DFS), 'Investigation Into a Conspiracy Against the Government of the Republic of Cuba'
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Digital Archive digitalarchive.wilsoncenter.org International History Declassified June 24, 1956 Mexican Federal Security Directorate (DFS), 'Investigation into a Conspiracy Against the Government of the Republic of Cuba' Citation: “Mexican Federal Security Directorate (DFS), 'Investigation into a Conspiracy Against the Government of the Republic of Cuba',” June 24, 1956, History and Public Policy Program Digital Archive, Archivo General de la Nacion (AGN), DFS Galeria 1, Versión Pública de Fidel Castro, Leg. 1, Hoja 3-7. Obtained and translated by Renata Keller. http://digitalarchive.wilsoncenter.org/document/122508 Summary: Report documenting the arrest of Fidel Castro and fellow members of the "26th of July" group in Mexico. The report goes into great detail about the group's organization and training, and their plans for revolution in Cuba. Original Language: Spanish Contents: English Translation Spanish Transcription SUBJECT: Investigation into a conspiracy against the Government of the Republic of Cuba Mexico City, June 24, 1956 DIRECTOR OF FEDERAL SECURITY Present. ALLOW ME TO PUT BEFORE YOU, the results of the investigation performed with respect to the conspiracy against the Government of the Republic of CUBA. BACKGROUND: The Group known as “26 th of July,” opponents of the current Government of the Republic of Cuba, was preparing in Mexico a conspiracy to carry out an armed movement against the aforementioned Government. This group is headed by the self-styled Dr. FIDEL ALEJANDRO CASTRO RUZ, a Cuban political exile, who arrived to our country thanks to an amnesty granted by the Government of Cuba after being incarcerated for committing an assault on a military barracks in Havana on the 26th of July, 1953. INVESTIGATION: On June 21st of the present year, a green Packard Model 1950 with Miami, Florida, plates IW55655, that left from the house at Emparan #49 with five individuals on board was followed; at the corner of the streets Mariano Escobedo and Kepler, three of them got out in a suspicious manner, and upon detaining them with the aforementioned vehicle, it was discovered that each of them was armed and they had a 30.06 SESSKA [sic, Ceska] rifle and 980 cartridges of the same caliber within the car. These persons responded to the names FIDEL ALEJANDRO CASTRO RUZ, CIRO REDONDO GARCIA, UNIVERSO SANCHEZ ALVAREZ, RAMIRO VALDEZ MENENDEZ and REYNALDO BENITEZ NAPOLES, and they claimed that they are political exiles of Cuban nationality and are armed because of current political differences, without presenting the corresponding documentation, saying that they left it in the house at Emparan #49. They were later relocated to this Department for their investigation, and surveillance was established at the aforementioned house at Emparan, where JUAN ALMEIDA BOSQUE and JOSÉ RAUL VEGA VEGA of the same nationality of the group of Cuban exiles, were arrested the same day at 2pm, and discovered within the house was a great quantity of passports whose description is attached, along with important documents. The detailed description of the recovered weapons is as follows: 3.—38-caliber Star pistols, fully automatic 1.—38-caliber Llama Special pistol serial number 179998 with the same adaptation 1.—7mm Waffenfabrik Mauser pistol with 3 clips and 27 cartridges of the same caliber 2.—Special clips of 32 cartridges for the Star pistol 2.—Special clips of 16 cartridges also for the Star pistol 3.—Normal clips 1.—Box with a leather case 49.—Boxes each containing twenty 30.06 caliber cartridges made in Mexico in 1955 2.—Rifle cases 2. –Hand grenades made in the United States By the attached documentation and as the result of the interrogation of the aforementioned people, it is known that the Cuban political exiles living in Mexico have formed a group called “26th of July,” led by FIDEL ALEJANDRO CASTRO RUZ, with the goal of overthrowing the present Cuban government in the next 6 or 7 weeks, since according to them they already have the support of 90% of the population of their country and thanks to the various changes of government and political differences, the Cuban population has received during recent years a great quantity of weaponry that they keep in hiding for the right moment. This Group chose the name “26th of July” because in the year 1953 they carried out an armed movement against General Batista, assaulting the Moncada Barracks, an action that was directed by the aforementioned CASTRO RUZ. The objective of the arrival of Cuban elements dedicated to CASTRO RUZ, along with the political exiles of the same nationality residing in Mexico, is to prepare militarily in order to infiltrate leaders who will lead and organize in their country groups of people who are discontented with the current regime, for this reason approximately 3 months ago they began in this Capital city a training regimen that, as was said before, consists of shooting practice with pistols and 30.06 rifles, practice in camping, typography, tactics, guerrilla skills, explosives, incendiary bombs and how to make them, demolition with dynamite, etc, carrying out this training principally at the Rancho named Santa Rosa or San Miguel, property of ERASMO RIVERA and located close to the town of Ayatango [sic, Ayotzingo], Estado de México, in the Municipality of Chalco, where they would spend three or four days in the aforementioned practices, with the instructors the same CASTRO RUZ and Sr. ALBERTO BAYO GIRAUD, of Cuban nationality, who was a Colonel in the Spanish Civil War and who has [1 line redacted]…, he has a son named ALBERTO BAYO, a pilot born in Morocco and a nationalized Mexican, who was arrested at 11pm at his [1 line redacted]… who is a supporter of this movement and who participated in the reinforcements of the Squadron 201 and participated in the Revolution of Costa Rica. The so-called Colonel or General BAYO is an instructor in the Military School of Aviation Mechanics in this Capital. The people who were training militarily were controlled by CASTRO RUZ, who noted the number of practices, the quantity of cartridges spent, the discipline developed, the physical resistance, the leadership qualities, etc, classifying in this manner each of his followers. The 30.06 weapons with which they practiced, were purchased, according to CASTRO RUZ’s declaration, from different people whose names he does not remember, but there are 5 or 6 of them, along with some of the Star pistols, one of which he purchased at a gun shop on Donceles at the corner of Argentina and that cost one hundred and eighty dollars; he calculates that they bought various thousands of 30.06 cartridges in different places, between the gun shops, Clemente, of Brasil 5 and another on Brasil almost at the corner with Cuba, without the employees knowing the purpose of the purchases. The dynamite was purchased by CIRO REDONDO at the Pedregal of San Angel. They called the ranch where they carried out their training Base Ranch to hide the secret of its location; the personnel were split into groups residing in different residences, one of which was on Kepler Street with Copérnico and another on the street Insurgentes Norte Number 5, which were abandoned when CASTRO RUZ was arrested. The very same FIDEL ALEJANDRO CASTRO RUZ, wrote and signed a list of Rules called “For the Inside of the House of Residence” in which he demands control over spending for maintenance, clothing, medicine, postage stamps, writing paper, giving each of them 10 Mexican dollars for personal expenses; that they be locked up within the residences by midnight, awake by 8 am, control over food, dormitories, instructions of a confidential nature to avoid being discovered, obligations of the Heads of Group in charge of the residences, making them see that in order to be prepared for an armed action, they need strict discipline, exhorting them so that in agreement with their moral capacity and their merits they might occupy the highest positions possible in the hierarchy. The documentation of all the personnel that arrived was controlled by CASTRO RUZ, for reasons of security, receiving correspondence from his followers distributed in Miami, Tampa, New York, Costa Rica and Cuba, through Mrs. HILDA GADEA DE GUEVARA, a Peruvian political exile, with [1 line redacted] and who belongs to the APRISTA party of Peru, which is located at [redacted] which is led by CESAR PARDO ACOSTA, who was a senator in his Country. The husband of Mrs. HILDA GADEA, is ERNESTO GUEVARA SERNA, of Argentine nationality, an active member of the group of FIDEL ALEJANDRO CASTRO RUZ, in the position of Chief of Personnel. Another person who receives correspondence from the exiles and who gives them lodging in her house at Emparan No. 49-C, is Mrs. MARIA ANTONIA GONZALEZ DE PALOMO, married to the Mexican wrestler AVELINO PALOMO. The written propaganda of the “26 th of July” Group is printed outside of the Mexican Republic, principally in Nicaragua and Costa Rica, since they have a great friendship with the leaders of the political exiles of this country, Col. MANUEL FLORES GOMEZ and CANSIO PEÑA. They sustain themselves economically with money sent from their followers in Cuba, Miami, New York, Costa Rica, and diverse parts of Mexico, with their monthly expenses fluctuating around $400 dollars for the support of the forty members under their direct orders for training. They gave written instructions to the personnel to establish connections with different sectors in Mexico: Mail, Telegraph, Magazines, Newspapers, Workers’ Centers, Political Associations, Universities,