[1]DARAAN
[2]\q04-10302-10024 | 2025 RELEASE UNDER THE PRESIDENT JOHN F. KENNEDY ASSASSINATION RECORDS ACT OF 1992 |
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[28]TOP-SECRET
[30](Security Glassificatinn)
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[34]oo YOUU LLL
[36]P OEGRE Fk
[37]copy No. 107.
[39]SC NO. 00546/63
[40]25 November 1963
[42]DAILY
[44]SUMMARY
[46]POTHMREeEN NYS S|. NY
[48]CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
[50]{| THIS DOCUMENT ‘CONTAINS CODE WORD MATERIAL
[52]NOFORN
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[64]TOP SECRET DINAR
[66]DAILY SUMMARY
[68]25 November 1963
[70]This summary of significant information has not been coordinated
[71]outside the Office of Current Intelligence. It does not representa
[72]complete coverage of all current reports received, nor does time
[73]permit the complete evaluation of all reports which are included.
[75]CONTENTS
[77]FIDEL CASTRO'S SPEECH:
[79]Castro's two-hour speech on 23 November was what he termed
[80]an "objective analysis" of the implications of President
[81]Kennedy's assassination. The speech reflected an appre-
[82]hension that US policy toward Cuba may now. become even
[83]tougher. He said the President's death was "serious and
[84]bad news" and sought to insinuate that "ultrareactionaries"
[85]‘in the US are exploiting the assassination~-and may have
[86]been responsible for it--as part of their campaign for a
[87]more "aggressive" US policy against Cuba. (Page 1)
[89]MILITARY DEVELOPMENTS :
[90]. The Cuban defensive military alert, ordered immediately
[92]after the news of President Kennedy' s death, remains in
[93]- effect. (Page 2)
[95]OTHER CUBAN REACTIONS TO THE ASSASSINATION:
[97]The chargé of the Cuban Embassy in Chile says there is no
[98]doubt that CIA or “other Yankees" assassinated the Presi-
[99]dent and that therefore a third world war will start.
[100](Page 2)
[102]The Cuban UN ambassador issued a statement early on 23°
[103]October expressing "profound displeasure” with. which Cuba
[104]received news of the President's death. (Page 3)
[106]_ \0b° ae | ;
[107](Foreign ‘Minister Roa) asked his Gn mlission for "all the
[109]ata you have on Lyfidon B. Johnson" and the reply was
[110]sent immed late ly. (Page 3)
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[118]OTHER CUBAN REACTIONS .TO THE ASSASSINATION - cont'd
[119]The Cuban (Foreign Ministry) instr cted a number of
[120]-Cuban( diplomatic missions abroad)on 22 November not
[121]to make “any statements ." 21(Page 3)
[122]Che Guevara, in a 24 November speech, warned Cubans that
[123]“everything indicates that in the next months and years
[124]world peace will be threatened" as never before. — (Page 3)
[125]CUBAN SUPPORT FOR EXTERNAL SUBVERSIVE ACTIVITIES:
[126]The, Venezuelan Government plans to hold a press confer-
[128]ence on 26 November revealing the Cuban origin of the ‘arms
[129]cache found in Venezuela early this month. (Page 3)
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[139]FIDEL CASTRO'S SPEECH:
[141]Fidel Castro's two-hour speech on 23 November was what
[142]he termed an "objective analysis" of the implications of
[143]President Kennedy's assassination. The speech reflected an
[144]apprehension that US policy toward him may now become even
[145]tougher. He said the President's death was “serious and bad
[146]news"’ which could lead from "a bad situation to a worse situ-
[147]ation." He pointed out that President Kennedy's alleged
[148]promise not to invade Cuba had been strongly attacked by those
[149]“"ultrareactionaries" in the United States who, he said, are
[150]now using the assassination to create a climate of wanti—
[151]Soviet, anti-Cuban. hysteria" designed to pressure the new
[152]President toward a Cuban policy "highly prejudicial to the
[153]interests of peace and of.mankind."
[155]Castro began his speech by stating: that he ‘and the
[156]immense majority of human beings" react with "repudiation" to
[157]the assassination, which is not "a correct method of struggle."
[158]While the death of the imperialist system would make Cubans
[159]happy, “the death of a man, even if that man were our eneny,
[160]cannot make us happy...we must not confuse the systems with
[161]the men.” He said,"we always cease our belligerency at death;
[162]we always bow with respect at death, even if it has to do
[163]with an enemy.”
[164]Castro declared that the assassination can only benefit
[165]"those ultrarightist and ultrareactionary sectors, among which
[166]President Kennedy could not be counted." These "most reaction-
[167]ary forces are now breaking loose within the United States,"
[168]he declared. President Kennedy was a strong president who
[169]was able to control these pressures, but the new US president,
[170]because of the circumstances inherent in his assumption of
[171]the presidency, will not have the same strength and authority,
[172]Castro said.
[174]Castro then read a series of US news dispatches referring
[176]. to the Castro-Communist affiliations of the accused assassin,
[178]He said this was all part of the "reactionary" effort to
[179]create a climate of "anti-Soviet, anti-Cuban hysteria" in
[180]the United States: This climate of hysteria, he said, is
[181]designed to face the new President with an irresistible pres-
[182]sure toward a "more aggressive policy."
[184]Castro then devoted considerable time in an attempt to
[185]throw doubt on the guilt of the accused assassin and to in-—
[186]sinuate that Oswald, whether guilty or innocent, was actually
[187]a tool of the extreme rightists. "Is he really guilty? Is
[188]he a scapegoat? Is he a psychopath? Or is he perhaps a tool
[189]of the most reactionary US circles? Who is this man?
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[199]FIDEL CASTRO'S SPEECH - cont'd
[201]Why did he go into action precisely when circumstances were
[202]least favorable for a left-wing fanatic to assassinate the
[204]US President?" Castro stated that his investigation of the
[205]“reports, statements, and publicity" on the Fair Play for
[207]Cuba Committee ‘in the United States failed to indicate that
[208]there was any ‘chapter in Dallas or New Orleans and that “we.
[209]never in our life heard of him (Oswald). Castro then re-
[210]ferred to US press. reports on Oswald's attempt last summer to
[211]“infiltrate” the anti-Castro Student Revolutionary Directorate
[213]‘in the US and to DRE statements that Oswald was thought at
[214]that time to be "an agent of the FBI or the CIA," "They
[216](the DRE leaders) must know, because they have many dealings
[217]with them, what FBI and CIA agents look like," Castro stated.
[218]Castro then declared that, while Oswald may or may not
[219]be guilty, it is nevertheless possible that he was "an agent
[220]for the CIA or the FBI, as those people suspected" and could
[221]have been "a tool of the most reactionary sectors which may
[222]have been hatching a Sinister plan, whi¢h may have plotted
[224]. the assassination of Kennedy because they disagreed with his
[225]‘international policy.” "What is behind all this? What sinister
[227]maneuver are they hatching behind all this? Who can be re-
[228]sponsible for the assassination of President Kennedy? And who
[229]benefits from the assassination...except the worst reaction-
[230]aries?" Castro warned that it is not possible at this point
[231]to answer these questions, "but we do say that it is suspect,
[232]that.we must be cautious and vigilant and alert." Castro
[233]closed with the usual expressions of confidence that the
[234]Cubans will be ready to meet any new crisis with resolution,
[235](CIA FBIS 06, 24 November, OFFICIAL USE ONLY)
[237]MILITARY DEVELOPMENTS: —
[239]The Cuban defensive military alert, ordered immediately
[240]after the mews of President Kennedy's death, remains in
[241]effect, but no unusual Cuban military activity has been noted.
[242](NSA, various internal military intercepts, 22-24 November,
[243]SECRET KIMBO)
[245]OTHER CUBAN REACTIONS TO THE ASSASSINATION:
[247]‘A clandestine source reports that the chargé of the Cuban
[248]Embassy in Santiago de Chile said that there is no doubt that
[249]the CIA or “other Yankees" assassinated the President and that,
[250]as a result, a third world war will start. He also emphasized
[251]the need for Cuba to prepare for a possible US invasion. (CIA
[252]Santiago de Chile, TDCS 3/565,826, 23 November, SECRET NO FOREIGN
[253]DISSEM) 3
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[263]OTHER CUBAN REACTIONS TO THE ASSASSINATION - cont'd
[265]Carlos Lechuga, Cuban UN ambassador, issued a statement
[266]early on 23 November stating: “Despite the antagonisms exist-
[267]ing between the Government of the United States and the Cuban
[268]Revolution, we have received with profound displeasure the
[269]news of the tragic death of President Kennedy. All civilized
[270]men are always saddened by happenings such as this. Our
[271]delegation before the United Nations desires to express that
[272]this is the sentiment of the people and the Government of |
[273]Cuba." (UPI New York, 33 November, UNCLASSIFIED)
[275]0 \9
[277]_ ob Cuban (Foreign Minister Roa }Wispatched a message to
[278]€arlos Lechuga) shortly after President Kennedy's assassination
[279]asking (Lechuga\ to "please send me at once all the data that
[280]you have”on Lyndon B. Johnson including his political connec-
[281]tions,. etc."((Lechuga) replied immediately: “biographical
[283]data on Lyndon Johnson are in cable (24) of, Prensa Latina and
[285]in UPI dispatch 169 and supplements." He also referred @oa)oé
[286]to "Who is Who" which he had sent the/(Foreign Ministry) earlier
[287]and said he will cable additional information later .24 (NSA
[288]91 1382-63 and -T1381563, 23 November, TOP SECRET DINAR)
[290]; a 2
[292]The Cuban(Foreign Ministry dispatched a Circular) message
[293]late on 22 November to a number of ‘Cuban( diplomatic missions2 4
[294]abroad stating only "do not make any statements." This was
[295]probably an attempt to prevent any comments on President
[296]Kennedy's assassination oe the official Cuban line could
[298]._ be established. (NSA 3/04C /T1380-63, 23 November, TOP
[300]SECRET DINAR)
[302]Che Guevara, in a speech on 24'November, expressed
[303]apprehensions similar to those stated by Fidel Castro the
[304]night before. Guevara blamed President Kennedy's assassination
[305]and the killing of Oswald on reactionary forces in the United
[307]' States and. warned Cubans that a new, tougher policy against
[309]Cuba will be forthcoming from the United States. "Everything
[310]indicates that in the next months and years world peace will
[311]be threatened by the most unscrupulous, ferocious, and warlike
[312]monopolistic oligarchy--and with the most murderous potential
[313]--that the history of humanity has every known," Guevara said.
[314](CIA FBIS, 25 November, OFFICIAL USE ONLY)
[316]CUBAN SUPPORT OF EXTERNAL SUBVERSIVE ACTIVITIES:
[318]A Venezuelan Government press conference tying the arms
[319]cache found in Venezuela earlier this month to Cuba is scheduled
[320]for Tuesday, 26 November, according to the US Embassy in Caracas,
[321]This is to be followed by a report to the OAS, probably on
[322]2 December. (Am Emb Caracas 601, 24 November, CONFIDENTIAL)
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