Secretary of State for Inter-American Affairs (Snow)[1]

Washington, October 22, 1957.

SUBJECT

Conference with Attorney General Brownell and others Regarding the Activities of ex-President Carlos Prio Socarras

Attorney General Brownell held a meeting in his office on October 14, 1957 to discuss the Prio case. The following persons attended the meeting, which lasted from 11:00 a.m. until 12:15 p.m.:

Attorney General Brownell, Department of Justice.

General J.M. Swing, Commissioner of Immigration and Naturalization, Department of Justice.

Mr. Ralph Kelly, Commissioner of Customs, Treasury Department.

Mr. Harold Healy, Executive Assistant, Department of Justice.

Mr. James L. Hennessy, Executive Assistant to the Commissioner of Immigration and Naturalization, Department of Justice.

Mr. J. Walter Yeagley, First Assistant, Internal Security, Department of Justice.

Mr. Mario Noto, Chief, Special Investigations Branch, Immigration and Naturalization Service, Department of Justice.

Mr. Alan Belmont, Assistant Director, Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Mr. Chester Emerich, Deputy Commissioner of Customs, Treasury Department.

Mr. R.R. Rubottom, Jr., Assistant Secretary for Inter-American Affairs, Department of State.

Mr. William P. Snow, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Inter-American Affairs, Department of State.

The Attorney General opened the discussion by referring to the letter he had received from Secretary Dulles under date of October 9 [2] in which the Secretary had expressed concern over the activities of ex-President Prio based on reports received from time to time from the Cuban Government as well as from other sources. The Attorney General believed that Prio's activities must indeed represent a serious issue between our Government and the Cuban Government for Secretary Dulles to devote his personal attention to it in this manner.[3] He had therefore brought the present meeting together in order to review the progress made so far by the investigative authorities of this Government and to consider what further action should be taken.

The Attorney General called first upon General Swing to report on behalf of the Immigration and Naturalization Service. After describing briefly the terms of parole under which Prio had been admitted to the United States at Miami in May, 1956,[4] General Swing asked Mr. Noto to brief the meeting on the investigation his office had conducted. Mr. Noto, who was well prepared, outlined the status of the case indicating that, although his office had testimony clearly demonstrating that Prio had violated the terms of his parole, the available evidence was such that it could not be introduced in court. There were four key witnesses, two of whom had participated in the voyage of the yacht Corinthia from Miami to Cuba in May of this year. They had informed the INS under interrogation that after they had been recruited, paid and instructed, they had been brought to see Prio himself who had thereupon told them that they were being dispatched to Cuba to assist in overthrowing the Batista Government. Two other witnesses, both apparently American citizens, had given incriminating information against Prio but, as in the case of the first two, had refused to testify in court out of fear of violent reprisal on the part of the Prio organization. Mr. Noto explained that Prio, having been convicted in 1954 in a U.S. court of illegal traffic in arms and being a man of obvious intelligence and resource, was taking special pains to avoid direct implication in the moves being made by the anti-Batista elements working in the United States. It was proving very difficult to get actual court evidence against him personally.[5]

The Attorney General thought that the investigation should be broadened, if it had not already been, to include any and all of Prio's accomplices in order to break up the movement which was not only illegal but detrimental to U.S.-Cuban relations. He raised the possibility of a conspiracy charge with Mr. Healy who agreed that it should be carefully considered. Mr. Rubottom had previously confirmed to the Attorney General that the Prio case had become a serious irritant in U.S.-Cuban relations and that the State Department did attach considerable significance to it and was most anxious to have it brought to a conclusion.

Mr. Snow asked those present whether, in addition to the terms of Prio's parole and his status in this country as an alien, the Department of Justice had also taken into account Articles 960 and 962 of the U.S. Criminal Code (Title 18)[6] as well as provisions of the Havana Convention of 1928[7] and a protocol thereto signed earlier this year by the U.S. Government but not yet ratified. The Havana Convention, he said, had long since been ratified but not the protocol. Those present did not seem to be familiar with the terms of the Convention referred to, but Mr. Belmont of the FBI stated that the cited Articles of the Criminal Code came under his office for enforcement and that they were in no sense being overlooked.

Mr. Kelly then reported that on the night before Customs officials in Florida had seized a shipment of arms destined for Cuba and had arrested three Cubans in connection with it. He also spoke of other efforts to control the movement of arms and the difficulties encountered.

Attention was next directed back to Mr. Noto's presentation with the Attorney General and General Swing discussing what action might be taken now with regard to Prio's parole even if the four key witnesses would not present themselves in court. Thought was given to a procedure whereby Prio could be brought before the U.S. court for violation of parole and with the prosecuting officials asserting to the court that the charge was based on confidential information. A technical, legal discussion ensued bringing out the various steps which would follow from such a move. General Swing wondered whether it might not be good policy to get at Prio in this way even if an ultimate conviction might not be attainable in the absence of further evidence. Such a course might at least have the virtue of causing Prio and his associates to desist from some or all of their activities, as well as demonstrating to the Cuban Government that we were taking active steps in response to their representations. Mr. Rubottom expressed the view that this idea was well worth further exploration.

It was mentioned by Mr. Belmont and others that Prio had ample funds at his disposal on the order of one million dollars. Much of this money was on deposit in New York banks. The FBI had checked the bank accounts but had not received the cooperation of the banks in the matter of tracing withdrawals from the accounts. The FBI could not move further in that direction unless it should subpoena the banks’ records. The Attorney General took up that point at once and stated that, in his opinion, the records should be subpoenaed.

The Attorney General also referred to correspondence between General Swing and the State Department regarding the proposal of the INS to send investigators to the Dominican Republic to interview prospective informants and to have its representative in Mexico City interrogate certain people in Mexico. The State Department's latest communication had advised General Swing that, in the opinion of our Ambassador in Ciudad Trujillo, it would neither be advisable nor productive to send investigators there and that, according to our Embassy in Mexico City, the INS representative should not seek to interview witnesses in that country unless they came voluntarily to the Embassy, such as when applying for visas. The Attorney General asked Mr. Rubottom whether, in view of the importance the State Department attached to the case, General Swing's proposal might not be reconsidered. Mr. Rubottom agreed that he would be willing to reconsider the Department's position although both he and Mr. Snow pointed out that according to all the facts so far presented the main activity of the Cuban exiles associated with Prio was taking place inside the United States; hence the interrogation of persons in third countries might not be expected to yield nearly as much valuable evidence as maximum efforts in the United States would do.

At the end of the meeting the Attorney General stated that he intended to call another meeting of the same group in a fortnight (which would be on October 28).

The State Department representatives present assumed that one of those attending the meeting from the Attorney General's own Department would prepare full minutes for distribution. It turned out, however, that no general minutes were made and consequently this memorandum has been prepared for the Department's files.
 
 
 
 

NOTES:

[1]Source: Department of State, Central Files, 737.00/10-2257. Confidential. Copies of this memorandum were sent to MID and to the Embassy in Habana.

[2] Not printed. (Aid., 737.00/10-957) In a memorandum of October 8, for Dunes, Rubottom wrote that ARA believed there was enough circumstantial evidence against Prio "to warrant a mare active investigation of his case by Justice" and that a communication from the Secretary of State to the Attorney General was necessary "to obtain the fun cooperation of Justice in this endeavor." (Ibid., Rubottom Files: Lot 59 D 573, Cuba)

[3] In his reply to Dunes, October 10, Brownell said he had scheduled a conference in his office on October 14 with the Commissioner of Immigration and Naturalization to discuss Prio's activities, and that he would give the Department of State representatives at the meeting a full report of the status of this Department's continuing investigation. (Ibid., Central Files, 737.00/10-1057)

[4] Prio was admitted on a parole status after signing a statement that (1) he would not engage in any act prejudicial to the public interest of the United States or in violation of U.S. laws; (2) he would not associate with any individual looking toward the overthrow of a friendly power; and (3) a violation of these conditions would result in his removal from the United States.

[5] In an interview with Wieland on September 20 Prio denied all the charges made against him and indicated they were fabricated by Batista. (Memorandum of conversation by Leonhardy, September 20; Department of State ARA Files: Lot 59 D 376, Cuba)

[6] Reference is to Title 18 of the U.S. Code, entitled "Crimes and Criminal Procedure" (P.L. 772), enacted June 25, 1948; for text, see 62 Stat. 683; for text of Article 960, "Expedition Against Friendly Nation" and of Article 962, "Arming Vessel Against Friendly Nation," see 62 Stat. 745-746.

[7] Reference is to the Convention between the United States and other American Republics regarding the status of aliens signed at Habana, February 20, 1928, and entered into force May 21, 1930. For text, see 46 Stat. 2753.