U.S. interest in the Cuban revolution, the overthrow of the Batista government, and the consolidation of power by Fidel Castro, reevaluation by the U.S. Government of the policy of shipping arms to the Batista government, January–June 1958 1
1. For additional documentation on political developments in the Central American and Caribbean area and on the Fifth Meeting of Consultation of the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the American Republics, held at Santiago, August 12–18, 1959, during which Cuba and the Caribbean area was extensively discussed, see volume V.
31. Telegram From the Embassy in Cuba to the Department of State
Source: Department of State, Central Files, 737.00/3–1258. Secret; Niact.
33. Telegram From the Department of State to the Embassy in Cuba
Source: Department of State, Central Files, 737.00/3–1258. Secret; Niact. Drafted and approved by Rubottom who signed for Herter.
34. Telegram From the Embassy in Cuba to the Department of State
Source: Department of State, Central Files, 737.00/3–1458. Secret; Niact.
35. Telegram From the Embassy in Cuba to the Department of State
Source: Department of State, Central Files, 737.00/3–1458. Secret; Priority.
36. Telegram From the Department of State to the Embassy in Cuba
Source: Department of State, Central Files, 737.56/3–1458. Secret; Priority. Drafted by Leonhardy, cleared in draft with L/ARA, and approved by Snow who signed for Herter.
37. Telegram From the Embassy in Cuba to the Department of State
Source: Department of State, Central Files, 737.56/3–1658. Secret; Priority.
38. Telegram From the Embassy in Cuba to the Department of State
Source: Department of State, Central Files, 737.00/3–1658. Secret; Priority.
39. Memorandum of a Conversation, Department of State, Washington, March 17, 1958
Source: Department of State, Central Files, 737.00/3–1758. Official Use Only. Drafted by Stewart.
41. Memorandum From the Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Inter-American Affairs (Snow) to the Secretary of State
Source: Department of State, Central Files, 737.00/3–2458. Secret. Drafted and initialed by Leonhardy and Snow. Wieland and Little obtained clearances from H, P, MC, and W/MSC. G was also informed of the memorandum. Earlier drafts of the memorandum, dated March 19 and 20, are ibid., 737.00/3–1958 and 737.00/3–2058, respectively.
42. Memorandum From the Deputy Director of the Office of Middle American Affairs (Stewart) to the Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Inter-American Affairs (Snow)
Source: Department of State, Central Files, 737.00/3–2458. Official Use Only and Secret. Drafted by Stewart and sent through Wieland. Initialed by Wieland and Snow.
43. Telegram From the Department of State to the Embassy in Cuba
Source: Department of State, Central Files, 737.00/3–2658. Secret; Priority. Drafted by Leonhardy and Wieland and approved by Snow who signed for Dulles.
45. Telegram From the Department of State to the Embassy in Cuba
Source: Department of State, Central Files, 737.00/3–3158. Secret; Niact. Drafted by Wieland and approved by Snow who signed for Dulles.
46. Telegram From the Embassy in Cuba to the Department of State
Source: Department of State, Central Files, 737.00/4–158. Confidential; Priority.
47. Memorandum From the Deputy Director of Intelligence and Research (Arneson) to the Secretary of State
Source: Department of State, Central Files, 737.00/4–158. Official Use Only. Initialed by Arneson. Copies were sent to G, C, S/P, ARA, P, and SCA.
48. Memorandum of a Telephone Conversation Between the Deputy Director of the Office of Middle American Affairs (Stewart) in Washington and Herbert Matthews of The New York Times in New York, April 3, 1958
Source: Department of State, Central Files, 737.00/4–358. Confidential. Drafted by Stewart.
50. Telegram From the Embassy in Cuba to the Department of State
Source: Department of State, Central Files, 737.56/4–1358. Secret; Priority.
52. Memorandum of a Conversation, Department of State, Washington, April 22, 1958
Source: Department of State, CCA Files: Lot 70 D 149, Cuba Jan.–June 1958. Confidential. Drafted by Leonhardy on April 23. Ambassador Arroyo presented his credentials to President Eisenhower on April 16. In a memorandum of April 21 to Rubottom, Wieland listed five topics that Rubottom might wish to discuss with Arroyo. Rubottom marked the memorandum, requesting background information prepared on two of the topics. He wrote a question mark next to two other topics and crossed out the fifth, which read: “State that Department would consider renewing shipments combat equipment when there was evidence that Cuban Government was taking steps toward peaceful solution acceptable to Cuban people”. In a memorandum of April 22 to Rubottom, Wieland provided background on the two topics selected by Rubottom: “U.S. Interest in a Peaceful Solution in Cuba” and “New Emergency Law—Decree No. 5 Announcing Penalties for Press for Reporting News Unfavorable to the Government”. Both memoranda are ibid., Ambassador Arroyo.
53. Memorandum From the Assistant Secretary of State for Inter-American Affairs’ Special Assistant (Hoyt) to the Assistant Secretary of State (Rubottom)
Source: Department of State, Central Files, 737.00/4–2458. Drafted and initialed by Hoyt. Snow, to whom the memorandum was also addressed, wrote the following note to Hoyt on May 1: “A very interesting paper. Please confer with MID & we can talk about it when I return from Texas”.
54. Memorandum of Discussion at the Department of State-Joint Chiefs of Staff Meeting, Pentagon, Washington, May 2, 1958, 11:30 a.m.
Source: Department of State, State–JCS Meetings: Lot 61 D 417, May 1958. Top Secret. The drafting officer is not indicated, but the source text bears the following notation: “State draft. Not cleared with Department of Defense”. A cover sheet lists 28 attendees at the meeting, including representatives of the Department of Defense, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the Department of State, and the Central Intelligence Agency.
55. Memorandum From the Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Inter-American Affairs (Snow) to the Acting Secretary of State
Source: Department of State, Central Files, 737.5612/5–658. Secret. Drafted by Little, cleared with Dreier, initialed by Wieland and Snow, and concurred in by H, P, W/MSC, and Murphy. In giving H’s concurrence, Assistant Secretary Macomber wrote on the source text: “Concur with recommendations 1 & 3. Recommendation #2 will cause considerable Congressional difficulty”.
57. Despatch From the Consulate at Santiago de Cuba to the Department of State
Source: Department of State, Central Files, 611.37/5–2158. Confidential. Copies were sent to ARA/MID, the Embassy in Havana, and the U.S. Naval Intelligence Officer, Guantanamo.
58. Memorandum of a Conversation Between the Assistant Secretary of State for Inter-American Affairs (Rubottom) and the Cuban Ambassador (Arroyo), Department of State, Washington, May 22, 1958
Source: Department of State, Central Files, 737.5–MSP/5–2258. Confidential. Drafted and initialed by Leonhardy.
59. Telegram From the Embassy in Cuba to the Department of State
Source: Department of State, Central Files, 737.00/6–358. Confidential.
60. Memorandum of Telephone Conversations Between the Ambassador in Cuba (Smith) in Havana and the Officer in Charge of Cuban Affairs (Leonhardy) in Washington, June 3, 1958
Source: Department of State, ARA Special Assistant Files: Lot 60 D 553, Cuba. Official Use Only. Drafted by Leonhardy.