the cardinal sin. Не became friendly with The situation in Jamaica is still very fluid. Manley has Fidel Castro. Manley has visited Cuba, and Fidel has visited been forced to accept certain IMF loans to maintain inter­ Jamaica. There have been exchanges of technicians, edu­ national credit. The requirements laid down Ьу the IMF cators, agronomists, doctors, etc. remain in large part secret. The forces on the island have Ву 1976 it was clear that neither U.S. nor British intelli­ become more and more polarized, and pressures on the gence were happy with developments, and during that year government mount. The right has made it clear that it а massive destabilization campaign was waged. Guns, thugs, would not Ье averse to drastic action-whether an in­ explosives and poisons were imported, and violence became ternal or an extemal coup--and Manley will not Ье аЫе to widespread. Ву June of 1976, Manley had to declare а appease both wings of his party at the same time much State of Emergency, and forbld completely the possession longer. of weapons. Within а short time the violence had abated, In the midst of this delicate situation, the significance although the damage done to the tourist industry has still of this ''consumer research" becomes clear. not been completely reversed. Destabilization in such а While it is not possiЬle to determine the personal motives Ыatant form had not worked. The example of Chile was of Lee Roy Duffus (aside perhaps from getting а Ph.D.), it too fresh in the minds of the people, and some of the ham­ is clear that this project could not Ье solely his own. Con­ handed attempts at toppling the Manley government were sider the number of questions. Presuming that all of the almost carbon copies of some of the tricks pulled in Chil~. 450-plus tespondents followed instructions and answered each and every one of the 415 questions/statements in the questionnaire ( which must have taken them an average of two hours each-quite а chunk of interviewing time for а simple "consumer· research project"), there would Ье а total of more than 188,750 responses оп the completed forms. For obviqus statistical and analytical reasons (and as Duffus confiпns in his "Dear Respondent" letter), а study with this volume of raw data to Ье tabulated, cor­ related and analyzed would require а sophisticated computer program and sufficient computer time. lf the questions "are the results of years of research," had Duffus been working on these questions while on the job, qr during his lunch breaks, as Exxon's chemicals manager since 1971? Moreover, а person like Duffus would hardly have either the means or the training and background to analyze properly the data, muth Iess to apply it to what Duffus calls "the social and economic proЫems 'that all THI DESTAllUZIR Jamaicans face." Such а program requires organization. Since Purdue University has no known program of any kind in Jamaica or related to Jamaica at its West Lafayette, In September 1976, Philip Agee went to Jamaica at the Indiana campus, and since the Jamaican government knew invitation of the Jamaica Council for Human Rights, а legal, nothing about this project until informed about it'fi;om·a civil rights organization. While there, Agee investigated and number of the "specially chosen" respondents, we must exposed the intensive, CIA-backed destabilization campaign, consider carefully whether an outside organizatioП:.inight and publicly named nine CIA officers then operating in Ье behind the whole operation. ·

20 CovertAction Number 1(July1978) Statements 5, 17, 20 and 40 suggest that Lee Roy Duffus and friends were really asking what the respondent's stance is toward· а (hypothetical) foreign military intervention or · а (hypothetical) соир d'etat, directed at Jamaica. State­ ment 27 and to some extent statements 6, 10 and 29 are looking for prospective first-line participants in such inter­ ventions in Jamaica's internal affairs. What better research could an intelligence agency pos­ siЬly want than the results of this research on Jamaica's "consumers"? The history of the CIA is replete with.covert operations of various sizes and shapes run under corporate cover. The offer of $1 million to the CIA Ьу IТТ for direct application against the presidential campaign of Salvador Allende, and its subsequent participati9n with assistance from the CIA and other companies in spending some $700,000 in the 3-year destabllization program is the most famous example. There are also numerous other cases where private com· panies have been active participants in CIA operations, some of them initiated and entirely funded Ьу the CIA, which are known as "proprietaries." The list is lengthy, but includes Fodor Travel PuЬli­ cations, J. Walter Thompson Company, Robert Mullen Company, and as former State Department intelligence man John Marks points out, Southem Capital and Manage­ ment Corporation, S9uthern Air Transport, Air America, Africair, Рап African Airlines, United Business Associates, J9seph Z. Taylor & Associates, and many more, including those yet to Ье discovered. When а New Уork Times reporter spoke to Duffus about the project, and asked him about the contents of his ques­ Other companies, legitimate in their own right, have tionnaire, his funding, the degree of the Jamaican govern­ provided cover to CIA personnel in various parts of the ment's knowledge and sanction of the project, etc., Duffus U.S. and around the world. Some justify their actions Ьу seemed strangely naive and defensive. Не refused any com­ reasons of patriotism, but most collaborate because it ment on the source of funding or the relationship, if any, helps their business. For example, Howard Hughes' former of Exxon to the overall effort. Не promised to call фе lieutenant, Robert Maheu, testified that Hughes believed reporter back, but never did. that "if he ever became involved in any proЫem with the government,it would Ье beneficial for him to Ье in а posi­ Conclusjon tion of being а front." Obviously the CIA is just as interested in maintaining its In exposing this covert Caribbean project, we are cog­ present cover arrangements and in forging new ones as nizant of three important factors. Howard Hughes was in fronting for them to serve his own 1. Duffus may or may not actually have been conscious ends. А five-year plan of the CIA is strong evidence of the of the political implications of such а project, alt:Ьough as Agency's fear of the vulnerabllities of its traditional cover both а Ph.D. candidate and а citizen of contemporary arrangements with the Department of State. Newsweek Jamaica, such ignorahce would seem inconceivaЬle. quotes the document: "We are dealing with our cover 2. Exxon may or may not have been involved directly, impediments Ьу creating а truly clandestine corps of since it has not been estaЬlished conclusively th,at Duffus operations officers." was an Exxon employee during the period the project was With numerous sirnilar "social science" surveys, many being formulated and implemented. Не was, however, created in the l 960s and l 970s Ьу the Rand Corporation defmitely employed Ьу them in the recent past. in Southeast Asia and Latin America, as а precedent, the 3. Exxon may or may not have been fronting for the so-called "consumer research project" of Lee Roy Duffus CIA if it was employing Duffus at the time. It is patently could well Ье а signal of one small part of the changing obvious that the project is not а simple toothpaste consumer mode of operations undertaken Ьу the CIA. survey, and that the project must involve а major financial -LW input. It is also curious that а Purdue University spokesperson said Duffus was funding the project "entirely on his own." GiVen the 450-plus sample, it seems likely that there wo.uld emerge about 25 to 50 people that fit into the CIA's desired·mold, and who therefore would likely Ье recruitaЫe to -do the CIA's Ьidding in whatever way is best suited to theiг abilities, whether in Jamaica or elsewhere. In addition to deriving а numbп of recruits there are strong indications in the questionnaire of another, even more sinister objective.

Number 1 (July 1978) CovertAction 21

/ RECENTNEWS

WhistleЫowers' Conference

On the weekend of Мау 19-20, 1978, а WhistleЬ/owers' Conference was held in Washington, DC, under the auspices of the Institute for Policy Studies. The lengthy conference included talks Ьу legislators, news reporters, and а number of well-known whistleЫowers. Among them were Daniel Ellsberg of Pentagon Papers fame; John Stockwell, Donald Jordan, and Frank Snepp,all foпnerly ofthe CIA;journalists Daniel · Schorr and Gloria Emerson; and Senator James Abourezk. Participants from IPS included Saul Landau, Robert Borosage, Marc Raskin, and Ralph Stavins, the Director of the Govemment Accountability Project of IPS, the organizer of the conference. Plans for the puЬlication of the proceedings of the con­ ference are underway, and persons interested in receiving а сору should drop а line to Ralph Stavins, Institute for Policy Studies, 1901 Q Street, NW, Washington, DC 20009.

Harvey Point CIA Base Exposed

А feature story in the 1une 25, 1978 Virginian-Pilot and Ledger-Star, а Norfolk, Virginia newspaper,has exposed the Defense Department Ordnance Testing Base at Harvey Point, North Carolina, for what it really is: "а secret Central Intelligence Agency paramilitary training base." According to the article, which was picked up Ьу news­ papers throughout the United States, "the base was acti­ vated in 1960 as an equipment staging area for the ill­ fated CIA-sponsored Вау of Pigs invasion of Cuba in 1961. Since then, the CIA has trained its officers, mercenaries, bring batches of new passenger cars onto the base, and and foreign troops there for operations in the Belgian every few days demolished cars are brought out. Some, Congo, Cuba, and parts of Latin America and Southeast according to neighbors" have their hoods Ыown off; otheгs Asia." This base appears to augment the better-known are smashed flat. lt seems clear that the CIA is still training facilities at Camp Peary, Virgiпia, where the CIA has con­ terrorists in passenger car demolition-just like the training ducted espionage training for many years. which Michael V. Townley received and later put to use in The base, and the air space оvег it, are off limits to the assassination of Orlando Letelier and Roцnie Moffitt. everyone, but local residents tell strange tales of hearing This is not training to defend this or any other country. explosions and seeing flashes of light, and seeing small This is training in brutal murder, no more, no less, and it. planes entering and leaving. But most chilling of all are would Ье interesting to know Ьу what theory the Defense the stories about the сагs. Every few days, Navy trucks Department justifies such activity.

EXCHANGE SUBSCRIPTIONS W ANTED

The CovertAction lnformation Bulletin is anxious to enter into exchange subscriptions with all other progressive puЬlications. If you will drop us а note indicating that you have entered а subscription for us, we will immediately enter one for you. If you have а puЬlication you believe would Ье worth our descriЬing in our PuЫications of Interest section, please send us appropriate details.

22 CovertAction Number l (July 1978) -.·

NAMING NAMES

А regular feature of the CovertAction Information Bulletin.

We do not believe that one сап separate the dirty work of the CIA from the people who perform it. The exp9sure of past operations is valuaЫe, but it is only half the job. How many times have we all heard the CIA, the FBI and others say, whenever а particu1arly nasty covert operation has been exposed, "Oh yes, but we don't do that any more." We believe that they do, and that the same people are often involved. As а service to our readers, and to progressive people around the world, we will continue to expose high-ranking CIA officials whenever and w\1erever we find them. This column, we hope, will usually Ье longer. ln preparing the premier issue, we have been unaЬle to conduct much of our regular research, and have one item for our readers:

The new CIA Chief of Station in JAMAICA is Dean J. А/ту, Jr. Almy replaces Norman Descoteaux, who was exposed Ьу Philip Agee in late 1976, during the Manley reelection campaign. Almy was born December 18, 1926, in New Jersey. From 1951 to 1955 he was а "political analyst" for the Department of the Army-a dead giveaway for early CIA activity. From 1956 to 1958 he was а political officer at the Medan, lndonesia consulate; .from 1960 to 1962 he was а political officer at the Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia embassy; from 1962 to 1965 he was political а Spain embassy. During his tenure in Spain, his CIA con· officer .at the Manila, Philippines embassy; and from 1973 nections were exposed in the Madrid magazine, СатЬlо 16. till recently he was а political liaison officer at the Madrid, ------·------1 1 SUBSCRIPTION INFORМATION 1 1 1 CovertAction Information Bulletin will appear approximately five to seven times per year. Subscriptions are for 1 six consecutive issues. АН payments must Ье Ьу check or money order in U.S. funds, рауаЫе to Covert Action 1 1 PuЫications. 1 [ ] $10.00 (USA) Name and Address: 1 [ ] $15.00 (Canada, Mexico, Caribbean and 1 1 Central America-AIR) 1 [ ] $16.00 (S. America, Europe and Medi- 1 terranean Africa-AIR) 1 1 [ ] $18.00 (Asia, Pacific, rest of Africa-AIR) 1 1 Mail to: CovertAction, Р.О. Вох 50272, F St. Station, Washington, DC 20004. 1 1 - ~ -- ~ .... -- ... - -" ------Number 1 (July 1978) CovertAction 23 ••·•

PUBLICATIONS OF INTEREST

(for aiF, add: U.S. & Canada, $4; Mexico, С. Ат., Carib., Some Interesting New PuЬlications . $6; S: Ат., Eur., $8; i;est, $9), from NACLA, Р.О. Вох 57, Catliedral.Station, New NY 10025. (Well-researched Howard 1 М. Wachtel, Тhе New Gnomes: Multinational Ущk, Banks in the Тhird World, 60 рр., $3.00, plus $.25 postage, · reports on the political economy of the ,Americas, with from Transnational lnstitute, 1901 Q Street, NW, Washing­ particular attention to the role of U.S. imperialism.) ton, DC 20009; or 20 Paulus Potterstraat, Amsterdam Organizing Notes, the newsletter of the Campaign to 1007, Holland. Stop Government Spying, availaЫe Ьу request to the Cam­ Michael Т. Юаrе, Supplying Repression, 56 рр., $2.50, paign, 201 M~ssachusetts Avenue, NE, Room 112, Wash­ from The Field Foundation, 100 Е. 85th St., New York, ingt~щ. DC 20002. (It is suggested that foreign requests NY 10028. (А ~etailed look at U.S. military and private . r include а contribution to cover airmail postage.) (А review aid to human rights violators around the world.) of activities in the u.s. involving the surveillance pra<;tices of the CIA, FBI, and o~er intelligence agencies.) Some Worthwhile Periodicals State R~search, from the United Кingdom, newsletter of First Principles, the newsletter of the Center for National а group of independent security apparatus researchers, Security Studies, 10 issues/year, $15 ($10/students) from f.3/year, U.K. and Europe; $8, elsewhere, individuals; CNSS, 122 Maryland Avenue, NE, Washington, DC 20002. $16, institutions, from State Research, 9 Poland Street, (An excellent review of the abuses of the U.S. intelligence London, Wl, United Кingdom. (Research notes from а community, with а comprehensive ЬiЬliography in each group of counterspies in the U.K., with much information, "issue.) especially about British intelligence, hard to come Ьу elsewhere.) NACLA Report оп the Americas, Ьi-monthly joumal of the North American Congress on Latin America, $11/year

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Number 1(July1978) ·· 24 CovertAction