In order to provide an adequate basis for our information programs we
need a strong statement from a high USG
source explaining [illegible in the original] the [illegible in the
original] of this [illegible in the original] that Cuba [illegible in
the original], for the first time [illegible in the original] [illegible
in the original] [illegible in the original] and U.S. representatives
[illegible in the original] the American Republics [illegible in the
original]. It is the [illegible in the original] in the U.S. [illegible
in the original], at the OAS [illegible
in the original] and that the strongest possible [illegible in the
original] to the future of Cuba. [illegible in the original]. However,
[illegible in the original] will be in [illegible in the original].
At present our position, which is essentially anti-Castro in nature,
suffers from a lack of [illegible in the original]. From the Agency’s
standpoint, the proposed statement would allow us to adopt a much more
constructive tone in our output to Cuba. Further, it would not commit us
to a fixed timetable and would make our output more sustainable during
the intervening period until the fall of Castro.
Attached is a draft statement.
Attachment
PROPOSED STATEMENT
During recent months I have said many times that our Cuba policy
looks to the day when the people of that unhappy isle shall be truly
free. This is our purpose and hope and it is shared by the other
republics of our hemisphere.
At San Jose, Costa Rica, in March we joined with the Presidents of
Central America and Panama to “reaffirm the conviction that Cuba
will soon join the family of free nations”.
In the Declaration of Central America, we said that we had “no doubt
that a genuine Cuban revolution will live again, that its betrayers
will fall into the shadows of history and that the martyred people
of that oppressed isle of the Caribbean will be free from Communist
domination, free to choose for themselves the kind of government
they wish to have, and free to join their brothers of the hemisphere
in a common undertaking to secure for each individual liberty,
dignity and well being, which are the objectives of all free
societies.”
When the time comes, as it shall, from [illegible in the original] a
free Cuba to sweep up the destruction of communist rule and begin
the reconstruction of her autonomy and democratic institutions, she
can count on the United States
[Facsimile Page 4]
not only for sympathy and
understanding, but for effective financial and technical aid as
well.
Our hopes for a free Cuba point to the future, not to the past. The
Cuban people’s choice of government is not limited, as Castro would
have them believe, to communism or return to a rightist
dictatorship. We would support the legitimate aims and reforms of
the early days of the Cuban revolution, before it was betrayed by
Castro, and help Cubans to build their future on a foundation of
social and economic betterment.
A free Cuba will be invited to join her sister republics in the vast
cooperative programs of the Alliance for Progress, through which we
support for all the people of this hemisphere, including Cubans, the
right of free elections, and the true [illegible in the original] of
basic human freedoms. Under the Alliance, we support equitable land
reforms; accelerated economic progress to build industries and
provide more jobs; programs to provide [illegible in the original]
housing to the people; fair wages and satisfactory working
conditions for all workers; greatly increased advanced opportunities
for all health and sanitation programs; [illegible in the original]
to Latin America’s traditional problem of
expensive/extensive/expansive price [illegible in the original]
exports.
[Facsimile Page 5]
The Cuban people will make their own blueprint. But we expect them to
require special help, aside from participation in the Alliance
[Typeset Page 1727]
for
Progress, and we will be prepared to give it, with no strings
attached and in the spirit of friendship that has been traditional
between our two countries.
The post-Castro Cubans will be in immediate dire need of many things.
They will require food, medicines, clothes, machinery, tools,
transport, and other commodities that Castro’s reckless policies
have made scarce. We will be prepared to provide these needs
promptly, and in substantial amounts.
I am confident that the Organization of American States will offer
its good offices to help organize and supervise free elections, so
as to assure the exercise of complete freedom at the polling place.
OAS technical assistance will
also be made available, I am certain, to repair the ravages wrought
by the Soviet-dictated military build-up and communist agricultural
mismanagement. In the important field of education, the OAS can be of valuable assistance in
helping Cuba to regain academic freedom and to [illegible in the
original] its educational system [illegible in the original].
There will be many [illegible in the original]
[Facsimile Page 6]
the free Cuban people
[illegible in the original] can accomplish themselves with little or
no assistance from their neighbors. [illegible in the original] of
[illegible in the original] communist effort to stifle the spark of
democracy, they will want to build a system of law and justice in
which all share equally, establish a free press and radio, liberate
their once strong unions from the control of the state, and
reconstitute their political and economic ties with the other
American Republics.
I firmly believe that the majority of the Cuban people, including
many thousands who have been forced to appear as supporters of the
communist regime, hold to their faith in freedom and are determined
to regain their independence. They have learned that the path down
which their communist leaders have taken them does not lead to the
original goals of the revolution. In freedom, and in association
with their fellow American Republics, their revolution is alive
again.
