January 1, 1976

A Bay of Pigs veteran says he is recruiting Cuban exiles here to fight in Angola against forces supported by Cuban government troops.

"We want to get as many Cubans and other Latins as possible," said Jose Antonio Prat, who is one of the refugee-recruiters working in South Florida and New York. "We have hundreds of applications."

"We represent UNITA - the National Union for Total Independence of Angola," he said. He claims he has fought as a mercenary soldier in the Congo.

Prat did not say whether any exiles have actually gone to Angola yet.

Prat and another exile, Pedro Martinet Castro, are working out of a small office in Miami and were on a recruiting trip to New York last week.

Prat said he worked far "one of several groups in this country who are behind the anti-Communist efforts in Africa." He refused to identify the organization but indicated it was connected to a similar mercenary recruiting campaign in California.

The Christian Science Monitor reported yesterday that the CIA has recruited indirectly about 604 Americans to fight in Angola. American officials immediately denied it.

In a story by correspondent David Anable, the paper said 300 of the Americans already are in Angola and another 300 are ready to go when the CIA gets the needed money.

The sources were described as "senior mercenary officers familiar with the situation both in Angola and the United States" who are "close to the Central Intelligence Agency."

The White House said the story is without foundation. A CIA spokesman said it is nonsense.

The Monitor said most of the Americans in Angola are working in the south with the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola. One American unit was said to be operating with the National Front for the Liberation of Angola, a northern ally of the former group.

The two factions arc fighting the Soviet and Cuban-backed Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola, which holds the central part of the country.

The Monitor said about 150 of the recruits had refresher training last week at Ft. Benning, Ga. And it said about 15 South Vietnamese were among the group awaiting departure. The American members were described as soldiers recently discharged or on leave from Army Special Forces units in the United States and the Panama Canal Zone.

The paper said recruiting also is underway for more than 150 helicopter pilots and mechanics to handle a squadron of 13 gunships.

One of the groups that Pratt said is recruiting Americans is making a special effort to recruit American blacks, he said.

"Another is raising money from private enterprise," he said.

One of the principal ideas in recruiting Cuban exiles, he said, is that "Cubans will go fight the Communists for ideological reasons . . . And we are looking to the future. After Angola, this group would help overthrow Fidel Castro in Cuba."

But he said those volunteering to go to Angola would he well paid.

"From $1,000 to $l,200 a month for most, depending on their special skills or specialties," he said. "We are getting applications from former Green Berets in Vietnam, technicians, artillery people and so on. Pilots will get much more money."

Speaking of the over-all recruiting efforts in this country, Prat said, "Many of those signing up - Latins, American whites, blacks and whatever - are interested in fighting against communism. Many are frustrated because they didn't do what they consider a good job against communism in Vietnam. Some are out of work and need jobs."