837.00/3486
The Chargé in Cuba (Reed) to the Secretary of State
[Received April 10.]
Sir: I have the honor to report that, according to information furnished the Embassy from sources believed to be reliable, there were several killings in and near Habana on the night of April 6.
Lieutenant Pau, Military Supervisor of Guanabacoa, was shot and mortally wounded while returning from Habana by unidentified persons [Page 275] in an automobile. Rural guards arriving on the scene are said to have fired indiscriminately at the first group of persons they encountered, seriously wounding or killing three villagers whose curiosity had been attracted by the shots. Policemen along the road into Habana unsuccessfully endeavored to stop an automobile believed to have been the car used by Pau’s assassins. One policeman is reported to have been killed and another wounded by the occupants of this automobile.
In the meantime, according to the Embassy’s informants, the secret police arrested a young man named Carlos Manuel Fuertes outside of the Payret Theatre in Habana. Fuertes is said to have been a member of the student directorate and to have been in hiding in the theatre for several months past. Later in the night his body was found near the Eremita de las Catalinas on Ayesteran Street. I am also informed that the police arrested one Charles Pemberton, believed to be an American citizen, son of the owner of the Payret Theatre. Pemberton is accused of having sheltered Fuertes, who was wanted in connection with the murder of Vázquez Bello, and another youth named Ildefonso or Mario Alvarez. He was “released” for two days, which means that he has been given an opportunity to leave the country.
There were bomb explosions in Habana and Santa Clara on the night of April 6. In the former city three persons were injured. At Santa Clara, the bomb did considerable damage to the principal hotel and killed one person.
None of the above incidents has been reported in the local press.
Respectfully yours,