UNF Digital Commons UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations Student Scholarship 2014 The trS uggle Against Bandits: The ubC an Revolution and Responses to CIA-Sponsored Counter-Revolutionary Activity, 1959-1963 Anthony Rossodivito M University of North Florida Suggested Citation Rossodivito, Anthony M, "The trS uggle Against Bandits: The ubC an Revolution and Responses to CIA-Sponsored Counter- Revolutionary Activity, 1959-1963" (2014). UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations. 508. https://digitalcommons.unf.edu/etd/508 This Master's Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Student Scholarship at UNF Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of UNF Digital Commons. For more information, please contact Digital Projects. © 2014 All Rights Reserved The Struggle Against Bandits: The Cuban Revolution and Responses to CIA-Sponsored Counter-Revolutionary Activity, 1959-1963 by Anthony Rossodivito A thesis submitted to the Department of History in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in History UNIVERSITY OF NORTH FLORIDA COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES March, 2014 Unpublished work © Anthony Rossodivito The thesis of Anthony Rossodivito is approved: (Date) ___________________ Dr. Chau Kelly, Assistant Professor of History Committee Member ___________________ Dr. Gregory Domber, Assistant Professor of History Committee Member ____________________ Dr. Alison J. Bruey, Associate Professor of History Committee Chairperson Accepted for the Department: ____________________ Dr. Charles E. Closmann, Associate Professor Chairperson, Department of History Accepted for the College: ____________________ Dr. Barbara Hetrick, Dean College of Arts and Sciences Accepted for the University: ____________________ Dr. Len Roberson Dean of the Graduate School Acknowledgements For many years it has been extremely difficult for many historians from the United States to do research in Cuba. Cuba remains one of the least understood places for Americans and at the same time one that evokes strong emotions. Often due to political pressures, many who would be able to enrich the scholarship of Cuban history with their work are barred from doing research by the lack of financial assistance and often confusing legal landscape concerning travel restrictions to the island. This was a great challenge for me as a graduate student. I would like to express my deepest gratitude to all of those who helped facilitate my travel to this remarkable Country allowing me to truly get to know its amazing people and history. This project would never have been completed without the help and guidance of the professors and faculty of the University of North Florida’s history department. I would like to extend my deepest gratitude to my thesis advisor and mentor Dr. Alison Bruey who has been my single greatest advocate and ally during the three years of work this project took to complete. Without her guidance, this project would not exist. I am honored to call her my mentor and friend. I would also like to thank the rest of my thesis defense committee, Dr. Chau Kelly and Dr. Greg Domber both of whom provided me with support and important suggestions on how to continue to refine this project and reach its fullest potential. Marianne Roberts of the History department at UNF also deserves a great deal of thanks. Without her help, navigating the intricacies of thesis creation and submission would have been infinitely more complicated and difficult for me. My family and friends deserve a great deal of credit for the completed project now before you. It was they who have always fostered my desire to be a good historian. To my parents and loving sister I wish to profess my eternal love and gratitude for the patience and support they have given me all of the years of my life, especially over the course of completing this project. It was they who stepped in to assist me at every turn from providing advice to financial assistance to reach Cuba and make this project a reality. Most importantly it was they who never lost faith in me or my project. I love you all. Finally I would like to dedicate this work to the many Cubans who shared their time and information with me over the last three years. Dr. Manuel Yepe and Dr. Marta Nuñez Sarmiento of the University of Havana were two of my greatest allies in the project and opened their doors to me sharing their passion and knowledge. They are shining examples of Cuba’s revolution and example. The Cubans themselves deserve my final thanks and recognition. The Cuban capacity for kindness is amazing and I have experienced it firsthand. It is their history and example that inspired this work and they should take center stage in its narrative. iii Table of Contents Title Page ......................................................................................................................................... i Certificate of Approval ................................................................................................................... ii Acknowledgements ........................................................................................................................ iii Table of Contents ........................................................................................................................... iv Abstract ............................................................................................................................................v Introduction ......................................................................................................................................1 Chapter 1 ........................................................................................................................................20 Chapter 2 ........................................................................................................................................45 Chapter 3 ........................................................................................................................................67 Conclusion .....................................................................................................................................87 Appendix A .................................................................................................................................102 Appendix B ..................................................................................................................................104 Bibliography ................................................................................................................................105 Vita ...............................................................................................................................................111 iv Abstract Following the 1959 victory of the Cuban revolution, the United States government along with the CIA and their Cuban émigré allies immediately undertook a campaign of subversion and terrorism against the Cuban revolution. From 1959 until 1963 a clandestine war was waged between supporters of the revolution and the counter-revolutionary organizations backed by Washington. This project is a new synthesis of this little-known story. It is an attempt to shed light on a little known aspect of the conflict between the United States government and the Cuban revolution by bringing together never-before seen primary sources, and utilizing the two distinct and separate historiographies from the U.S. and Cuba, concerning the clandestine struggle. This is the story of Cuba’s resistance to intervention, the organization of the counter- revolution, and finally how the constant defeat of CIA plots by the Cubans forced changes in U.S. strategy concerning intervention in Cuba and in other parts of the developing world that would have far-reaching and long-last effects. v Introduction Sabotage The mouth of Havana Harbor is guarded by three sentinels of Cuba’s Spanish colonial past. For hundreds of years, ships entering the port have sailed slowly past El Morro, the lighthouse-tipped stone fort that can be seen from all parts of the malecón seawall, one of the most recognizable symbols of Havana’s romantic image. Across the bay sits the much smaller and much older Castillo de Real Fuerza, the stone castle where the original founders of Cuba’s capital first laid the foundation of the city. Situated beyond this, on the opposite bank of the sea wall behind El Morro, sits La Cabaña Fortress, the largest and most imposing stone structure in the Caribbean. Once a ship passes these guardians of the city, it enters the docks that empty directly onto the narrow and winding streets of Old Havana, the heart of the city. Like so many before it, on May 4, 1960, the French cargo ship La Coubre made its way past the forts and made port at the Pan-American dock at the far corner of the harbor. Dock workers were in a particular rush on this cool May afternoon because La Coubre was carrying extremely important cargo: rifles and ammunition for the National Revolutionary Militias meant to defend the newly triumphant Cuban Revolution against its internal and external counter-revolutionary enemies.1 The Cuban Revolution was little more than a year old and had been under political threat from its neighbor, the United States, from the very beginning. Fulgencio Batista, the United 1 Keith Bolender, Voices from the Other Side: An Oral History of Terrorism against Cuba (London: