Foreign Relations of the United States, 1964–1968, Volume XXXII, Dominican Republic; Cuba; Haiti; Guyana

312. Memorandum From the Presidentʼs Special Assistant (Rostow) to President Johnson¹

Washington, March 7, 1967, 8 p.m.

SUBJECT

• Report of Soviet Strategic Missiles in Cuba

I have checked the charges made by Paul Bethel before the Senate Internal Security Subcommittee today that there are Soviet strategic missiles in Cuba.

Dick Helms has furnished me the following judgment passed by the United States Intelligence Board on March 2, 1967:

“We do not believe that the Soviets will again try to turn Cuba into a strategic base of their own, as in 1962. We think it highly unlikely that the USSR will attempt to reintroduce strategic missiles into Cuba.² We recognize that the Soviets have the technical capability clandestinely to reintroduce the components of a strategic weapon system. But the build-up of strategic forces in the USSR in recent years would make the installation of strategic weapons in Cuba of less significance to the Soviet strategic posture than in 1962. In any event, we believe that the risk of another grave confrontation with the US would be unacceptable to the Soviets.”

You should know that Paul Bethel is a propagandist who for the past five years has traded on his brief experience in our Embassy in Havana to make a living out of the Cuban issue. What he told the Subcommittee today is the same tale which he has repeatedly published in his newsletter and tells everybody who is willing to listen to him. The sources for his charges are the same Cuban refugees who passed through our intelligence screening process in Miami. What they tell our interviewers is critically examined by experts. Bethel accepts the stories without critical evaluation.

I am having State do an assessment of other charges made in his testimony. You will see from this how wild and irresponsible Bethel can be.³

Walt

1. Source: Johnson Library, National Security File, Country File, Cuba, Strategic Missiles in Cuba. Secret.
2. In an April 18 memorandum to the Director of Central Intelligence, Thomas H. Young, Jr., Acting Chairman of the CIA-DIA Team, reported that “we have received no intelligence which changes our conclusions that there are no strategic weapons or nuclear warheads in Cuba.” (OCI No. 1092/67; ibid., Bowdler File, Vol. II, 2/66–7/67)
3. A handwritten postscript by Rostow on the memorandum reads: “P.S. Nevertheless, Iʼm going to make one more personal check-out tomorrow.” Below this line Johnson wrote: “W—I want more study given this by our best and report back to me.”