106. Contact Report1

No. 37

PLACE: Safe House “A”

PERSONS PRESENT: [name not declassified] and Robert Ford

SUBJECT: RUFUS’ Letters Received from the Field For Delivery to [name not declassified]

I delivered three letters to [name not declassified] from RUFUS on 27 February. Having read them, he came back and advised me of the contents.

1.
Letter dated 18 February.
A.
President Galvez of Honduras himself instigated a request through his foreign minister to RUFUS that he be given some indication that RUFUS was receiving aid from individuals in the United States.
B.
He sent Fournier (first name unknown), a Costa Rican, to intercede for him in Panama. RUFUS himself had not been able to go to Panama because he is now under a stop-order from President Remon which prevents him from entering Panama.
C.
RUFUS says that twenty men were sent to training camps on 19 February: six of them were radio men and 14 of them were saboteurs.
D.
Good relations are now in existence between his Group and elements in the Salvadoran and Honduran governments.
E.
More latitude is needed in the propaganda work. [name not declassified] interprets this to mean that wider use of funds with less control being placed on RUFUS is desired.
F.
The record which RUFUS made in LINCOLN has been played in Salvador and Honduras.
G.
RUFUS advised that Ydigoras has asked for back pay from the Guatemalan Government; he says that this mercenary move has had a poor effect in El Salvador and in Honduras.
H.
Arenas visited RUFUS but on this occasion RUFUS was not in Honduras.
I.
RUFUS has sent Lopez (first name unknown) to Mexico. The purposes for sending him have been covered in a previous cable traffic. RUFUS’ letter gave no further amplification of these reasons.
J.
End of letter dated 18 February 1954.
2.
A second letter dated 20 February 1954.
A.
[name not declassified] has not received [name not declassified] instructions; RUFUS is wondering what has happened.
B.
[name not declassified] has not received money in Guatemala City as of 20 February; RUFUS wonders what is happening.
C.
[name not declassified] has been instructed not to leave Guatemala before he sets up contact again with those individuals who were loyal to him, which is what [name not declassified] wishes to do; RUFUS advised that once [name not declassified] has re-established his contacts he will advise them that he is leaving the country.
D.
Jose Luis Arenas visited him again on 20 February. This time RUFUS was in Honduras. Arenas, according to RUFUS, was completely willing to listen to all criticism and has accepted it with complete humbleness. RUFUS said that Arenas is willing to do whatever RUFUS orders. RUFUS claims that he advised Arenas to return to Guatemala clandestinely and then to seek asylum in the Salvadoran Embassy in Guatemala City. Subsequent information indicates that Arenas followed this course of action since it is now known publicly that has Arenas has requested refuge or exile in the Salvadoran embassy in Guatemala City.
E.
RUFUS asked [name not declassified] to answer a letter from Roberto Barrios Pena; he asks [name not declassified] to tell Barrios Pena that he must realize that RUFUS has to answer the charges made against him by the Guatemalan Government. RUFUS did not wish in any way to implicate Barrios Pena; he replied to the charges of the Guatemalan Government only for the purposes thoroughly clearing the atmosphere. Barrios Pena, in his cable to RUFUS, complained that he, Barrios Pena, had been implicated in RUFUS’ reply to the Guatemalan Government.
3.
Second letter dated 20 February (the third letter which [name not declassified] received).
A.
RUFUS claims that he has received 20,900 dollars and another payment of 5000 dollars; he states that Manuel has the rest.
B.
[name not declassified] is ready to come to LINCOLN.
C.
RUFUS has sent money to the propaganda group in Guatemala City; he did not indicate where, how, or in what quantity.
4.
Postscript to second letter written on 20 February.
A.
Manuel must stay in Nicaragua. RUFUS needs a military man in Honduras; he advises that he needs someone with more experience and more stature than Andres has.
B.
No transmitter for the radio station in Salvador has arrived. This transmitter is necessary for successful radio operations.
  1. Source: Central Intelligence Agency, Job 79-01025A, Box 143, Folder 4. No classification marking.