March 27 1964 To Jesse Zousmer From Lisa Howard I still don't think you have any concept of why I am waging such a titanic battle on behalf of my script for the Cuba show What is involved here essentially is a struggle for truth for honor for integrity for fair minded objectivity And in the process an tEempt to redress widely held misconceptions about Castro and Cuba 0 ay I have travelled the length and bredth of the Island I know Fidel as well as one can know a human being as complex as his is I have read about twenty-five books on the Cuban revolution pro and con I have been scrutinizing every article written on Cuba for the past several years In short I an a minor authority on the subject I was shocked to learn that you didn't even know who Huber Hates was Hates the most important political prisoner of the revolution You had never heard of the Escalante affair which was and remains a central crisis of the Cuban revolution Hho is in a better position to explain the Cuban you or It isn't that I want to do a prouCastro show On the contrary I merely want to try to tell the truth as nearly as I can guage it about Castro and his revoiutien You on the other hand seem far less interested in seeking the truth then in not rocking the boat You don't want to offend any anti-Castro groups You don't want to upset anyone in the State Department Yen don't want the network to receive any derogatory nail on this show well that just isn't possible if we are to tell both sides of the story of the Cuban revolution Ev job as a reporter is not to a cal to popular prejudices but to report objectively on my areas 0 competence Thus I cannot I will not associate myself with a project as dishonest as the one you are trying to present to the American public Please try to understand my position This document is from the holdings of The National Security Archive Suite 701 Gelman Library The George Washington University 2130 H Street NW Washington D C 20037 Phone 202 994-7000 Fax 202 994-7005 nsarchiv@gwu edu