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[3]j 104-19'166-10916 .. [2025 RELEASE UNDER THE PRESIDENT JOHN F. KENNEDY ASSASSINATION RECORDS ACT OF 1992 |
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[6]T) UNCLASSIFIED Ue. OMY CO conFl (TIAL ~ Oy) SECRET ,
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[8]ROUTING AND RECORD SHEET
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[27]C) CONFIDENTIAL
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[35]16 September 1975
[37]‘MEMORANDUM FOR: C/LA/COG
[39]SUBJECT : Letter from Mrs. Lourdes CUESTA, Ex-wife of
[40]Antonio CUESTA Valle, Formerty of Interest to
[41]JMWAVE Station
[43]1. Lourdes CUESTA, ex-wife of Antonio CURSTA Valle, currently
[44]imprisoned in Cuba, wrote to the Director of CIA on 4 August 1975.
[45]She requested that the Agency “give her some kind of verification
[46]that her ex-husband was not connected nor the CIA had any knowledge
[47]that he was preparing the raids mentioned in Attempts No, 21 and 22"
[48]cited in a 31 July 1975 Miami. Herald newspaper article following
[49]Senator McGovern's recent trip to visit Fidel CASTRO. :
[51]. 2. A carefully worded reply was prepared for signature by an -
[52]assistant to the DCI; however, per instruction of the DC/LAD (from
[53]the DDO) it was requested that the letter not be sent, but rather
[54]that a DCD representative in Miami handle the matter with Mrs.
[55]CUESTA personally.
[57]- 3, g DCD representative in Miami contacted Mrs. CUESTA and
[58]told her that the Agency preferred that the matter be handled with
[59]a personal touch rather than by letter. Mrs, CUESTA did not accept
[60]this and has subsequently phoned the DCD representative several
[61]‘times requesting .a written reply. Mrs. CUESTA said that she plans
[62]to send a copy of the reply to Fidel CASTRO and one to Senator
[63]McGovern. According to the DCD representative, Mrs. CUESTA (a nat-
[64]uralized U.S. citizen of Spanish birth) works for a lawyer (name
[65]unknown) and perhaps is following legal counsel, a
[67]4. On 11 September 1975 the AC/LA/COG phoned the DC/LAD and
[68]advised him of the foregoing. sollowing the conversation it was
[69]decided that we would check out applicable maritime records in
[70]Archives, in addition to CURSTA's 201 file, and if we still un-
[71]covered no evidence that CUESTA was involved with CIA in the cited
[72]infiltration operations, draft a very brief lotter of. acknowledge-
[73]ment to Mrs, CUESTA and resubmit it for approval.
[75]SECRET
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[84]. S$. Antonio CUESTA came to the U.S. from Cuba on 31 May 1960
[85]as a refugee, According to his 201 file, he has had the following ¢
[86]U.S. Government association: ec ;
[87]; a. As, of February 1961 he was cited as a crewman 1 \
[88]aboard the N/V TEJANA.. A POA was requested on 15 March ¢° ¢ ‘
[89]1961 for his use in PM maritime ops as a-crewman on the ”
[90]vessel TEJANA under Project JMATE. Due to cessation of  & e
[91]JMATE activities, processing of the clearance was sus-. 4 «5 .
[92]‘ pended on 1 May 1961 until ne. interest was apparent. ca pe ; - oe, “°
[93]H SJMWAVE Station advised the Army of CIA operational inter- , . ‘ ‘
[94]i est in CUESTA on 26 May 1962. JMWAVE advised Headquarters
[95]on $ June 1962 that CUESTA was not then being used and i . \
[96]requested the basis of other Agency interest. There is : ON
[97]no indication in pertinent maritime files or his 201 file : A
[98]that he was ever used on an operational mission by CIA.
[100]i . b. . ISR. records show that CUESTA was registered «as *,
[101]. 5) an Army source on 22 May 1962. There is no indication —
[102]; lb yl’ that he was dropped; however, it is recorded that he was
[103]; reinstated on 12 August 1965. He was dropped again on
[104]' 10 May 1966, without prejudice. There is further record
[105]of Army association. The specifics of hisy association
[106]with the Army are unknown to the Agency. (, 4 2, .8 75 tortie’.
[108]c?.° 6, From the time he came to the U.S. in 1960 until he was ar-
[109]‘gested by the Cuban Government, CUESTA was associated with the MRR,
[110]UR, Alpha.66 and Commando L organizations. The hit and run raids made
[111]" . by these groups were well-known to all government agencies and, in
[112]- fact, openly known in Miami because of the propensity of the Cubans
[113]to talk. There were a number of discussions at the highest level
[114]_ (President) concerning what should be done about such raids. They
[115]were not sponsored by or connected with the U.S. Government. Two
[116]of these unauthorized raids are the ones referred to (attempts 21
[117]and 22) in the article attached to Mrs. CUESTA's letter.
[119]. “ 9) Mrs. CUBSTA was born 21 May 1936.in Madrid, Spain. As of
[120]20 March 1963 she was married to Antonio CUESTA, had one small son,
[121]and reportedly resided with Antonio in Miami, Florida. She current-
[122]ly refers to him as her ex-husband, but particulars of a separation
[123]or divorce are unknown, She is also known as Mrs. Maria Viza CUESTA,
[124]Maria Liisa Viza Blanco and Mrs. Vincente CIHSTA. Following are
[125]items of interest: . ”
[127]oo a. Antonio CURSTA told the FBI that she lived with
[128]him in Miami, Florida as cf 30 March 1963.
[130]SECRET
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[145]b. Mrs. CUESTA told the FI'I in 1969 that she ar-
[146]rived in the U.S. 9 June 1965 at Miami, florida.
[147]c. ACSI advised JMWAVE Station in November 1966 rd
[149]that she had been in contact (date unknown) with Chafik
[150]Homero SAKER Zenni_ of the New York Cuba Un Mission.
[152]e was advised of this and Monitored ner activities.
[153]{SAKER is a known long-time DGI officer PNG'd from the
[154]U.S. in 67/68 for support to Black Panther and SDS ac-
[155]tivities. He was DGI ‘Chief cf Center in Mexico City . a :
[157]“€rom 70-73, one of the founding fathers of the DGI and od : _¢
[158]the DGI expert on illegal operations against the U.S.} {
[160]d. Mrs. CUESTA legally travelled to Cuba from
[161]Miami, via Mexico City, in April 1967 for a two week
[162]visit with her husbend. In June 1967 the FBI advised
[163]“JMWAVE Station that she was recruited by the CUIS while
[164]in Cuba and to hold this knowledge to a minimum because’
[165]they intended to operate her as a double agent. She
[166]said the pitch was made on behalf of the DSE and would
[167]benefit both her and her husband. She was told if she’
[168]successfully reported on anti-Castro activities in Miami,
[169]especially Commanco L activities, for a period of six
[170]months, they would release her husband from custody and
[171]after three years of reporting permit him to leave Cuba.
[172]Her contact in the U.S. was to be Chafik tlomero SAKER
[175]_-e@. Mrs. CUESTA travelled to Cuba from Miami via
[176]Mexico City again on 9 February 1968 taking nine suit-
[177]cases. She called Havana from Mexico City and asked to
[178]be met at the airport in Havana by two cars because of
[179]the excess baggage. While in Cuba she saw her husband
[181]‘Several times. She returned to Mexico City on 4 March
[183]; 8. This case was coordinated with the FBI representative,
[185]via Ops Liaison, on 12 September who asked that we hold up 4 re-
[186]sponse to her letter until he could check out the status uf the case.
[187]ft was recognized that Mrs. CUESTA could be acting in behalf of the
[188]DGI. On 16 September the FBI representative advised that FBI opera-
[189]tional interest in Mrs. CUBSTA was terminated circa December 1974
[190]and that it «ould not be necessary for us to coordinate our response
[191]ta Mrs, CUESTA's letter with the Bureau. Details of the FBI opera~
[192]tiosal handling of Mrs. CUESTA are unknown. The FBI representative
[194]| SECRE |
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[202]The
[204]ernory,
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[207]advised that Mrs. CUESTA had inquired what it would cost to obtain
[209]documents in the FBI files on her under the FOIA.
[211]9. Attempts are being made to obtain the name of the attorney
[213]“for whom Mrs. CUESTA works.
[215]10. Attached is a suggested reply to Nrs. CUESTA, based on
[216]the facts in para S a, for approval.
[218]Chris ‘Hopkins
[219]LA/COG/CIOS
[221]Filed: 201-281313 (Antonio CUESTA)
[222]201-335014 (SAKER)
[224]. 201-821216 (Lourdes. CUESTA)
[226]E2 IMPDET
[228]CL BY 025231
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[232]CiA LETTERHEAD
[234]Suggested reply to Mra. CUESTA's Letter of 4 August 1975
[236]Mre, Lourdes Cuesta
[237]2155 S.W. Sth Street
[238]Miami, Florida 33135
[240]Dear Mrs. Cuesta:
[242]This is in reply to your letter o: 4 August 1975 aod ©”
[243]subsequent conversations with one of our
[244]representatives,
[246]dn response _teo—your-tnqutyy Sa wish to advise that
[247]your ex-husbands alleged activities, cited ag Attempts No.
[248]21 and 22 in the newspaper article enclose with your letter,
[249]were in no way sponsored by or associated with this Agency.
[250]Concerning prior knowledge of such activities, we can only
[251]way that anticipated activities of some of the independent
[252]- exile groups often became public knowladge because of
[253]discussion within the exile community of such activities.
[255]’ Sincerely,
[257]Assistant to the Director
[259]“Pate tee
[260]om