[1]14-00000
[3]104-10102-10231
[5]F 1992 *
[7]1 2025 RELEASE UNDER THE PRESIDENT JOHN F. KENNEDY ASSASSINATION RECORDS ACT O
[9]“
[10]’ Vere
[11]Bien
[13]14 January 1977
[14]MEMORANDUM
[15]SUBJECT: Jose Ricardo RABEL Nunez (AMLEO-3) (201-249386)
[17]1. Born 7 April 1922 in Havana, Cuba, the son of a
[18]native-born American citizen, RABEL was brought up in comfor-
[19]table circumstances. He attended high school in Cuba, com-
[20]pleted the last year in New Orleans, Louisiana, and entered
[21]Tulane University in September 1938. He enlisted in the U.S.
[22]Army in December 1940 and eventually saw combat in France,
[23]Belgium, Germany and Austria. After discharge in December 1945,
[24]RABEL returned to Cuba to attend the University of Havana
[25]and this began a life of job changes, moving back and forth
[26]between the U.S. and Cuba, and, in general, rootless living.
[28]2. RABEL's background reads like that of a man with no
[29]Allegiances.or loyalties and no particular goals. Viewed in
[30]retrospect, his career presents a picture of unreliability.
[32]It is probable that RABEL's rootlessness and apparent
[33]unreliability applied both to his relations with CASTRO and to
[34]those with the Agency. It is quite possible, therefore, that
[35]he not only served the Agency in a superficial way but that
[37]he did the same for CASTRO at various times when it suited his
[38]purposes. Without postulating this sort of: dual role (one
[39]which fits very well with his previous life) it is almost
[40]impossible to explain some of the reasonably good things he
[41]did for the Agency and the quite certain allegations that
[43]he was a CASTRO agent. This explanation is not fully satis-
[45]factory, but it does explain his career better than the charge
[47]RETURN TO Cla ae
[48]Background Us _
[51] SEGRET
[53]t
[55]a
[57]that he was a CASTRO agent from the beginning. The question
[58]that must remain unanswered is whether he betrayed the AMTRUNK
[59]Operation. He was not arrested until September 1965 (when
[60]AMTRUNK had already run its course) but it appears quite
[61]certain that he cooperated with the DSE after his arrest and
[62]while he was in prison. .
[64]3. RABEL joined in the clandestine activities against
[65]BATISTA in March 1952, first amongst. the exiles in the U.S.
[66]and then after late 1952 from inside Cuba. He joined the
[67]Cuban armed forces to further his plotting and was assigned
[68]to the Cuban General Staff. He was the Cuban liaison officer
[69]with the U.S. Army mission in Cuba from November 1954 until |
[70]April 1956. During his entire period in the Cuban army,
[72]RABEL was involved with dissident Army elements; when they
[73]attempted a coup in April 1956, RABEL’ was arrested. He was
[74]released shortly thereafter, worked in the chicken business
[76]for a year and then returned to the U.S. and worked with one of
[77]his brothers (Luis RABEL Nunez). In October 1957 he returned
[78]to Cuba and became involved with the 26th of July Movement
[80]but had to leave a year later when he was brought to the
[81]attention of the BATISTA forces because of a bomb explosion.
[82]He smuggled weapons to Camilo Cienfuegos for about a year
[84]and then in October 1958 he joined the Cienfuegos group.
[85]Shortly after the CASTRO victory, CASTRO called upon RABEL to
[86]set up a Cuban Marine Corps, a job he held until February 1960,
[87]at which time he was appointed Chief of Viviendas Campesinas.
[89]2
[91]ana
[92]SEBRET
[94]* - SECRET | _ .
[98]He held this job until he defected to the U.S. in December
[99]1962. It is worth noting that he rarely pursued one activity
[100]in one place for more than a year at a time from 1945 to
[101]1962.
[102]. 4, RABEL gave Alfonso RODRIGUEZ the following reasons
[103]for his defection:
[105]a. Communist pressure, hounding, and the basic
[106]enmity of the Communist Party toward him. (This appears
[107]very reasonable in view of his service in the U.S. Army
[108]and training in some aspects of intelligence, such as
[109]prisoner interrogation. In addition, his schooling in
[110]the U.S. and the reasonable economic circumstances would
[111]not have been recommendations from the Communist point
[112]of view.)
[114]b. Strong backing by Fidel which protected him from
[115]more serious attacks from the Party. (This, too, seems
[116]entirely reasonable. His family farm was near the farm
[117]Fidel's father managed and RABEL and Fidel had known each
[118]other as children. In addition, RABEL's long involvement
[119]in the anti-BATISTA movement and with Camilo Cienfuegos
[120]were probably in his favor in CASTRO'S view.)
[122]c. An obligation to protect the non-Communists in
[123]his department, which prevented his earlier defection, and
[124]uncertainty of his reception in the U.S. (In view of the
[125]number of defections from RABEL's department, there were,
[126]in fact, people to protect. Since RABEL had served in
[128]the U.S. Army, and probably felt the U.S. was his second
[130]erkncy
[131]Sigtc
[133]14-0000
[137]country, he could well have had questions about his
[139]reception after serving in the CASTRO government.)
[141]——_—d.—--His resentment against the confining nature of
[143]a Communist State. (Since he never stayed in one. place
[145]more than a short time in his entire life, to have been
[147]restricted to Cuba must have seemed a, punishment.)
[149]5. RABEL was used to pitch{Dr. Marta ‘FRAYDE Barraue|in
[150]Garis|jin fah)r063, and to check out leads for the AMTRUNK
[151]Operation. One of his leads led to the recruitment of AMTRUNK-10.
[152]Later,in early 1964, RABEL was leader of the Rebel Army Group
[153]supported by the American Legion in Miami and-was involved in
[154]the Rebel Army Radio program.
[156]6. There is no specific evidence (except the accusations
[157]below) that RABEL was involved in a suspicious way with the
[158]CASTRO regime during this period, but his desire to exfiltrate
[159]his wife and children was a constant source of difficulty
[160]between him and the Station. This problem led to his eventual
[161]termination in July 1964 and to a great deal of resentment on
[162]his part. “He conspired constantly, from mid-1963 until his
[163]capture in Cuba in September 1965, to get-~into Cuba to
[164]exfiltrate his wife and children. ,
[166]7, RABEL was sentenced: to 30 years imprisonment but was
[167]set free in July or August 1967, which is a strong indication
[168]that the charges that he worked for the DSE while in prison
[169]were true. Moreover, there is some indication that he may have
[170]attempted a provocation at Cuban behest: immediately after his
[172]en
[174]capture. There are two firm accusations that RABEL was a
[176]cnt j
[177]sEGar |
[180]SECRET
[182]7 _
[184]Cuban agent as early as July 1963 (which would have been
[186]when he was screening names for the AMTRUNK Operation), one
[187]gron (itaMrL-9} and the other from Fernando REY reported by
[188]iv SLOUCH-1. As mentioned above, these charges could well
[190]be true; yet RABEL could have fulfilled his duties for CASTRO
[191]superficially, for his own purposes, and not necessarily
[193]have compromised his work with the Agency until he was captured.
[194]The difficulties he had in exfiltrating his wife could have
[195]been, partially, punishment by CASTRO for not fulfilling his
[196]duties as an agent; otherwise, had his work in the U.S. been
[197]valuable, CASTRO could have facilitated the exfiltration of
[198]RABEL's wife so that RABEL could continue his work as an
[199]agent undisturbed.
[202]LAD/JFK Task Force 1977{Marty Millerbrp
[203]Copy filed: 201-249386
[205]Attachments: 4
[206]A- 10 Feb 1964 Memo for the Record
[207]B-. 6 Mar 1963 dispatch UFGA-7998 with Att.
[208]C- 20 Feb 1963 cable WAVE 4730 (IN 71127)
[209]Dp 30 Sep 1963 dispatch UFGA-11375