Office of the Historian

319. Memorandum for the Record1

Washington, October 8, 1976.

SUBJECT

  • ARA/CIA—Weekly Meeting

PARTICIPANTS

  • ARA—Assistant Secretary Harry W. Shlaudeman, Mr. William Luers, Mr. Joseph Grunwald, Mr. Charles W. Bray (part of meeting)
  • CIA—Mr. George Lauder; INR/DDC—Francis De Tarr

[Omitted here is material unrelated to Cuba.]

Bombing of Cubana Airlines plane near Barbados

Mr. Lauder said that the CIA did not have any information concerning the Cubana Airline crash beyond what has already been reported. They have no traces at all on the two persons who have been picked up. The CIA has been out of the Cuban exile business for a long [Page 855] time. Many of the Cuban exiles are now American citizens; others have green cards. They are a problem, therefore, for the FBI.

Mr. Lauder added that we may be in for a rough time with the Cubans. In retaliation for violence against them they could, for example, blow up a TWA plane or kill somebody in one of our embassies. The FBI has sources in Cuban exile organizations. The FBI and the Department of Justice must come to grips with the problems that the exile organizations are causing. If they can’t stop the violence, we will be in deep trouble.

Saying that he did not think that Orlando Bosch is an American citizen, Mr. Luers said that we should get him back and put him in jail. Bosch is now in Venezuela [less than 1 line not declassified]. It would be helpful if the CIA could find out about Bosch and the two persons in Trinidad. The latter were carrying Venezuelan passports.

Mr. Luers also raised the question of the North Korean briefcase (concerning which a telegram had just arrived). Assistant Secretary Schlaudeman said that an ideal solution would be to get it from the Barbadian security people with whom the CIA is in contact. Mr. Lauder said that he would check on this possibility.

[Omitted here is material unrelated to Cuba.]

  1. Summary: This memorandum recorded State Department and Central Intelligence Agency officials’ discussion of the bombing of the Cuban airliner that crashed off of the coast of Barbados.

    Source: Department of State, INR/IL Files, ARA–CIA Weekly Meetings, 1975–1976. Secret; Sensitive. Drafted by De Tarr. All brackets are in the original except those indicating text omitted by the editors or that remains classified. Telegram 2616 from Port of Spain, October 8, reported that the two persons detained in connection with the Cuban bombing were Venezuelan nationals José Vázquez García (an alias for Hernán Ricardo Lizano) and Freddy Lugo. (National Archives, RG 59, Central Foreign Policy File, D760378–1121)

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