25 August 1960 MEMORANDUM FOR THE RECORD SUBJECT Minutes of Special Group Meeting 25 August 1960 PRESENT Messrs Merchant Gray Irwin Dulles 1 Congo Mr Parrott outlined broadly three or as Mr Dulles later described them 11 2 1 2 11 operational lines that we are following in mounting an anti-Lumumba campaign in the Congo These included operations through the chief advisor of the Christian Trade Unions the planned attempt of a Socialist labor Senator to arrange a vote of no coniidence in Lu rnumba and a brand new contact with an alleged ieader oi certain independent labor groups He emphasized that the latter had just coq-ie up and that we are now in the process of assessing the bona £ides and capabilities of the individual -· The Group agreed that the action contemplated is v ery much in order Mr _ Gray commented however that his associates had expressed extremely strong feelings on the necessity for very straightforward action in this situation and he wo dered whether the plans as outlined were sufficient to accomplish this Mr Dulles replied that he had taken· the comments referred to seriously and had every intention of proceeding as vigorously as the situation permits or requires but added that he must necessarily put himself in a position of interpreting instructions of this kind within the bounds of necessity and capability It was finally agreed that planning for the Congo would not necessarily rule out 1 'consideration 11 of any particular kind of activity which might contribute to getting rid of Lumumba Mr Irwin commented that certain indivi duals in Defense have given thought to the possibility of using high officials of the Catholic Church in Africa to promote the general objectives of the West · In this connection he cited a preliminary assessment which had been made of the Negro Cardinal recently appointed by the Pope - the assessment being that the individual in question is a man of not PkOPUnY TH T T - 'J THE WHITE · uU C r H r 1 - rr 3 nr-r hi J NW 50955 Docld 32423488 Page 38 -· '-ai'· l outstanding intelligence ability or drive but that he is obviously well motiyated Mr Irwin asked whether there might be other individuals of similar although naturally lesser stature in the church hierarchy who could be useful Mr Merchant commented that the Catholic Church in Black Africa is not a very substantial force Mr Dulles· concurred in this but added that this would be something to keep in mind as appropriate PRl if' i • 1 THE WHITE HGW mt 50955 -Docld 32423488 Pag e 39 · -- •·• ' I I _ J i f ' · J4 Cuba 1 The DCI summarized the progress we have made ift establishing contact with certain dissident groups within Cuba In this connection he also noted the apparent fulfillment of a sabotage requirement which had been levied on one of these groups as a test of its capabilities after this action had been cleared with the Special Group He also said that we hope to fui ve a paramilitary force of approximately 500 people ready to operate by November In answer to Mr Irwin's question he outlined two possible ways of initiating the tactical combat phase - 'l · Mr Gray then told the Grpup of a talk he had had with the Director of the Bureau of the Budget The latter had told Mr Gray that he had discussed the Cuban project with Mr Macy and that as a result of this discussion he Mr Stans had two reservations that he would like Gray to look into ' One of these had to do with the statement by Macy that in his discussion with CIA representatives in connection with the latest withdrawal from the Reserve he had received 11 no evidence that any · effective resistance had been identified within Cuba Mr Gray had answered that in the formal presentation la st week Mr Dulles and Mr Bissell _had mentioned a number of such groups The secC ri d point had to do with a feeling that we might not 3 PROPrnlY OF THE WHITE nOUS o ·F1Cl ' · ' Iv · ' · ' 1· i · ·• '' i Jo NW 5lJ955 · Doold 32423468 Page 40 · - know enough about the political attitudes of the members of the Frente particularly as to basic freedoms their attitude toward restoration of seized American property etc In answer to this Mr Gray had pointed out that the Frente- is composed of people who have broken with Castro at least on the basic philosophies In an attempt to clarify the situation with respect to the first point Mr Parrott told the Group about last Monday 1 s meeting with Mr Macy at which Mr Barnes had covered in considerable detail all aspects of the Cuban project He said that he was at a loss to understand how Macy could have received the impression that CIA is not aware of dissident groups He went on to say that in answer to Mr Macy 1 s question as to the outlook Mr Barnes had stated and had developed at ·considerable length - the the sis that our view was one of limited optimism and that he had explained in detail just why this is so this explanation had included specific comments on the steps that have been and are being taken to identify such groups and to assess their apparent leaders Mr Parrott said further that the point had been made forcibly to Macy that it would be out of the question for CIA to attempt to mount an invasion of Cuba by itself without the participation of large numbers of disaffected individuals within the country V - Oh the second pofot Mr Dulles said that we do know a e ood deal about the basic political sympathies of Frente members and cited as an example the position that had been taken as to the inclusion of certain ultra-conservative groups He said that the Frente bad· issued a statement of its aims which he summarized very broadly as being to preserve the principles of the revolution He said that as to specific stands on restoration of U S · property rights etc this was thought to be unwise because it would give the Frente t l-ie appearance of being a tool of the Americans He agreed however that Mr Stans• point was a valid one to bear in mind and _said we would certainly do so He added that he expects to lunch with Mr Stans in the near future and would take that opportunity to discuss these matters further as appropriate Mr Parrott said that ·there was no disagreement that the political ideas of-these individuals must be constantly assessed and must be clearly estabiished before the ope ration actualiy comes off He added however that it should be borne in mind that once these politically-screened individuals had issued their general statement of objectives our primary operational t_ask has been ·to hold the FRD together and that at this particular stage it would not be practical ' 4 r· r t -- ·' ' • ' Li1 ''' '1 '' ' I PROP' TY n THE WHITE HOJS uFrT E - - a ' to insist on a more precise spelling out of individual or group views Mr Parrott also_ said that Mr Macy had raised a related point which Mr Barries and he had agreed had validity and that Mr Barnes had undertaken to assure Macy that it would be given adequate attention by the interagency planning group This was a concern expressed as to planning for the support - fiscal and otherwise of a new Cuban government immediately after a successful overturn of the present one Mr Merchant said that he agreed fully with the necess1ty for making contingency plans of this sort and had in fact directed three weeks ago that State officials begin to draw them up - D Le CU -THOMAS A PARROTT A 5 ri 1 · - r ij•i' r i •'• • I r l · - NW 50955 - Docld ' 32423488 · Page 42 - r · · ' ' t t · r ' 3l · t- · '· JI • vw ' While agreeing that the Government could not take an official stand Mr Merchant expressed his personal opinion that if the companies should suspend operations this would give the Soviets a great opportunity given the fact that the Cuban economy is so dependent on oil He pointed out that no alternative leader to Castro has yet emerged and that the United States would be held liabie for any economic crisis that might be precipitated in this way __ Mr Gray related the consideration of this sort of action to the sugar project discussed three weeks ago by the Group He emphasized that in his opinion these are isolated actions and that any moves of this kind should be made only after an over-all consideration of whether and how the United States wishes to move against Castro Mr Irwin to k some exception to this indicating that he thought it wa·s possible and perhaps desirable to take such actions as those contemplated in the sugar proposal apart from any concerted acrossthevboard program Mr Dulles emphasized that in any case we will have to decide before long whether covert action should be taken in Cuba · f 7 _J -- It was then agreed that a special meeting of the Group should be held on Monday March 14th to copsider what might and should be done in Cuba It was agreed that in addition to the regular members Mr Rubottom Admiral Burke Mr Bissell Mr King and perhaps Colonel Lansdale should attend · There was then a brief discussion of Admiral Burke's letter to Mr erchant It developed that the attachment to·thls letter has now been given the status of a JCS document but that it has-riot been forwarded to the NSC as the JCS had desired Mr Irwin said that he had held up this action because of the informal nature of the letter Mr Merchant said the Department is preparing comments and that he hoped the JCS paper would not be considered apart from State's comments Mr Dulles said that we would require a policy decision on whether a black radio could be established on U S territory probably in the Florida Keys It was agreed that this proposal should be staffed through the Scott office -· PHOP 'f ' 1 THE W -1 TE - 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